Tutima Limited Edition Promotion Watches

Tutima’s promotional watches created for give-away at Basel shows.

Recently, I was going through my watch drawers — reflecting on some of the fun and serious watches I have owned over the years. It’s hard to believe the timepieces in my early collection. Some are worth drooling over and others will raise eyebrows. However, I have three that made me smile: Tutima Limited Edition Promotion watches that were created as give-aways during Baselworld for several years. German watch brand Tutima — hailing from Glashutte — has a long and storied past in the world of aviation. These watches highlight that history with fun dials — mind you, these are not serious aviation watches that the brand is known for making. These are fun, promotional watches given as gifts in very limited numbers. I am happy to have them.

The 2006 Tutima Basel promotional watch underscores the brand’s military aviation history and has a great “Top Gun” feel to it.

The three limited edition Tutima Promotional watches I have are from 2006, 2011 and 2012. I can’t pick my favorite because they all represent something special. Each was made in a batch of just 100 pieces. Fun, collectible and cool. The 2006 watch is a standout because of the bold and colorful dial. Sunset on deck, with a fighter jet and a pilot in the foreground — it recalls the brand’s history with military aviation, but also has a real “Top Gun” feel to it.

The 2011 edition of the Tutima promotion watch boasts aerobatic planes in action on the dial– a tribute to the brand’s involvement with the Tutima Aviation Safety Academy.

The 2011 Tutima Baselworld Limited Edition Promotional watch boasts a magnificent dial underscoring Tutima’s role in the Tutima Academy of Aviation Safety in California. It was 14 years ago, in 2006, that Tutima founded the Tutima Academy of Aviation Safety together with aviation aerobatic pilot Sean D. Tucker. It has since become one of the top academies for flight training, where experienced pilots learn aerobatic excellence. I had the great privilege of visiting the Academy and flying with Sean D. Tucker in King City, CA. High over the Pacific Ocean, the highly experienced Tucker took our plane into dramatic rolls, breath-stopping downward spirals and incredible formation flying with other planes so close to us that it felt as though wings would collide. (For this memory, this may just be my favorite promotional watch.)

The 2012 Tutima Promotion watch for Baselworld boasts a bright red pilot’s chronograph in the center.

The 2012 Tutima watch is all about history and current day. It was in 1939 that Tutima first created its pilot’s chronograph for the German army. It featured a fluted bezel and case with a large crown and highly legible dial. Over the course of four years (1941-1945, Tutima produced about 30,000 pilot chronographs for air force pilots). Decades later, in 1985, the brand was again asked by the German army to create military chronographs, and Tutima has been used by pilots since then. The 2012 Limited Edition Tutima promotional watch boasts a bold red-dial chronograph in the center of it. It recalls the brand’s chronograph history but does so in a modern color: Red. Red is an important color for Tutima — with many a red dial watch selling like wildfire.

Unfortunately, I seem to only have three of these great watches, but I know there are more in my collection — I will just have to hunt a little more, and when I find them, I’ll bring another article this way. It would be sad not to have the entire series.

Tutima today is one of my favorite brands because the quality and value aspect is so high here. Additionally, the watches are not only excellent in performance, but also in looks.