I can always find room in my collection for another military watch. At their best, military-styled watches are tough, easily legible, and convey a clean, utilitarian aesthetic. Of course, at their worst, they reflect the fashion sensibilities of a North Korean General. The Pancerna P.7 Pilot falls into the former category. Named for the PZL P.7 Polish fighter plane, the watch borrows familiar themes and infuses them with just enough panache to stand apart from the crowd without going too far. The P.7 will launch on Kickstarter on February 1 and I got to take a turn with a black-dialed prototype for this review.
The P.7 ships in a simple yet sturdy cardboard tube. Inside is a canvas roll with the watch, two 20mm straps (green canvas and black nylon), and the warranty card. I thank Pancerna for minimizing waste. The box is recyclable and the roll is useful. Bravo!
My first impression was how soft it looks. I realize that is a strange thing to say about a watch, particularly a tool watch, but check it out: bowed case sides, rounded bezel, tubular lugs, bun crown, domed crystal — why, those curved forms extend right to the case back. The only flat surface is on the head of the crown. Bead-blasted matte surface finishing adds to the illusion. The supplied soft canvas Zulu with round matte hardware completes the picture.
Of course, as is true with most things in life, one mustn’t confuse softness with weakness. That stainless steel case wears an ion plating hardened to 1200v, the sapphire crystal is about twice as hard as that, and the screw-down crown helps seal it to 200m water resistance. Inside, is a smooth (28.8k bph) and reliable Miyota 9039 hacking and hand-winding automatic. This is a legitimate tool watch that is meant to be knocked about and still look good afterward.
The P.7 is curiously proportioned. It measures 40mm wide, 49mm long, and 13mm thick. Those numbers by themselves don’t tell you all that much. You have to take the watch in hand to understand the way they work with the soft forms I discussed above. These days, 40mm has become the standard mid-size and the watch does not appear overly wide, particularly given the curvature of the case, although its 13mm thickness makes it undeniably stout. The crown is broad (8mm) but not terribly tall and is slightly recessed so it maintains the P.7’s compact beam. And then we get to the lugs. Those fat bars add a liberal dollop of chonk at either end so you see every millimeter of the P.7’s length. This isn’t an oversized watch, but its wrist presence is impressive.
For all the smooth forms on this watch, there are two areas where Pancerna went sharp. The first is the crown, whose squat shape bears fine fluting for enhanced grip, and a recessed head with an embossed logo. The second is the stamped caseback showing a propeller surrounded by cleanly rendered identification and specifications. Both are satisfyingly crisp.
Pancerna’s dial design is a shade more stylized than it would be for a service-issued watch but it still reflects the at-a-glance functionality such a watch requires. You will be able to order a P.7 in your choice of five colors: Black, Midnight Blue, Desert Tan, Military Green, or Gray. The printed numbers are stencil-cut and the cardinal numbers larger than the rest, flight instrument style. Pancera’s clever cross-hair logo takes care of the branding. Perhaps the most striking aspect of the layout is the way the minutes index numbers are bisected by bars, creating a distinctive “T” shaped pattern. The handset is matte gray, muted against the black dial, but a pop of SuperLuminova keeps them visible, as does the yellow-orange tip of the second hand. That dark gray appears on the secondary markings of the index as well, or I should say, it disappears, because that is just what dark gray does against black. That caveat aside, it’s a slick look, maybe not a traditional military look so much as one from the near future.
Turn down the lights and that SuperLuminova pops to life. I was pleased to see that all the key elements light up, even the logo and the orange second hand tip. Well done.
On my 6.75″ wrist, the P.7 wears comfortably. I wasn’t kidding about that soft canvas strap, it’s fabulous. I will note, however, that it adds considerable bulk, as do nearly all pass-through straps, accentuating the watch’s length.
The black nylon NATO is nice enough and good for a waterproof option but it doesn’t hold a candle to that comfy canvas. I will note that those fat lugs contain standard spring bars, so any 20mm strap will fit although not all will look right. A thin strap will appear anemic against those burly tubes but this plump leather two-piece I dug out of my strap collection worked just fine and made the watch a bit more wearable for small wristed folks like me.
The Pancerna P.7 Pilot will sell for $625 at full list but the first 50 Super Early Bird backers will snag it for $375 and rewards will go up from there. If you like your tool watches with an extra dash of style and appreciate the rounder forms in life, head over to pancerna.com and sign up for a Kickstarter alert. I suspect those first 50 will go fast.
