Story of the MACH 1 - Why IAF?
I was -maybe- five years old. I vividly remember sitting on my dad's shoulders trying to peer through the crowds, to get a glimpse of the Indian Naval Ship 'INS Vikrant' just across the coast of Madras. Sea-harriers were demonstrating vertical take-off and landing, and navy-special-ops displaying in-sea rescue.
![Image Credit: Arun Prakash, CC BY-SA 3.0, Creative Commons.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a72934129f187be16acaa77/1564989997987-S9POHTPITLRUN6JZGKPT/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kCMD32C4Dy9ir6IGkN_GmZ0UqsxRUqqbr1mOJYKfIPR7LoDQ9mXPOjoJoqy81S2I8N_N4V1vUb5AoIIIbLZhVYxCRW4BPu10St3TBAUQYVKcO8R2dFrz0BNlceqEvUq6uYzstNMx_d5vpEqn5pbvjoHl7-r0iAXBUsj5jHW7LgyM/INS_Vikrant_circa_1984_carrying_a_unique_complement_of_Sea_Harriers%2C_Sea_Hawks%2C_Allouette_%26_Sea_King_helicopters_and_Alize_ASW.jpg)
Image Credit: Arun Prakash, CC BY-SA 3.0, Creative Commons.
I've always been fascinated by aircraft carriers, fighter jets, and space science since — specifically, those from India.
Years later, in Hong Kong, I was close to pulling the trigger on a four thousand dollar IWC Mark watch only to walk away at the last minute.
My gripe? I couldn't relate to any of them — not the Mark series, not the Top Gun, and indeed not the Le Petit Prince. This sentiment of buying only watches that I could relate to at a personal level is also why I never put my money on a Moonwatch.
I never put my money on an Omega ‘Moonwatch’ Speedmaster as I could not relate to it at a personal level.
A pilot watch was clearly on the radar when Mercy and I started Bangalore Watch Company™; we wanted our debut to be an India inspired pilot. So we set out on a journey of R&D that has now stretched for two years. Last year though, we launched the brand with our mid-century inspired dress watch instead: our Renaissance Automatic.
Our hunt for inspiration leads us to three choices:
1. The 'Tejas LCA' (Light Combat Aircraft). It is a multirole light fighter indigenously developed in India by HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited).
![Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a72934129f187be16acaa77/1564990197721-GX0J2RXKB05WK83OEPF1/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kC1PKPc9RfHaKzJQZy2I-HN7gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z5QPOohDIaIeljMHgDF5CVlOqpeNLcJ80NK65_fV7S1UbCAjuKNeqkKikyM-BDBJu2aRECnnbbScET7yqdY3kkicowEwzxXVWdR7oXAXSjAuQ/IAF_Tejas_full_size_%2832941198511%29.jpg)
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
2. The Sukhoi SU-30 MKI, a multirole fighter built in India under license from the Russian Federation by our very own HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited).
![Image Credit: Alan Wilson, Wikimedia Commons.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a72934129f187be16acaa77/1564990392842-ZFWMBB59U43URKDH3A0V/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kO7Rg1Gpu728H4UqxUIfecJZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZamWLI2zvYWH8K3-s_4yszcp2ryTI0HqTOaaUohrI8PICj5SdZHY9KUswDgTH3eH8sP5PrkY15Dr7CE2CPSRiTEKMshLAGzx4R3EDFOm1kBS/800px-Su-30_MKI_SB_065.jpg)
Image Credit: Alan Wilson, Wikimedia Commons.
3. The MiG 21 FL Type 77, originally meant to be an interceptor but took on a rather bold air superiority role in many situations in the 70s, and until recently. Again, built under license by our very own HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited).
![Image Credit: India Today.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a72934129f187be16acaa77/1564990622779-I3Q5YQLD9GLVDH2USFSH/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kJQpEDPV7qFofCjk4606mspZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpzJiTUSoW38EN15mbJW-Jq7mFSb4PAPso6XEBbC3tsZ5fiA3Pl62Q9UQnxCNi7SufE/mig_21_660_121113034632.jpg)
Image Credit: India Today.
We made our pick from this shortlist and have been working on a design over the past year.
For now, we will leave you guessing what our pick was, and we’ll come back in a few days to share the next segment of the story on how the design has come about.
Over and out, until Part 2.