There?s a lot to be said for watches that don?t fuss; the ones that just get on with the job without crowing about it. They may not impress you on the first date but, over time, you find they?re the ones you pick from the watchbox first. Victorinox?s Airboss (ok, we?ll forgive the slightly OTT name) is a fine example. 

It doesn?t do anything flash, like tell you what?s going on in a second timezone, work out lap times for racing cars or chime on the quarters. It just gets on with telling you what the time is where you are now. And, at 42mm diameter with big, lumed numerals and spade hands, it does it unambiguously.

That?s not to say it?s a dull watch; there?s plenty going on both front and back. The bezel (more of that in a minute) is thin enough that your eye gets drawn straight to the dial. But before you get there, take a look at the crystal. Victorinox have triple-coated it with anti-reflective, but they?ve also used it to carry a 24 hour scale – the numbers and scale itself are printed on its underside. Neat; it avoids cluttering the dial and gives you the information you need in a rather more engaging way than usual. It matches the red second hand, too.
The rest of the dial is an example of what a watchmaker can do when they set out to be clear. White numerals on a black background for maximum contrast. The hour markers use the now traditional Victorinox typeface and they?re three dimensional as well as lume-filled. Bluntly, don?t buy one of these i...