Hi,
I just aquired and Elgin Avion. Have always liked that dial with "Flight Hours" on it and finally got a chance to get a crisp one. Does anyone know any history of these, why they were made, who marketed to (commmercial/private pilots in the 30s? military?). Seem pretty rare, have been looking for a few years and first one I've come across.

Wow, great looking wind indicator!

Very nice looking watch. Any chance of more photos - of the back and the movement?

It is not military. It would be something that you could buy at local jewelers or aviation supply companies - either for personal use if you were a pilot, or just to have a watch that had the look of aviation since aviation was such a romantic ideal of the era. The dial for Flight Hours is, how should I say it - optimistic? I do not know of any aircraft of the day that could stay up for anything close to 40 hours unless they were balloons or dirigibles or such in which case 40 hours would be way to brief a time. For example, the DC-3 which was a long-distance transport aircraft first flown in 1935 could only stay up for about 8 hours or 1,500 miles before running dry.

I looked up the trade mark date for Elgin - Avion and found Elgin filed the trademark for the name in October, 1929. So I would think that these would be mainly from the early 1930s?

I saw that listed also, it is absolutely in great condition. Real close to mint, unused. You got a bargain. If I had the money, I'd of snapped it up before you.