Tutima M2 Coastline Chronograph

Tutima, the German brand from Glashütte with a solid tradition of pilot’s watches, launches the M2 Coastline Chronograph. Modelled on the brand’s purpose-built pilot’s watch, the famous Military Chronograph Ref. 798 (aka as the official NATO watch) of 1984, the M2 Coastline is a super-solid, super-instrumental, highly-legible and water-resistant chronograph in a brushed titanium case with a blue dial and white markings or a model with a black dial and a titanium bracelet. Let’s have a closer look.

Short History

Tutima was established in Glashütte in 1927. Coinciding with the advent of commercial motor cars and the established use of aircraft during the First World War, Tutima hedged its bets on the wristwatch, a far more useful companion to drivers and pilots than a fiddly pocket watch.  Durability and reliability were the bywords of Tutima’s pilot’s watches until a devastating air raid in 1945 destroyed the factory and East Germany became the GDR. The founder managed to move to the West and continued producing watches.

One of the most significant watches (photo above) was the Tutima Military Chronograph Ref. 798, originally produced in the 1980s for the German Air Force (and still in use today) and then voted the official pilot’s watch of the NATO in 1984 before being adopted by other Air Force squadrons around the world. With the fall of the Iron Curtain and German reunification, there were plans for Tutima to return to Glashütte and in 2008 Tutima opened its new factory in the former railway station maintenance depot of the small German town.

M2 Coastline Chronograph

To date, the M2 Coastline family had one model: the three-hand and day/date MS Coastline, reviewed here in 2018, which was proposed as a more affordable model of the famous 1984 NATO Military Chronograph watch. Like the three-hand MS Coastline, the inspiration behind the new the M2 Coastline Chronograph can be traced directly to Ref. 798. The distinguishing features of the original military watch were its rounded, tonneau-shaped case with no angular edges and the flat pushers integrated into the case. The design of the integrated pushers was to solve the problem of protruding pushers getting broken off or snagging in the cockpit. The same went for the case with its smooth rounded edges.

Like the formidable military chronograph, the new Tutima M2 Coastline Chronograph retains the thick, robust and protected case of the past with its distinctive shape and masculine proportions. Measuring 43mm in diameter and with a chunky height of 15.8mm, the watch is ready for action on all fronts. Made from lightweight, highly resistant titanium and brushed throughout, the watch is exceptionally comfortable on the wrist. The two integrated pushers also feature a black PVD-coated tread for extra grip. Fitted with a screw-in crown and a sealed caseback, the M2 Coastline Chronograph has a solid water-resistance of 200m.

Vital elements of a pilot’s watch

As a pilot’s chronograph, legibility is vital and is reflected in Tutima’s choice of a dark dial colour with contrasting white markings. Glaring reflections are another problem that pilots can encounter and to avoid this, the new Tutima M2 Coastline Chronograph comes with a matte blue or matte black dial to absorb the light and the dial is covered with an anti-reflective sapphire crystal.

The deep-set dial features a sloping chapter ring for the minutes/seconds with clear white markings and Arabic numerals. The thick rectangular hour markers printed on the dial are shortened at 12 o’clock to accommodate the 30-minute elapsed time counter, at 9 o’clock to house the running seconds and at 6 o’clock for the 12-hour elapsed counter. There is also a date window at 3 o’clock. The linear arrangement of the chronograph functions is easy to consult and Super-LumiNova illuminates the hour and minute hands as well as the indices. The chronograph model with a black dial has red hands for the chronograph indications.

New Calibre 310

On board the M2 Coastline Chronograph is Tutima’s new automatic calibre 310. Based on an ETA/Valjoux 7750, the chronograph movement has an autonomy of 48 hours to power the hours, minutes, central chronograph hand, 30-min and 12-hour elapsed time counters, small seconds and date. The titanium caseback is sealed and decorated with the NATO star.

Strap, bracelet and price

A brown strap with blue stitching accompanies the Tutima M2 Chronograph with a blue dial while the model with a black dial comes with the popular integrated Tutima bracelet, in titanium to match the case.

The retail price of the blue model (ref. 6430-03) is USD 3,300 while the black model with titanium bracelet (ref. 6430-02) retails for USD 3,600. For more information, please visit tutima.com.