The design draws together pilot Sandy Gunn’s courage, determination and tragic fate with the ingenuity and disciplined engineering behind Tunnel Harry. It acknowledges the enduring legend created by The Great Escape while keeping the watch firmly rooted in documented history.
WHAT CONNECTS A SPITFIRE PILOT, TUNNEL HARRY, THE GREAT ESCAPE FILM AND A FIELD WATCH?
MODEL:
S5E FIELD WATCH
Dossier:
ZW-040 Great Escape Spitfire
Date:
24/03/1944
Coords:
51.5986N – 15.3075E
Size:
42mm
Material:
Merlin Engine metal from AA810
Edition:
Limited to 100 pieces
Build:
Order and dispatched within 4 weeks
01
INSPIRATION & DESIGN
McQueen’s Triumph motorcycle contributes its sense of mechanical purity, rebellion and function-led design, while the clarity of Spitfire avionics informs a visual language built around necessity and readability.
Our hands-on involvement in restoring AA810 completes that connection, uniting authentic provenance, recovered material and purposeful engineering within a watch that preserves the truth of the story rather than merely borrowing its imagery.
The S5e interprets the classic Dirty Dozen field watch through small seconds at six, military stencil typography, a countdown quadrant and avionics-framed luminous hands. A concealed message on the sapphire caseback completes the escape narrative.
02
THE HISTORY
The extraordinary true story connecting a daring pilot, a blue Spitfire, an audacious tunnel escape and the Hollywood classic The Great Escape.
SANDY GUNN
Alastair “Sandy” Gunn was a young Scottish engineer and RAF Volunteer Reserve pilot. Selected for his navigational ability, he joined the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit and began flying solitary intelligence missions deep into enemy-held territory.
PHOTOGRAPHIC RECONNAISSANCE
PRU pilots fought with information rather than weapons. Their Spitfires carried cameras instead of guns and depended on speed, altitude and skilful flying to survive while photographing enemy ships, ports, airfields and military installations.
SPITFIRE AA810
AA810 was a rare photographic-reconnaissance Spitfire finished in the PRU’s distinctive blue. Built for speed and range, it flew without armament or armour, carrying cameras into places conventional reconnaissance aircraft could not safely reach.
THE FINAL MISSION
On 5 March 1942, Gunn departed RAF Wick alone to photograph the German battleship Tirpitz in occupied Norway. AA810 was intercepted and shot down, but Gunn survived the crash and was taken prisoner.
TUNNEL HARRY
Sent to Stalag Luft III, Gunn became part of the organisation behind Tunnel Harry. He was one of 76 men who escaped in March 1944, but was recaptured and murdered on Hitler’s orders—one of the 50.
FACT BECOMES FILM
Paul Brickhill’s 1950 book brought the mass escape to a wider audience. Producer-director John Sturges adapted it into the 1963 film The Great Escape, dramatising the operation and turning a remarkable wartime episode into enduring popular history.
THE MCQUEEN EFFECT
Steve McQueen’s fictional Captain Hilts gave the film its rebellious icon: the Cooler King, his motorcycle and the attempted leap to freedom. The role did not portray Gunn, but helped immortalise the escape for generations.
AA810 RETURNS
After 76 years in the Norwegian mountains, the wreckage of AA810 was recovered for restoration. Zero West sponsored the reconstruction of its instrument panel, creating a direct connection with the aircraft and the inspiration for the S5e and S6e.
THE TANGIBLE LINK
A small quantity of metal recovered from AA810’s Merlin engine is carefully recast into numbered components fitted to each watch. Rare and historically significant, these pieces forge a tangible link between Gunn, the aircraft, the escape and the story immortalised on film.
AA810, Sandy Gunn, Tunnel Harry and the making of the film, the historical and cultural strands behind the S5e.
03
S5E GALLERY
04
S5E SPECIFICATION
- Latitude and Longitude reference POW camp Stalag Luft III.
- Date code references when Spitfire AA810 was shot down
- Black dial based on a Dirty Dozen concept with segmented coloured countdown and highlighted, lumed 6 o’clock seconds subdial
- Serial number side insert cast from AA810 Spitfire metal
- Hand-assembled, regulated, and tested in-house
- Five-axis, aerospace grade 316L stainless steel machining
- 42mm diameter
- 12.2mm thick
- 22mm lug width
- 47mm lug to lug pin spacing
- 42mm diameter, 316L Stainless Steel, overall matt finish
- Zero West DualConcentricConstruction™ (DCC™)
- Polished stainless steel back with inset reverse printed sapphire crystal
- Water resistance: 10ATM (100m)
- Main Crown – Matt silver finished sprung, screw-down with triple seal technology
- Front: Tactical deep chamfered and optically corrected sapphire crystal
- Rear: Reverse printed graphic concealing hidden lume message
- Sellita SW261-1 ‘Top Premium Grade’
- In house regulated
- 28,800vph
- 31 jewels
- Self-winding ball bearing rotor
- Power reserve ~41 hours
- Black dial based on a Dirty Dozen concept with segmented coloured countdown and highlighted, lumed 6 o’clock seconds subdial
-
Green rally leather strap 22/20mm. Handmade with the finest Italian leather and hypoallergenic lined. Zero West brushed silver butterfly clasp. Available in standard size 175mm-220mm
05
Order the S5e Escape
S6e Spitfire Escape
Built from history. Limited to 100.
THE ULTIMATE TACTICAL WATCH – This unique timepiece is a modern take on the WWII Dirty Dozen — rugged, precise, and built with metal from Spitfire AA810. A true tribute to pilot Sandy Gunn and the Great POW Escape.
£3,450.00
Delivery within 4 Weeks
Free Delivery
Delivery within 4 Weeks
Includes all import-duty and local taxes. No additional fees.
Delivery within 4 Weeks
Excludes local taxes & duties. Learn More
BUILT TO ORDER
BRITISH ENGINEERING
30 DAY RETURNS
2 YEAR WARRANTY