One of the original French manufacturers of the Type 20 chronograph is returning with a faithful recreation of their 1950s Type 20 design. Airain was among those supplying French pilots with standard issue flyback chronographs during the ?50s and ?60s, alongside the likes of Breguet, Dodane, and Mathey Tissot. The Type 20 followed regulation as set forth by the French Ministry of Defense and the resulting designs have become iconic designs in the lore of vintage military watches ripe for reissue. With this particular Type 20 reissue, we not only get the watch, but the brand that produced it.

The original Airain Type 20

Airain was one of a handful of original manufacturers supplying watches to French pilots, and did so under the purview of the brand Dodane. The feature set of the Type 20 was defined by the needs of pilots operating within the analog cockpits of the day, and required the following:
A black dial with registers at 3 and 6 o?clock with the ability to track up to 30 minutes
Luminous hands and hours, which needed to be Arabic numerals
A case diameter of ~38mm and thickness under 14mm
A chronograph complication with flyback functionality 
A rotating 12 hour bezel
Accuracy to 8 seconds per day
A power reserve of at least 35 hours

The Airain Type 20 represented one of the more handsome takes on the above criteria, but the brand itself fell by the wayside in the years following the war. With the revival of Airain?s sister brand Lebois & Co in 2014 b...