REC RJM 03 Military Green Limited Edition Spitfire PT879 41mm Automatic PVD

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One of the reasons we love vintage watches is that they come with stories attached. The question is, can a modern watch do they same? The folks over in Copenhagen at REC think so. The RJM is the brands first aviation inspired watch and if you look closely enough at the dial you will see a small window of untreated Spitfire aluminium which frames the date at 6 o’clock.  

Now, REC is not the only manufacturer to get excited about implanting components of cars, planes, or boats into watches, but they have developed something of a reputation for doing so over the years (previously launching the REC P51-02 Mustang and the COOPER C3 among others). This new watch is named the RJM in recognition of the Spitfire plane’s late designer Mr. Reginald Joseph Mitchell. There will be three variations of RJM, the 01, 02, and 03. The differences will be in the dial layout and color, while all three maintain the same general aesthetic. The 01 has a black dial with a horizontal line running across it, the 02 (which we have here) has a brown dial, and the 03 will have a green dial with no L and R at three and nine o’clock, respectively.  

In total there will be somewhere around 4,000 watches produced, depending on the amount of aluminum that can be removed from the aircraft. This isn’t the first time parts of a Spitfire have been integrated into a watch – the limited edition Bremont EP120 contained parts of the famous 1942 Spitfire Mk V aircraft in its rotor. The PT879 aircraft in question is currently under restoration in England, and only parts not suitable in the restoration process were used for the dials of this watch. 

The donor spitfire is a Russian PT879. Structurally identical to the British model, the only visual differences were that the Russians converted the rounded RAF markings on the fuselage and wings of the aircraft of these Spitfires to their own red insignia. Despite this, the Russian squadrons suffered huge losses to friendly fire (as the British aircraft looked similar to the German Bf 109). 

This PT879 crashed during a dogfight in Spring 1945 with just 29 hours on the airframe, and it was recovered in Russia by an unnamed farmer, who stored the aircraft until 1998, when it was found in Murmansk by a British gentleman named Peter Monk. The aircraft then moved into the hands of the current restorer, Peter Teichman, in 2001, and he hopes to complete the project by 2020.

The untreated aluminum date window frame on the dial is cut directly from the wings of this Spitfire and the crown is inspired by the nose cone of the Spitfire. The crown protector has been designed to echo the shape of the aircrafts wing to continue the motif. Unsurprisingly, the element of the RJM I enjoy the most is the dial. It features three layers, with a speckled outer ring, a smooth circular inner ring, and then the untreated Spitfire aluminum around the date window. The fact that you can see the battle scares on the aluminum is great. 

The dial layout is intriguing, with Arabic numerals at three, six, and nine, and the broad arrow insignia at 12. From a wearability standpoint, the 41mm case is spot-on. I was skeptical about the RJM before it arrived, wondering if the Spitfire story was going to be a little too much and whether or not the watch build itself would suffer or feel like a secondary element of the project. But as a modern pilot’s watch, it’s robust and offers some play off the traditional form, taking inspiration from the past, not simply replicating it like many others. That has to be celebrated. 

Awesome, Incredibly Rare & Sold Out! REC RJM 03 Green Military Spitfire Limited Edition! This is a complete set including the individual Story Card of this exact watch and comes with Factory warranty until March 2022!

BRAND: REC

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