Type 21 Flyback

In the 1950s and 1960s Mathey-Tissot was among the original suppliers of the Type XX, the celebrated aviation chronograph developed for the French armed forces and also produced, under the same military specification, by other manufacturers of the era such as Breguet — for whom Mathey-Tissot made some examples. Those vintage watches, today contested among collectors, remain the most prestigious chapter in the brand's history, valued at even tens of thousands of dollars on the secondhand market.

Since 2018 Mathey-Tissot has chosen to bring that heritage back into a current product with the Type 21 Flyback line, whose name directly recalls the historical Type XX numbering (twenty-one as the twentieth "plus one," a declared tribute rather than an official military designation) and revives its essential setup: a robust aviator case, a highly legible high-contrast dial and, above all, the flyback function, the true technical signature of its forebear.

Unlike the brand's more affordable and generalist catalog, the Type 21 Flyback focuses on an aesthetic more faithful to the original military-pilot language — black, brown or dark green dials, leather straps or steel bracelets — positioning itself as the most accessible entry point into the Type XX's historical story, without the price tag of the high-end heritage reissues from other brands involved in the same military specification.