As a collector of WW2 equipment, owning even the smallest part of a Battle of Britain vintage Hawker Hurricane is appealing. But it is hard to define why owning a tiny fragment of an 83-year-old downed aircraft embedded in a Zero West watch matters. The concept has been introduced previously. When Romain Jerome released their Titanic-DNA watch, people flocked to own what amounted to a watch with a rusted bezel, all be it made from Titanic's hull. When IWC released a unique Aqua Timer with a wooden insert made from Jacques Cousteau's Calypso dive boat deck, it was also hugely popular and is still very collectable today.
Such ownership intrinsically brings you closer to a subject that resonates with you. And I understand it. As a Space fan, I own a coin minted from a flown part of Apollo 8, and this miniature collectable is very special to me.
The Zero West H2 concept
Zero West H2 - Credit WatchGecko
The story behind the Zero West H2 Battle of Britain is technically interesting, evocative and moving. The premise was to create a watch that looked like a dial from a Hurricane cockpit and have a component or display element in the watch that was part of a vintage aircraft.
To achieve this, Zero West gained access to the crash site of a fighter which was shot down during the Battle of Britain and based their watch around the story of that aircraft and its heroic pilot. The watch is a faithful reproduction of the slip-and-turn indicator in the cockpit of a Hurricane. This dial gave the pilot a visual representation of turn and yaw, allowing him to check that a manoeuvering bank was coordinated. So, how did Zero West get their hands on such a gauge?
18 August 1940 – "The Hardest Day"
Zero West H2 - Credit WatchGecko
The Hurricane was the backbone of the RAF during World War 2. In the hands of RAF pilots, it shot down far more aircraft enemy aircraft than any other Allied fighter, even its more famous counterpart, the Supermarine Spitfire.
18 August 1940 is sadly known as The Hardest Day during the Battle of Britain. Around 30 fighters and 70 bombers and their crews were lost in heavy aerial fighting over the UK and Channel. One fighter which saw extensive, and terminal, service was Hurricane P-3708, flown by Sergeant Pilot Alexander 'Jock' Girdwood on the 18th. During combat, Girdwood took multiple hits, resulting in P-3708, designated RED 3, being disabled and crashing on Foulness Island off the coast of England. Girdwood survived the bale-out and, with bravery consummate of the era, was back in the air immediately, only to be killed in combat a few months later.
The wreckage of P-3708 remained buried and forgotten on Foulness until it was excavated in 1990. Parts of the iconic Rolls Royce V12 Merlin Engine of the fighter survived, and it is from this wreckage that Zero West was granted permission to take a small amount of metal. The raw engine metal was then recast and made into wafer-thin discs to be embedded into the watch.
Hands-on with the H2
My first impression is that the Zero West H2 is solid and well-designed. It feels like it could take the vibration of a cockpit and always be mission-ready. Part of this sensation is psychological, probably thanks to the very functional design, but the watch feels robust.
The watch is built around a precision machined, bead-blasted 41mm case with a deep black dial. Black PVD DSL lugs add presence and suggest elements of an airframe. Only an upper and lower quadrant of a minute track appears on the dial to retain the design of the original Hurricane cockpit gauge. This gives the watch a serious aviation and functional look. Despite missing indices, the time is easy to read. Vintage-style minute and hour sword hands, reminiscent of classic military dive watches, and an Aeronautical sweep seconds hand complement a well-conceived look. A polished bezel surrounds the dial, and all timekeeping elements are coated with Super Luminova X1. Foulness Island's latitude and longitude coordinates are printed on the dial along with a subdued Union Flag and 180840, referring to The Hardest Day.
Zero West H2 - Credit WatchGecko
Turn the H2 over, and we are presented with a case back, which is the heart of the machine and probably the principal reason buyers will try to secure one of the limited 50 watches. A small textured disc is held firmly in place behind reverse printed sapphire crystal. This is the cutting from the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine of Hurricane P-3708. It is not unreasonable to call this a precious metal, not in the sense of gold or platinum, but because of its finite nature and what it represents. Also recorded for posterity are the aircraft number and Churchill's famous words regarding the battle. "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few", referring to the handful of RAF pilots, like Alexander Girdwood, who held an entire invasion at bay by denying the Luftwaffe air superiority over the UK.
