AVI-8 AV-4089-02

Perhaps no story is more fitting for the continuation of the AVI-8 AV-4089 Spitfire Series watch collection than the story of Eric "Sawn Off" Lock, a real-life World War II hero who was the highest-rated British-born RAF pilot in the Battle of Britain and the inspiration for our AVI-8 Spitfire Lock watch collection.

Eric Stanley Lock, DSO, DFC & Bar was a fighter pilot in the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and an aerial ace of the Second World War.

Lock was born in Shrewsbury in 1919 and gained his first flying experience as a teenager. In the late 1930s, with war becoming a possibility and the likelihood of being called to arms, Lock decided he would rather fight as an aviator. He joined the RAF in 1939. He completed his training in 1940, and by the time of the Battle of Britain was assigned to 41 Squadron RAF. Lock became the most successful Allied pilot in the RAF during the battle, shooting down 21 German aircraft.

After the Battle of Britain, Lock served on the Channel Front and flew offensive sorties over France. Lock thus achieved a total of 26 aerial victories, one jointly destroyed and eight probable, in 25 weeks of operational sorties over a year during which he was hospitalised for six months. Included in his total number of victories were 20 German fighter aircraft, 18 of which were Messerschmitt Bf 109s. In mid-1941 Lock was promoted to the rank of Air Force lieutenant.

Due to his extremely short stature, Lock earned the nickname "Sawn Off Lockie " and less than six months after becoming one of the RAF's most famous pilots, he crashed in the English Channel after his Supermarine Spitfire was damaged by ground fire. Lock was declared missing in action. He was never seen again.

**The Mecaquartz triplets.

Mecaquartz is a so-called hybrid, and is a middle way in chronograph movements between classic quartz and mechanical. In a quartz chronograph movement, the movement normally contains two isolated movements, one driving the classical time functions separately and the other driving the chronograph. Mecaquartz uses a single quartz movement to drive all functions. A network of gears then distributes the power from one motor to the main hour markers and also to the countdown timer. The mechanical movement behaves like a traditional mechanical watch when the chronograph is triggered, with a classic seconds hand movement and a characteristic ticking sound (a conventional chronograph lacks this), plus the mecaquartz instantly resets the seconds hand position on the second click. The classic chronograph after three clicks.

Mechanical processing and accuracy of the stopwatch

The watch is powered by a proven Japanese Seiko Mecaquartz movement with a 1/5th of a second instant reset function that encapsulates the true art of modern watchmaking technology.

The watch is complemented by a comfortable, handcrafted genuine leather strap in vintage pilot style, which tapers from 22mm to 20mm.

The watch takes its design cues from the iconic Spitfire aircraft

Combining timeless and modern watchmaking aesthetics, the AVI-8 Lock Series watch features a clean, symmetrical and easy-to-read dial with two registers that draws on the details in the cockpit indicators of the iconic Spitfire aircraft.

The 42mm case is inspired by the famous curved silhouette of the Spitfire aircraft and features custom-designed smooth pushers to complement this feature. Further inspiration comes from the body of the Spitfire - the micro-details on the sides of the case are designed to mimic the panels on the aircraft.