OCTA Takes Flight | Pilot's Chronograph & Portugieser

Well, that APSF family resemblance is getting harder to ignore. OCTA is moving beyond Royal Oaks with two familiar faces: the Pilot’s Chronograph and the Portugieser Chronograph. One looks ready for a cockpit. The other looks like it has already booked a decent restaurant.

The release

The Pilot’s Chronograph comes in blue, green and black, on leather straps or the bracelet. Big numerals, a day-date and that little red seconds hand keep the instrument-panel look intact. The Portugieser takes the quieter route: two vertically stacked subdials, leaf hands and no date window interrupting the view.

The bigger story is inside. OCTA advertises Dandong integrated column-wheel clones: a 69385 type for the Pilot and a 69355 type for the Portugieser. The listings claim three years of development, 231 copied parts and the balance sitting at eight o’clock like the genuine movement, rather than at eleven like a 7750. Small catch: the same 231 figure appears word for word for both models, and the genuine 69385 is usually quoted at around 248 parts. So treat the number as decoration.

Why it matters

For years, replicas of both watches meant a modified 7750. That movement forced the dial layout around it and earned a reputation that made owners nervous about the chronograph pushers. A dedicated column-wheel clone puts the subdials where they belong and gives the chronograph a smoother, more positive action, at least in theory.

Early reports describe these as a continuation of APSF’s work on the same models, which had already made the movement credible. Encouraging, but familiar ancestry doesn’t tell us how well new batches are assembled, who is assembling them, or how consistent the finishing will be.

The take

The white Portugieser with blue hands still does it for me, although the green makes a strong argument. On the Pilot, green on the bracelet is the one to watch.

Give me clean dial printing, good pusher feel and a chronograph that resets properly every time. Then we can argue about which colour to buy.