Tutima Flieger Automatic Green Dial – Accessible, Robust, Colourful

Take a company with true legitimacy in “Flieger” pilots watches, create a nice, well-proportioned time-and-date watch with just enough vintage and military inspiration, give it a robust yet easy-to-source automatic movement, add a touch of trendy style with a gradient green dial and sell it for a reasonable price… and you end up with the new Tutima Flieger, a cool, inexpensive, no-nonsense pilots-inspired watch that doesn’t take it too serious!

There are two sides of Tutima. The first, and the one we appreciate most here, at MONOCHROME, concerns high-end watches with in-house movements, luxurious dials and cases and typical Saxon design. These watches, under the Patria line, are pieces to consider if you want to make a step into the world of Glashütte-manufactured watches – especially the latest model in the collection, the Blue enamel Patria in Steel.

The other side of Tutima looks back at the brand’s heritage, when the brand was crafting pilots and military watches – mostly during the 1940s. These chronographs (or not) are known under the name “Flieger” and were the required equipment for German pilots. Today’s collection at Tutima still relies on these robust, utlitarian pieces, with such examples – modernized, more civilian models based on the “Flieger” design.

This year, Saxon brand Tutima re-interprets the Flieger concept, with an entry-level, time-and-date watch. So you can get your hands on a cool-looking watch, with robust movement, legitimate established brand for a very decent price – indeed, accessibility isn’t only the apanage of micro-brands.

The ida behind this watch was to give a more urban, less toolish, less strict design to the pilots watch – which can easiliy be quite cold. Most of the elements of a German pilots watch are still present, however, combined with more contemporary and more casual design elements.

The case of the new Tutima Flieger is reasonnably sized at 41mm in diameter. It is made of stainless steel, with polished and satin-finished surfaces, a large (but not oversized) round crown, a flat polished bezel and rather compact lugs. The execution is pleasant and transpire German quality. A sapphire crystal on the back (not photographed here, as the watch was still at prototype stage) gives a view on the movement. Water resistance is set at 100m, more than sufficient for such a watch.

Where Tutima brings originality and modernity is on the dial. available in multiple versions, including black and anthracite versions, the most appealing version is the present green dial. Green is quite a trendy colour these days and combined with a gradient effect (darker on the periphery), this gives the watch a unique personality. Touches of red on the dial also brings a more playful look. A date window is placed at 6 o’clock, which can be justified by the contemporary and casual intentions of this watch, however we could easily do without it…

Powering the new Tutima Flieger is the automatic calibre Tutima 330 (base ETA), with 38-hour power reserve and 4hz frequency. In short, a tried-and-tested, easily serviceable movement that will last for years. Considering the price, it is a quality option from Tutima.

The Tutima Flieger Automatic Green Dial is available on a 3-link, polished and satin-finished bracelet. A green leather strap can also be ordered. Price is EUR 1,600 on steel bracelet and EUR 1,350 on leather strap. A very decent quality-price ratio. More details at tutima.com.