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.
