There are a number of watches that claim to have been designed for use by pilots, but just because they have an orange backlight to preserve night vision, it doesn't make them useful for aviation.

Garmin's D2 GPS watch, however, puts an entire cockpit's worth of instrumentation and data on a pilot's wrist. And it doesn't look horrendous either.

The D2 will be available in November for $450, and it comes with a built-in worldwide aviation database to allow pilots to locate landmarks like airports, and plot courses and fly-over waypoints from their current GPS-determined location. It also features a highly accurate altimeter, barometer, and compass, along with custom alarms to warn a pilot if they've inadvertently descended too low or gone off course.


The watch's tiny monochrome display comes with a night vision-friendly orange backlight, and even though it's small, it still provides a scrolling map view for pilots who just want to quickly glance at their progress. It can also connect to Garmin hardware, like the brand's larger navigation units, or its compact action cams if pilots decide to get adventurous at the controls.

[Garmin]