The post Junkers Bauhaus 6060-2 Review appeared first on Tick Tick Tick Tick.
]]>Hugo Junkers was a German engineer and aircraft designer who is widely credited with designing the first all-metal aircrafts. As founder of the Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG, he was one of the central figures in the German aircraft industry in the years between World War I and World War II. As an outspoken pacifist, Hugo Junkers was not interested in designing warplanes and instead focused his efforts on the development of multi-engine passenger and cargo planes, helping to establish airlines in Germany and all over the world. Although his name is linked to some of the most successful German warplanes of the Second World War, Junkers himself had nothing to do with their development, as was forced out of his own company by the Nazi government in 1934 and died shortly after.
Junkers was not only a brilliant engineer, but also a great admirer of expressionist painting and modern design. As one of the main sponsors of the Bauhaus movement, he developed a close and fertile connection with the artists of the era, helping to facilitate the move of the Bauhaus from Weimar to Dessau, Germany (where his factory was situated) in 1925. Faithful to the motto of Marcel Breuer, “The good artist works together with the good engineer,” Junkers adopted the high aesthetic claims of the Bauhaus movement in everything he did.
As with many watch genesis stories, Junkers watches are firmly tied to aviation history. Spending his life designing airplanes, avionics and dials, it’s only natural that this would eventually lead to watches. Even though by this time the founder was long gone, I think his legacy can be seen in the design choices incorporated in the watches bearing his name.
The Junkers Bauhaus 6060-2 (in black) and 6060-5 (in cream) are automatic watches with a power reserve, 24-hour and date function and hacking seconds. While many people believe the Junkers Bauhaus watches lean too heavily on the Max Bill designed watches, flippantly referring to them as a “Poor Man’s Max Bill”, I think they have a personality and design all their own. Whichever side of the fence you land on, it’s hard to deny that Junkers Bauhaus watches offer a classic Bauhaus design at a great value.
As with all my reviews, I don’t feel comfortable casting judgement on any watch I can’t get my hands on and wear for at least a week. Fortunately, the folks at Junkers (more specifically their manufacturer POINTtec) were nice enough to send me a sample to review.
On profile, the case has a pie-pan shape with the lugs protruding from the falling slope of the side wall. When viewed from above, it looks as if the lugs protrude from behind and below the bezel, lending to the prominence of the dial and crystal.
The hands are all polished silver baton-shaped hands with super-luminova present on the hour and minute hands. The second hand, 24-hour sub hand, and power reserve sub hand are all painted with the same crisp white paint as the dial. My only problem with the hands would be that everything on the watch uses the same crisp white color with the noticeable exception of the hour and minute hand, which have the dull white of untreated super-luminova. The pips on the dial and the Junkers logo at the 12 o’clock position also glow with the same brightness as the hands, and were apparently treated so to appear as crisp white as the rest of the dial. This makes me think that the hands were simply ordered from the manufacturer as-is and weren’t given the same white paint treatment. I wish they had taken the same efforts with the hands as they did with the dial. It would have made for a more uniform color palette.
One issue I’ve had with this movement in the past is the noisy rotor that is, unfortunately, extremely noticeable with this watch. It is so noisy, in fact, that at first I was worried there was something loose inside the watch. I think there are multiple factors combined to make this watch so noisy. One is simply that this movement has a noisy rotor; however, I think the unique properties of the small case and large crystal exacerbate the problem. Normally, I don’t mind being able to hear a rotor spinning, but this thing is LOUD. Loud and cheap sounding. It has the sound of metal ball bearings bouncing around in a plastic enclosure.
With that said, there are some positives here, too. The Miyota movement has a nice Côtes de Genève decoration, which is always nice.
When the crown is fully depressed, winding it will engage the mainspring and wind the watch, which is satisfying since you can noticeably see the power reserve climb with every revolution. It takes approximately 40 turns of the crown to fully wind the watch. The second crown position sets the date, and the third sets the time, which simultaneously sets both the 12-hour and 24-hour hands. The date function is smooth and the transition snaps over at the 12 o’clock position rather than “dragging” like some movements tend to do.
