This is a photo taken in the 1950s, I believe. It’s in the programme from an Edwards AFB air show (I used to go all the time), and is an official Air Force portrait. I doubt he was an official endorser for Rolex half a century ago.
from
http://www.ukwatches.com/Notes/rfgmt.htm
"It is worth noting that while Knight wore a Rolex GMT Master on his world record flight he was following in the grand tradition of Edwards Air Force Base, for it was there in 1947 that Chuck Yeager first broke the “Sound Barrier” in a Bell X-1 and did so wearing a Rolex Oyster; the same one he had worn all through World War II. "
The Rolex GMT model was originally made for Pan-Am pilots.
They ARE instruments for professionals. Professional pilots and divers use Brietlings a lot. They have all sorts of exotic features that A) aren’t visible, and therefore arent’ for show, and B) aren’t of any use to people who don’t do the special activities they were designed for. For example, they have one model of watch that has an ELT transmitter built into it.
The thing I don’t like about many high-end watches like Brietling is that they are damned heavy and bulky, and I can’t stand that. That’s one of the reasons I have my $40 Timex. When I’m wearing it, I can’t even tell that it’s on my wrist it’s so light. But I still appreciate a fine watch.
My wife has a Movado, which would be considered an ‘intermediate’ watch. Not up in the multi-thousand dollar stratosphere like the expensive watches, but it’s worth maybe $500. She’s had it for twenty years, wears it constantly, and it still looks new. It’s extremely thin, and has a sapphire crystal that does not have a single scratch on it. On the other hand, my Timex has a plastic crystal that is so scratched up it’s getting hard to read, and it’s only a few years old.
So he could afford a rolex on sergeant pay. Thanks for the correction zippyh.
I stand corrected on Breitling. They seem to have quite a heritage with aviators, so the whole “professionals” thing isn’t just a put-on. I agree that a decent watch is a worthwhile investment…why not spend a little money and get something that will last your lifetime, and look good while doing it? BTW, what is an ELT transmitter?
I’d find the scratched plastic crystal you describe difficult to abide. Every time I looked at it, it would bug me.
Why would a professional pilot even need a watch?
Some old dude in a Piper, if using dead-reckoning, I can see. I guess. Flying over the Amazon.
Tower, what time ya got? 
Where do you see that Yeager was a seargent? Even by his time, virtually all pilots were officers, no?
Be that as it may, it’s of no consequence whether he could afford the watch or not. The company likely gave him one, being more than happy to associate their product with his unique accomplishment. Rich or not, I doubt that any of the various prominent persons featured in Rolex ads needed to buy them.
When Yeager first became a pilot in WW2, he was a sergeant.
Back in those days, Rolexes weren’t really that expensive in comparison to other watches. I doubt if Rolex had the slightest idea who Yeager was until well after he broke the sound barrier.
It’s all a big scam, if you ask me…
On my trip to the caribbean the beginning of this month, I went shopping, and found what I thought I was looking for watchwise…
…Looked at a Breitling, Movado, Rolex and Omega Speedmaster automatic. not a one under 3k. The Breitling in particular was as stunning as it was heavy, damn face took up nearly the entire top of my wrist, and the tag said $800.00. Says I “Wow, $800? that’s all?” “Uh…no” says the lady…“that’s just the band”
“THE BAND?” I scream in my head, “what band? The Rolling Stones?”
So I figure since you can get a good knock off handbag and such down there, I figured that was it…so I put myself in the market for a decent knock-off.
A little shopping, and I found myself a nicely appointed fully functioning Omega Speedmaster Auto for (get this) $50. It’s got all the parts, pieces and numbers etc. the 2nd hand sweeps, you’ve got to shake it to get it going when it’s been idle too long, and it is utterly indistinguishable from the model I looked at that was 3200.00 I took it snorkeling, and generally beat the livin daylights out of it for the week I was there, and it functions like a champ.
That trip paid for itself, I tell ya. I saved $3150.00 that week. What’s more, just for shites and giggles, I took it to every jeweler I passed by when I got home, wanting to get some “pins for the band”, y’know, just in case, and not a one out of the 8 i went to, could tell that this was a $50.00 caribbean knock off, and 3 of 'em were Omega dealers.
Pay $3200.00 suckers…g’head.
Mine is here by the way.
‘Not one under 3k’? Then they were ripping off the rich tourists. It’s been a few years since I looked at the Breitling I wanted, but it was about $1,000 less than my GMT II. I was looking at an Omega Speedmaster stem-wind about a year and a half ago. (I heard they used stem-wind Speedies on Apollo because of a problem with the automatic movement working in zero G.) That watch, from an authorised Omega dealer, went for $1,800. I co-worker bought a Seamaster from a non-authorised dealer for about $1,500 I think.
FWIW, the non-chronograph Rolex Air King sells for about $2,500 or so. (The chronograph Rolexes have been specially tested for accuracy.) Rolex has very strict (which I read “pretentious”) rules about selling below MSRP. Omega et al can usually be had at a nice discount.
(Incidentally, Rolex is a bit persnickety about what you can do with their watches. I had a devil of a time finding a real Rolex ‘Jubilee’ bracelet with the correct wnd pieces for my GMT II, since it is no longer offered in such a configuration.)
I think that says a lot more about the quality of the dealers you took it to rather than the quality of your fake watch.
You mean “chronometer”. Look at the dial of your GMT. It’s a “Superlative Chronometer”, right? 
Daytonas, Speedmasters, etc are chronographs, many of which are also chronometers.
Shouldn’t the plural of “Rolex” be “Rolices”?
Yes, “chronometer”. I have a houseguest, and I was distracted.
I was serious. Why does a professional pilot, or any pilot for that matter, need an accurate wristwatch? It can’t be for navigation, can it? What difference does it make if you arrive at the airport at 05:37:17, or 05:37:49?
Peace,
mangeorge
So go get yourself a Seamaster. I have one, in titanium. I think it was $2500. I love it. Waterproof to 300m, automatic, chronometer, gas relief valve, subdued but beautiful, and in titanium it’s not so heavy that I can’t lift my arm.
A steel Seamaster auto retails for under $2K.
Breitling makes the SuperOcean and Avenger Seawolf which retail around $2K.
The Seamaster GMT is pretty cool too for a few hundred more than the standard Seamaster.
Those are all chronometers with saphire crystal. They have good water resistance with the Seamasters good for 300m and the Breitlings good for some ridiculous amount like 1500m.
You shouldn’t have to try too hard to get 20% off on Omega or Breitling at an authorized dealer. If you go grey market, you should be able to do better but avoid anything which has had its serial number removed.
IWC has a new Aquatimer which I’ve got my eye on but it’s more in the $3k range.
I am not an instrument pilot, but I believe that instrument approaches require timed turns. You probably don’t need chronmeter accuracy for them, but pilots tend to like things that are accurate.
Timed turns, flight planning, giving ETA estimates to controllers, measuring various things. Watches are used a lot in aviation.
That’s what I thought. I think pilots tend to like gadgets, which is essentially what an airplane (or helicopter) is - one big-assed gadget. Same as, I suspect, owning a car that exceeds the essentials.
Look at Sam Stone. He wants to use his chronometer to measure “various things”. I can only imagine. 
I don’t want to induce mass envy, but I just got a vintage 1977 Dabs & Co. Spider-Man watch (swiss made, wind up, no battery) that may actually be the coolest thing ever. 