Help me understand how I feel about a particular style of watch
There's a type of watch that's very popular. It has a clean, clear, design. It's definitely a classic. I have mixed feelings about it because of the origins of the design.
The watch is big. I has a black dial with white numbers and index marks. At the 12 o'clock position there's a triangle. There's plenty of lume on the dial. They usually have a leather strap, and that strap often has two rivets.
Sometimes the dial has two index rings, the inner ring has hour markings and the outer ring has minute markings.
IWC makes the most well known example: https://www.iwc.com/en/watch-collections/pilot-watches/iw329301-big-pilots-watch-43.html
There are lots of homages:
https://www.watchshop.com/watches/mens-sekonda-aviator-watch-3347.pdp
https://mwcwatches.com/products/vintage-ww2-style-german-pilots-watch-1
This style of watch is called "B Uhr", or "B Uhren"and you get many results if you use that search term. It's German, and it's an abbreviation for "Beobachtungs-uhren" which means "observation watch".
My problem with the watch is that is that it was specifically designed for the Luftwaffe in WW2.
https://monochrome-watches.com/the-history-of-the-pilot-watch-part-five-b-uhr/
After the war other airforces, including the British RAF, started using very similar watches.
Most watch sellers do not celebrate the Nazi history of the watch. But some do: https://b-uhr.com/en/collection/b-uhr-luftwaffe-flieger-chronograph.html
So, I don't know how I feel about this watch. Can its clean design be appreciated when I know of its Nazi link? Can I separate the creator from the product?
If the design doesn't reflect or reinforce the abhorrent aspects of Nazi ideology, I don't see what the issue would be. It would be one thing to be fixated specifically on the exact design that the luftwaffe used, but at this point, you're so many deviations removed from the original that I can't see why there would be any problem appreciating it.
It's a fairly utilitarian design. I'm sure the other Air Forces copied the design precisely for it's practicality. Unless there's something about big watches with black faces and leather straps that's explicitly tied to Nazi symbolism that I'm unaware of, this feels almost like looking for a reason to dislike something.
And there are other modern things that have strong Nazi ties. The VW Beetle (to be fair, no longer in production) was commissioned by Hitler.
There is the New Beetle though.
Just in time for Neo Nazis!
I've been in one, with a skilled driver that was unconcerned with safety or the law. He might be on several drugs but I'm not sure. It felt like we crossed the entire city in 10 minutes. It was fun, but I might have died. Decent sports car.
Also out of production since 2019.
In the US these watches are generally sold under the more generic name “Pilots watch” to avoid the association. That’s a bigger category than just this though, but this is probably the most classic design. Sometimes they’ll call it a “flieger” if they want to nod at its origins without celebrating it.
If it makes you feel better, you can think of it as looting the cultural artifacts of a vanquished enemy. Sort of like the officer’s katana my buddy has that his grandfather accepted in WWII when a Japanese officer surrendered to him.
I suppose one small blessing is that modern fascists have trended towards garish and tacky aesthetic tastes instead of sharp and modern ones, so our grandkids won’t have this problem.
Modernism aesthetics are not specifically associated with fascism, regardless of origin. Much communist propaganda also has very appealing modern design as well, especially out of poland.
I drive a vw, a brand whose origins are clearly steeped in nazi culture, but i love it and i am unaware of any current fascism inherent in its design.
That last example, though, is another matter. That’s disturbing to me. I once read a book by a commander of the luftwaffe. It was a clinical assessment of strategic failures, but extremely creepy. A guy at that level had to be on mission with hitler, and to so cleanly distill away any human empathy from his analysis was abhorrent.
In terms of where we draw the lines of acceptability, wearing fliegers is probably on the safe side. Hugo Boss is still a major brand name, as is VW, and those businesses are more problematic for their current actions than their affiliations in WWII. The trace of 'fascism' to be found in the B-Uhr design language is really more in line with Bauhaus and grotesque architecture than the mock-traditionalist stuff of Nationalism. They're minimal, not severe.
I looked at the image. Unless you're in a room full of WII historians with a fashion sense, I don't think you'll get in any trouble. No offense to WWII historians, but that is not a large group.
Personally, I wouldn't even think about it. But you're gonna wear it on your body, and if there's a chance you're not gonna use it out of embarrassment, maybe you shouldn't buy it.
Watch nerds will know.
Maybe. But will they disapprove of?
And does their (or anyone's) opinion matter at all to the wearer?
That is very personal. To me, in that particular regard, very little. But it seems that it does matter to OP.
The same question can be applied to the horrible things the creator did. Different lines of thinking will land on different answers, but it feels internally self-consistent to adopt the same line of thinking for good and bad outcomes.
If you say that the direct intention behind the action is what matters, the watch may be acceptable and the horrible things may not be.