A Bit of History

Montres Airain was originally conceived by the illustrious Dodane family in 1934 and rose to fame for its trustworthy, high-quality timepieces. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Airain was one of the selected suppliers (including Dodane and Breguet) of the Type 20 model for the French Army. Today, the Airain Type 20 is one of the most sought-after military timepieces of all time.

The Legendary Type 20

Type 20 refers to a specification for pilot’s chronographs issued by the French Ministry of Defense. The unique feature of the Type 20 was the ‘flyback’ function, which allows the pilot to easily reset the chronograph hand, and quickly start timing a new event without the lag in time of pushing two more buttons.

Other characteristics of the original Type 20 chronographs were: a 38mm diameter and 14mm thick case, a black dial with luminescent indexes and hands, a mechanical movement with a power reserve of over 35 hours, a relative precision of + or – 8 seconds per day and finally, the capacity to withstand the running, stopping and resetting of the chronograph more than 300 times without causing any problems to the movement.

Type 20 Re-Edition

Available for pre-order now

The Airain Type 20 Re-Edition faithfully matches in every detail the design and specifications of the original 1950’s Type 20, including a hand-wound column wheel chronograph with flyback function and countdown bezel. Its dial, protected by a domed Hesalite crystal, has the same Arabic numerals as the original timepieces, with two registers at 3 and 9 o’clock that can count to 30 minutes. The hand-applied Super-LumiNova color has been carefully chosen to recall the original luminescent material of the original Type 20. The 39,5mm stainless steel case is slightly bigger than the original to match modern standards without losing the allure of its famous ancestor. The Type 20 Re-Edition is powered by our caliber AM1, developed by Manufacture La Joux-Perret S.A. in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.

Pre-order now