Gavox Squadron

I am constantly on the hunt for great looking military style watches, especially with a Sinn watch brand type appearance to them. The Gavox Squadron really delivers this at a much more affordable cost. Some background information direct from Gavox Watches indicates the company was registered in 2011 by the grandson of one of the legendary “Flying Tigers”. Gavox strives to produce timing instruments inspired by exploration of the skies. The founder, as an engineer and a pilot, wanted to produce watches that could be used by individuals in the field, providing multiple functions such as: alarms, chronographs, military time, perpetual calendars and multiple time zones.

The Squadron was specifically designed for the Belgian Air Force with 65 units designed and designated for two separate squadrons of their Air Force. However, the civilian population didn’t get left out as another 500 were produced for the rest of us. As I mentioned earlier, the Squadron model has some strong resemblances to Sinn watch brand productions, specifically the 103 model, but at a much more affordable cost starting at $396 USD for the stainless model compared to watches nearing $2000 USD. A PVD model is also available at $430 USD. Some of the basic specifications of the Squadron are:

Case: Steel

Movement: Ronda 5130.D

Dial: Matte Black

Crystal: Sapphire

Water Resistance: 10bar

Case Diameter: 41mm

Warranty: 2 years

Starting with the same great packaging of all Gavox watches, the Squadron is delivered in a wooden crate with sliding drawer, which contains the watch surrounded by foam inserts, which will protect the watch well during shipping. While the packaging is cool and protective, it is completely non-functional and is the type of packaging that will find a place in the closet with the rest of the watch boxes. I am a huge fan of functional or extreme packaging so I would prefer a nice travel roll or zipper style case for those of us on the go as I have stated in the past so many times. I hope Gavox moves in this direction at some point with their productions.

Of course packaging isn’t really what the majority of us are concerned with, but rather the watch itself, so let’s take a look at the watch case next. The case is a really simple design with a strong rugged military watch style appearance measuring 41mm in diameter and close to 44mm including the crown. At a 41mm case diameter, the model is smaller than so many pilot/military style watches on the market but the almost 51mm lug tip to lug tip measurement along with the 12mm case thickness allow for the watch to still provide significant wrist presence. The long angular lug design allows the watch case to conform to the wrist which will also aid in the overall comfort on the wrist. View the video presentation at the end of this article for an even greater perspective of how this model appears on a 7 3/4 inch wrist.

The Squadron comes with a oversized 7mm screw down crown positioned between 5mm plunger style function pushers. The crown is also a significant 3.5mm in overall thickness. I really like the oversized “G” etched into the flat surface of the crown. The crown action is extremely smooth with no play or wiggle when engaged at either setting position. Overall, a really well proportioned case with great detail, including screw in lugs rather than a more standard spring bar design which provides a much more secure bracelet to case connection. The lug bars will also allow for the use of tubes if one chooses to slap on a nice leather strap in place of the bracelet.