I am sure some of you have a similar story on when you first discovered watches. Mine was with my grandfather’s pocket watch when I was like 4 years old, but we have to fast forward many years to when I bought my first real watch. It was a pilot style watch that paid tribute to the watches from World War II. A fantastic piece. Then I discovered dive watches, well you know what happened then and even now with where the watch market is currently. It is always a treat when a pilot watch comes through here for a review. Today we are exploring the Trintec Copilot GMT.
Completely safe to say that when I opened up the little black box that the dial immediately stole the attention grabbing show. How could it not right? Matte black backdrop with bold white printed markers that seem to pop right off the dial. Reminiscent of that first serious watch, the Copilot has that traditional number layout, bold numerals 12, 3, 6 and 9, with a nice bold white complementing open minute track. Thus creating a badass legible dial that can be easily read, even from across the room. I have seen white printed numerals before that surprised the hell out of me that they passed quality control. Luckily Trintec has quality control that can actually see because the white print is precise on the dial and even on the filling on the bezel numerals.
I remember when I was a nursing assistant working my way through college, I had a saying. “Depending on what nurse I was on a team with that night, could either make or break my night”. This philosophy I also share on the hands on a watch, they can either make or break the dial. The hands on this dial actually add to the appeal of this dial. Holding true to the bold, legible dial theme that is going on here. The skeletonized matte, painted white hour and minute hand are ideally sized for this dial. Rest assure that this dial is even legible at night thanks to the Japanese Luminova that is on all the hands and markers. If you are worried about telling the difference between what hand does what, Trintec took care of that worry for you by shape and color coding each hand.
I have to commend Trintec on what they did with the date window placement on the Copilot. By putting it at the 4 o’clock position on this dial, they kept the harmonious flow of the numerals. I also like the white printed border around the date window. Here is what I don’t like about the date window, it’s on a white wheel with black numerals, a black wheel with white numerals would look much better and add to the dial flow. The other thing that could be improved is the alignment of the date window, on the double digit days of the month easily the teens, the one is hard to see because it’s not exactly centered in the dial cut out. Either of these areas of improvement aren’t a deal breaker in my opinion but it would make this dial that much better with the suggestions. Eliminating the date window all together would also be a fix.
The 43mm x 15mm sandblasted stainless steel case adds to the draw this watch has in my opinion. This finish choice adds to the tool watch style that the Copilot has going on. I was really surprised by the drilled lugs on to be honest, but my surprise didn’t end at that. I was honestly expecting faux screw bars, but hot damn these are the real deal, solid screw bars on a $379.00 piece. The pleasant surprises kept coming on this case much to my watch loving delight. As I mentioned earlier the white numerals on the bezel are precise and crisp, throw in the 120 ratcheting bezel that not only sounds precise but has no extra play whatsoever and lines up with the dial. I am not blowing smoke up your ass here either, at this price point this is impressive. Maybe we have become lax in what we expect at certain price points, or maybe these details are impressive at this price. It’s subjective, but in my opinion I am surprised. I also have to mention that the bezel is easy to grip and operate in all weather conditions.
Now the crown scores 3 out of 4 in my score book. The points that Trintec has earned here are easy to grip thanks to the nice styled edges. I was able to grip this crown with wet hands, dry hands, with and without gloves. Another component of this crown that earns points is the screw down operation/function both with unscrewing/screwing and with setting the date/time. The place where Trintec missed out getting a perfect score on the bezel is that it is not signed. Some people might not find this detail important, but I think that it adds a finished look to the watch.
AR coated sapphire crystal adds to the durability and legibility on the Copilot as does the screw down caseback and adds to the WR which is an impressive 20 ATM or 660 ft. The Trintec Copilot was an overall positive review experience both personally and professionally. Personally I am prefer a realible mechanical movement with that said, Trintec did a fantastic job of adding a lot of nice details that made the personal watch purist inside of me overlook that it has a quartz movement. When I first began doing reviews I kept my personal feelings separate from my professional feelings, which I believe made for a stagnant review. There has been a vast amount of personal growth so it only makes sense that there has been professional growth, and it made perfect sense to merge the two in my review process.
At $379 Trintec really packed in some details that I rarely find at this price and unfortunately don’t find on pieces that sell for more. The quality is here on this watch. What Trintec has going for them as well is great quality control and great customer service. This watch made me take an awesome trip down to my watch loving roots. With the details and price I find it rather easy to recommend this piece, if Trintec makes some improvements then this is a definite must for a collection missing a pilot watch.
Thanks for reading and as always your comments and questions are welcome below. Tons of pics are posted below as well.
Thanks to Trintec.
ZULU-01 GMT / Stainless / Quartz
Review function tests passed:
*Durability and accuracy test for the Swiss made Ronda 515-24 Quartz movement
*Bezel, crown grip and operation test in wet, dry, warm, cold conditions.
*Legibility in light, dark and different positions
*24 hr comfort test for case, strap indoors and outdoors
*Durability test for the case, crystal, bezel hiking, in water, on land, against rock, mud, dirt, ice. (Hairline scratches on the blasted finish)
Improvement Recommendations:
*signed crown
*black date wheel with white numerals
*date window alignment
*no date option
SPECIFICATIONS:
CASE & DIAL
Solid 316L stainless steel case and bezel with sandblasted finish
Solid wrist pins with real screws
Screw down case back
Screw down crown
Precision 120 click unidirectional ratchet style bezel
Japan LumiNova on dial and hands
Date display
Water resistant to 20 ATM / 660 ft / 200 m
Watch dimensions: 42 mm x 42 mm (1.65 in)
Bezel diameter: 43 mm (1.7 in)
Distance between lugs: 22 mm (0.9 in)
Watch case length (lug to lug): 54 mm (2.1 in)
Thickness: 15 mm (0.6 in)
Weight: 120 g
MOVEMENT
Swiss made Ronda 515-24 Quartz movement
Time to Blog Watches 