Laco Pilot 42 Type A Automatic - Ref: 861692 "Bremen"

Originally termed 'Beobachtungsuhr' or 'B-Uhr' for short, these type of watches were specially crafted for the German Luftwaffe pilots by A. Lange & Söhne, IWC, Wempe and the Pforzheim brands Laco and Stowa. The primary concern for these types of watches was the ease of readability even when the pilots were up in the air. For this very reason, a black dial with white luminous hands and numbers and a specially marked 12 o'clock denoted by a triangle with two small circles on the sides. Thus the Flieger, also commonly know as the Pilot or Aviator watch was born.

Laco Pilot 42 Type A Automatic - Ref: 861692 "Bremen"

Packaging: This watch come with a smart black leather zipper pouch which is pretty tough from the inside to protect it from any external damage. This leather case itself comes inside a nice cardboard box. Both the leather pouch and the cardboard box have 'Laco/1925' written on them on the bottom right corner, which in my mind looks pretty elegant.



The watch comes along with an additional black leather strap and a small manual which tells you how to set the time for all the different kinds of movements used by Laco.


First Impression: This watch is quite stunning in its own simple way. Definitely something that catches your attention. The leather strap with the rivets goes really well with the dial and enhances the overall look of the watch.



Case: 42mm wide and 12mm in height, stainless steel with a beautiful matte finish to it. It has "FL23883" engraved on the left and some more stuff on the back. The quality seems really good and has a nice feel to it. This one comes with a domed and anti-reflective sapphire crystal. and waterproof up to 5 ATM, which is good enough for your daily wear. Just like the original, this one comes with an 'onion crown' which looks great on a Flieger.



Movement: The Bremen runs on the ever dependable Swiss automatic ETA 2824-2. It has 25 jewels, does 28800 bph and has no date complication.

Dial: This model has the Type A dial, which excludes the inner circle as compared to the Type B dial. I prefer this one as its got a nice clean look to it. The hour marking have Arabic numbers and the traditional triangle for the 12.
The hands hands are nice and wide for easy readability, which was a very important factor while constructing these kinds of watches back when they were first produced. The hands also have a beautiful blue outline which gives the watch a very classy look. Both the hands and the hour markings have Superluminova C3 on them which is pretty bright once charged.



Strap: The watch comes with a nice thick brown calf leather strap with a couple of rivets on either side of the case, which look great, just like the original Laco Pilot. As mentioned above, this watch comes with an additional black leather strap, which I think is pretty sweet. The buckle had Laco engraved on it.


Overall Impression: This watch had been on my wish list for quite a while now and I can truly say that it doesn't disappoint at all. It really a stunning timepiece with very nice build quality. Like I mentioned in my earlier post, although the case is 42mm, it has the presence and the look of a 44-45mm case, but somehow doesn't appear over sized. It looks just right!
There are lots of companies that produce Fliegers, but not all of them are a part of its history. I think Laco has done a wonderful job recreating this stunning and classic timepiece, with great build quality and at an affordable price.

ETA Modifications and Upgrades

I was browsing through the forums at Watchuseek when I came across this excellent and very informative post by a forum member ulackfocus (Dennis). As the title says, its regarding the modification/upgrades done to various ETA movements used by a lot of brands, even the big names and who really does all the work. I just had to share this.

REVIEW - Tourby Watches Open Heart Black

What makes a watch beautiful? The dial? The case? The lugs? The crown? The right strap? What if we combine everything? Well, thankfully the guys at Tourby Watches did it for us and came up with the Open Heart. There are two versions of the Open Heart - Open Heart Black like the one above and the Open Heart White which is perhaps more appealing to women. The only difference is the colour of the straps.


Packaging
The watch was well packed in a huge box with a LOT of styrofoam to protect the outer cardboard box of the watch. There weren't any signs of damage which is great :)
The watchbox
Though the review is about the watch, I just have to mention the beautiful Maple wood box that the watch came in. Its by far one of the best watch boxes I have seen. I mean just look at it.....



See what I was talking about?

Of course, opening that beautiful box revels another beautiful object - The Tourby Open Heart. I kid you not when I say this is one stunning watch.

The boxThe box also came with a really nice key to lock it. It just shows the extra effort these guys went through just make people like us really appreciate the watch even more

Case
The watch features a 37mm SS polished case. The size might seem a bit small, but IMO its perfect for what it is - a dress watch. The lugs come with screws instead of spring bars which is a real nice touch the to the overall looks of the watch. This watch also features a sapphire crystal and a screw down crown, which I think is sweet even though its not a diver watch. Here is a pic on my 7 inches wrist:




Dial
The first thing that catches your attention is the stunning guilloché dial with black roman numbers for the hour markings. Of course the main attraction here is the open heart window just under the 12 hour marker. It gives us a small glimpse into the beautiful SOPROD finish movement behind and really does feel like the heart of the watch. The Tourby name is above the 6 hour marker instead of the regular 12 hour place making the open heart window even more special. Even people who just say "nice watch" for my other watches actually said "nice dial" for this one





Movement
This watch is simply so beautiful from the front, but what about the back? Can it match the dial? The answer is yes!!



As their website states, this watch features a SOPROD finish Swiss made ETA 2824-2 automatic movement * 25 jewels * 28.800 A/h * skeletonized * engraved * perlage * sunburst rotor *. And thanks to the display case back, one can really marvel at the beauty of it and truly appreciate the effort and care taken by Tourby while working on this movement.
Accuracy - Although its not a certified chronometer, this beautiful movement keeps the watch at +4 secs a day



Strap
This watch features a lovely black genuine Louisiana Alliagator strap with a deployment buckle which IMO really helps complement the beauty of it. Its pretty comfortable on the wrist too




Lume
The lume on the hands (hour and minute) is not too bright unfortunately, but since its a dress watch, I guess it really doesn't make too much of a difference.




Overall Thoughts
Honestly, I had my eyes set on this watch for a long time and got really lucky to actually win it. The watch has been on my wrist at work, while sleeping and even at times when I have gotten pretty drunk and so far it looks just as beautiful as the the day it arrived . I would again like to add that this is truly a beautiful watch and would make a lovely addition to any collection .