Merry Christmas From Graham With a Dedicated Chronofighter Vintage Nose Art

Graham is not shy about creating bold watches… If you know them already, then you’ll be aware of the hyper-masculine and completely original Chronofighter watches, a collection of large pilot chronographs with a unique trigger device to activate the timing sessions. Less common however were the Vintage Nose Art Ltd. watches, which featured on their dials a variety of aviation-inspired pinups. And because the end of the year is coming, the brand has decided to bring something quite “à propos”, with the Graham Chronofighter Vintage Nose Art Merry Ltd…

Don’t take this too seriously… Clearly, this not the goal of the Graham Chronofighter Vintage Nose Art watches, and even more with this “Merry” edition. Having a “Santa Babe” printed on the dial, you can easily imagine that these watches are far away from the usual codes of luxury and traditional watchmaking. And in a way, this is refreshing. Of course, this “Merry” edition, as well as all the other Nose Art watches won’t please everyone, and many of us, conservative as we are, will look at it with a sceptical eye. Yet, this is precisely why this new piece should be regarded and appreciated.

The concept is entirely the same as the previous “Nose Art” watches Graham presented earlier this year. Only the dial is different, and the limitation that goes along. Graham has been using the concept of Nose Art to create some cool vintage, slightly offset watches, an idea that befits perfectly the base watch that is used here. The most common representation we have of Nose Art is mainly linked to WWII aircraft, and the pinups that ground crews painted on the nose of military planes. Yet, originally there was nothing glamorous in these decorations. Nose Art started as embellished squadron insignia, created in order to identify friendly units from enemies. The practice evolved to express the individuality which was often constrained by the uniformity of the military, to evoke memories of home and peacetime life, and this is why during WWII, many of these “Nose Arts” were of young and glamorous ladies, a.k.a. “pinups”. This is exactly when Nose Art became more of a folk art than a military necessity. And considering the “vintage pilot” inspiration behind the Graham Chronofighter, all of that makes more sense.

This “Merry” edition is based on a watch that we know well: a bold, large chronograph, with its inverted crown at 9 and the “trigger” device, a distinctive feature of most Graham watches. It is presented here in a 44mm case, crafted in polished stainless steel, and even though they are not small dress timepieces, these Chronofighter watches are perfectly wearable. Inside the case is a movement that has been tried-and-tested for decades, the calibre G1747, based on the Valjoux 7750 – meaning a 48h power reserve, 4Hz frequency and 25 jewels.

The Graham Chronofighter Vintage Nose Art Merry Ltd. brings a different dial, which compared to the other Nose Art Editions, is basically a different pinup. The blue sunburst dial features a “Santa Babe” at 3, relevantly named “Merry”. She is, for the occasion of the end-of-the-year season, dressed in a red and white attire. Then again, this shouldn’t be taken too seriously and must be regarded from a lighter point of view. There’s something quite intriguing and offset with these Nose Art watches, however the unique and bold style must be noted.

Each Graham Chronofighter Vintage Nose Art Merry Ltd. comes with a hand-sewn blue calf-leather strap, along with a red canvas alternative that will harmonise perfectly with any Santa outfit. This will be a limited edition of 25 pieces (of course…) with a retail price of CHF 5,950. More details on graham1695.com.

Technical Specifications – Graham Chronofighter Vintage Nose Art Ltd.

• Case: 44mm diameter – stainless steel, polished – fast-action start / stop trigger and reset pusher – sapphire crystal on both sides – 100m water resistant
• Movement: calibre G1747 (Valjoux 7750 base) – automatic – Swiss Made – 4Hz frequency – 48h power reserve – time, day-and-date, chronograph
• Strap: hand-sewn leather strap in blue, steel pin-buckle – Additional red canvas strap
• Reference: 2CVAS.U06A
• Limited edition of 25 pieces