Hello Jeff,
I just read the Wall Street Journal article and I must say that it addresses atopic that for many years has been the reason for debate. The rich and snobbish few want to be stylish and have their own standard as to what is fashionable. Most of them don't understand and don't care what these timepieces can do or what they are used for. To them, the price they payed is more important, because it impresses their friends.

FOR THE REST OF US, we use these watches for what they were designed for. The Heuer Autavia's and Carrera's are meant to time events (elapsed time), or speed over a measured Mile or Kilometer, time bottom time during a dive and provide time of day, sometime in two different time zones.
The WSJ journalist is correct in stating that pilots don't use their Navytimers for flight planning or during inflight operations. Reason : The dial is cluttered and the scales are very small, hard to read, especially at night in the cockpit and the calculation are not precise enough. As a matter of fact, I have never seen a professional pilot or Airline pilot wear or use a Navytimer for computations, may by to tell time. These are fine watches, but from a practical point, useless in the cockpit, a good conversation piece.

Note: The Heuer Calculator is easier to read and would be more suitable for cockpit work.
Jack Heuer was instrumental of designing clear, easy to read watch dials starting with the Carrera that carried over to the Autavia line. Being shaken around in a sports car or rattled by mild turbulence, one must be able to read the watch at a glance. Heuer watches certainly incorporate that feature and have been for a long time.

Nowadays, most newer aircrafts are equipped with "Glass Cockpits". (Computer screens and on board computers, flight management systems). Flight calculations are done automatically and all information is available with the push of a button.
However TIME (of Day) is all important and controls all operations. This is where the PILOT WATCH has it's place. Pilots keep track of GMT, Home Time, Local Time and time short events with the Chronograph (engine start, fuel burn, ground speed, time approaches, ect.) To an active pilot, his watch is his daily used TOOL to keep him "On Time".
In 32 years as a pilot, I had never any use for a Navytimer, but a HEUER AUTAVIA GMT, Rolex GMT, Glycine Airman or similar watch provided me with all the features to be "On Time ". Most of this before Glass Cockpits. However that did not do away with having a "Pilot Watch" on my wrist that I could depend on.

So for all of us who wear our Pilot watches for practicality as a tool for whichever job we have, KEEP DOING IT. We are not so much interested in status but appreciate finely engineered time pieces with clear, uncluttered easy to read dials, accurate time, are stylish and present a certain luxury. We also know how to use them.
Wishing you a good 2015 and Happy Timing. Heinz.