A Day at the Races: The Flieger Blackout Rally Sport Automatic
Summary: Pilot watch meets motorsports. Brillier’s Flieger Blackout Rally Sport Automatic is both a stunning and ambitious watch assembled in Arizona. It’s well-designed, and above all else, durable.
Brillier Watches is owned by Kunal Naik and based in Fountain Hills, Arizona. According to their website, their design philosophy is straightforward: “infuse new technology with classic American designs while staying committed to the highest quality standards for durability and dependability.”
Brillier designs, assembles, and tests its watches in Arizona, but sources most of its parts from overseas to keep costs down. However, they want to move towards using domestically sourced components in the future. And as anyone in the American watchmaking profession knows, this is an uphill climb when considering costs associated with sourcing parts within the United States. But Brillier seems dedicated to it.
As an example of their commitment, the movement in the Blackout Really Sport Automatic is an FTS (Fair Timekeeping Systems) Americhron automatic, assembled in Arizona by Fine Timepiece Solutions. This movement is created with a mix of American and imported parts and put through its paces at their facility. Accuracy is rated at roughly ± 20 seconds per day, which is perfectly acceptable in the watch’s price range.
Although they have a lot of fantastic watches, one of their newest watches, the Blackout Rally Sport, has really caught my eye. It’s part of Brillier’s Flieger (German for flier, aviator, or airman) collection. The Flieger-style pilot watch dates back to WWII Germany and is known for its large luminated numerals, matte black dials, and a signature triangle at 12 o’clock.
Their Flieger collection also includes their standard pilot, the Sport, the Blackout, the Blackout Sport, and, of course, the new Blackout Rally Sport. Every model in the collection shares the same deep sunken dial, two-tone luminous hands and markers, and the Americhron movement.
The Rally Sport Automatic takes the classic Flieger sunken black dial and adds a motorsport twist with red and grey accents that call to mind the gauges on a racecar dashboard. In bright daylight, the white numerals pop against the black dial, and after dark, the two-tone luminous markers make telling time at night an ease.
The watch measures a very nice 39mm in diameter, 48mm lug-to-lug, and 13mm thick. It’s built from 316L stainless steel and protected by a sapphire crystal with an AR (anti-reflective) coating that cuts glare and keeps the dial legible in bright light.
The exhibition caseback, also sapphire, is a nice touch, as it allows you to view the gunmetal Americhron movement hard at work.
Water resistance is rated 10 ATM and comes with an orange rally-style leather strap that suits the racing aesthetic. And if you’re heading outdoors for hiking, camping, hunting, or fishing, Brillier offers an orange rubber strap option that’s a bit more practical for the elements.
Overall, Brillier is producing great watches. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do next, particularly if they follow the lead of the Colorado Watch Company and begin manufacturing some of their own components in-house. But no matter what, it’s nice to see an American company employing American workers to build in-demand watches.
If interested in buying the Rally Sport, check out their website.