And just when you think the watch could not be more evocative, our eyes are drawn to a very unusual crown. If you are not a fan of vintage combat aircraft, you could be forgiven for missing this design aesthetic. If you are a fan, it will be instantly recognisable. It is a small brass clone of the original joystick trigger button which fired the Hurricane's guns. The Hurricane was a heavily armed aircraft and carried eight .303 machine guns, each loaded with 300 rounds and capable of firing approximately 1150 rounds per minute. Astonishingly, pilots had only about 15 seconds of sustained fire, so a necessary skill in aerial combat was mastering short controlled bursts.
Zero West H2 - Credit Zero West
It's still a watch.
Under all this WW2 imagery, it is essential to remember that we have a competent watch. Zero West has chosen to fit the H2 with a reliable Selitta SW200-1 "Top Premium Grade" movement. Not as powerful as a Merlin, but it's no less impressive and well made. This movement level is one step down from the COSC variant, but still adjusted in five positions with a listed accuracy of +/-4 sec/day up to +/- 15 sec/day. It operates at 28,800 vph, has a bi-directional rotor and should give between 38 and 41 hours of power reserve.
Zero West has chosen to present the H2 on a high-quality rubber strap, not a material we would initially have thought to put on a WW2-style watch, but it works very well. They also produce a high-quality leather strap. The 22mm rubber strap is green, which complements the L and R of the dial, and is made from aerospace-grade cross-linked fluoroelastomer rubber. The package is finished off with a smart Zero West engraved buckle.
Zero West H2 - Credit WatchGecko
Conclusion
Paying homage to the RAF pilots from the Battle of Britain in a tactile object is a real challenge. How do you do that respectfully and with meaning? Zero West has nailed it with the H2. The watch is not tacky or insensitive – the whole concept is based on honouring the men and the aircraft from The Hardest Day. If you are interested in military aviation history, then the H2 would be a fine choice. And let's not forget that the metal from Hurricane P-3708 is limited, so these watches will only become more and more collectable.
Technical Specifications of the H2
- Brand: Zero West
- Model: H2 Battle of Britain – Limited to 50 units
- Price: £3,700
- Material: Stainless steel, polished, matte and DLC
- Movement: SW200-1 automatic winding “Top Premium Grade”
- Complications: Hours, minutes, seconds
- Dial: Black design replicating aviation Slip Turn indicator, with X1 Super Luminova
- Size: 41mm diameter
- Water resistance: 100M
- Unique Features: Incorporates a part from an original World War Two Hurricane Merlin engine recovered from a crashed Battle of Britain aircraft
- When the reviewer would personally wear it: This is a hugely evocative watch so the obvious answer is any time when one needs to appreciate the huge sacrifices people have made so we may live free today. In reality, the watch suits well to everyday use and can be dressed alternatively with smart strap choices.
- A friend we'd recommend it to first: Naturally, anyone with a passion for World War 2 aviation or World War Two history. There probably is a limited market for this watch and its not hard to pinpoint the demographic of buyer. As there are only 50 units Zero West shouldn’t have any trouble selling this watch.
- Best characteristics of the watch: There are so many unique characteristics of this watch it is genuinely hard to pick on. The clever dial design looks like a cockpit gauge and the inclusion of the original Hurricane metal is of course impressive. For me, however, the crown is the star of the show. It is a tiny, accurate copy, in bronze, of the machine gun trigger from a Hurricane.
- The worst characteristic of the watch: Probably not a fair question in this case. The people this watch is aimed at will love it. But if we had to be picky, probably the dial wouldn't be to everybody's taste because it has been designed to look more like a cockpit part than a watch.
