Watches AVI-8 AV-4089-03

Perhaps no story is more fitting to continue AVI-8's Spitfire story than that of Eric "Sawn Off" Lock, a true World War II hero who was the RAF's highest-rated British-born pilot in the Battle of Britain and the inspiration for our Spitfire Lock chronograph.

Eric Stanley Lock, DSO, DFC & Bar was a fighter pilot in the British Royal 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 was assigned to 41 Squadron RAF at the time of the Battle of Britain. Lock became the RAF's most successful Allied pilot 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.

Because of 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.

The watch draws its design from the iconic Spitfire

Combining timeless and modern watchmaking aesthetics, Lock's AVI-8 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 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.