The Flying Officer chronograph wristwatch (1939–present), designed and manufactured in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland by Gallet & Co., was commissioned by Senator Harry S. Truman from Missouri in 1939 for pilots and navigators of the United States Army Air Forces.
Originally known as the "Flight Officer", a rank in the early Army Air Forces,[1] the watch's unique rotating 12-hour bezel and 23 cities printed on the periphery of the dial (face) made it possible to calculate changes in the time as a pilot flew across lines of longitude.
[6] In 2010, the Gallet Company produced 5 small series of its aviator’s wristwatch as a special benefit for the National Watch and Clock Museum in Columbia, Pennsylvania.
According to Walter Hediger, the company's CEO, the watches were offered at a fraction of the normal selling price as a way to quickly assist the Museum achieve its yearly funding goals.
A highly complicated, certified chronometer grade mechanical timepiece, The "Museum Edition" Flight Officer was equipped with 51 jewels, automatic self-winding, adjustable world time zone calculator, silicon (Silicium) escapement, dual mainsprings for increased accuracy and extended power reserve, and 12-hour double-chronograph functions for timing two aeronautical events simultaneously.