$499.00 Leather strap from Amazon.com
I hope you found this Junkers Bauhaus 6060-2 Review helpful! Did I leave something out? Have something to add? Let me know in the comments.
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]]>The post My Chinese Air Force Watch-buying Adventure – SeaGull 1963 appeared first on Tick Tick Tick Tick.
]]>As a re-issued watch that was originally produced for the People’s Liberation Air Force, the SeaGull 1963 definitely has a solid association with the country.
Now that I knew which watch I wanted, I had to track one down. Should be easy enough, right?
When we first arrived in Beijing, I wandered the luxury shopping districts looking for watch shops. We discovered pretty quickly that China was jam packed with luxury watch dealers.
It seems like every skyscraper in every city in China was anchored to the earth by a Rolex, Cartier, Omega and Zenith foundation. There were so many luxury galleries that some made their employees participate in on-the-hour choreographed dance routines to attract customers. I’m not sure how well that works in practice, but it sure was entertaining.
This dancing spectacle makes for some great window shopping, but wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. (I wish I was shopping for a $155,000 diamond-encrusted Daytona!)
I tried searching online for a retailer or dealer that sold SeaGull watches and figured out pretty quickly that getting any useful information on the internet in China, behind the great firewall, without speaking a word of Chinese, was going to be unproductive.
So, after striking out online and finally getting my VPN configured correctly, I tried emailing SeaGull USA directly. They suggested I tour the factory in Tianjin and purchase a watch directly from the factory, which would have been awesome, but we weren’t going to be anywhere near that part of China. Then, they put me in touch with Thomas, who worked out of Hong Kong and suggested I buy directly from him and have the watch shipped to our hotel.
That would have been fine, but we were flying all over China and I was nervous about missing the shipment and losing the watch forever in the Chinese postal system.
When I got in touch with Thomas he said not to worry about shipping, and to call him when we were in Hong Kong. He said he’d be happy to come to us with the watches. Talk about fantastic customer service!
We ended up in Hong Kong a few weeks later and Thomas was willing to cross half of Hong Kong to meet us in our hotel lobby. By Chinese standards, Hong Kong is pretty small, but the fact that he was willing to take a couple hours out of his day to meet us in our hotel was pretty astounding to me. He was such a nice guy, spoke perfect English and was happy to hang out with us and talk watches. He explained that Fabrique d’Ébauches S.A. (ESA) sold its tooling for the Venus 175 column wheel chronograph movements to China in 1958, which then evolved into the ST19 movement used today. After the sale, ESA went on to merge with Valjoux and then eventually with the granddaddy of all Swiss movements: ETA.
This is the entire SeaGull 1963 family. Left to right, we have the 41mm silver sub-dial on black, 41mm panda dial, 41mm olive dial and finally, the 38mm olive dial.
The 41mm silver sub-dial has a rich black dial with polished chrome numerals, indices and hands. The chronograph hand is bright red and provides some nice contrast to the black/silver dial combination.
The panda color option has a crisp white dial with black sub-dials, again with a red chronograph hand.
Unlike the black and panda versions, the olive 1963 has flame-blued baton hands without any lume. The olive version also has the gold/red star which is more in line with the Chinese aesthetic I was looking for (The Chinese Army’s logo is a red star with a yellow border.)
This is the 38mm version, which I think is more symmetrically balanced than the 41mm versions. This one has a slightly domed acrylic crystal, whereas the 41mm options have a flat sapphire glass. I would have preferred the 41mm with a domed crystal, but unfortunately, such a thing doesn’t exist.
I ended up going with the 41mm olive color option with the green striped nato.
The 41mm options have a nice display case-back that shows off the beautiful intricacies of the chronograph movement, whereas the 38mm version had a solid case-back.
The golden brass wheels, silver steel bridges, red rubies and flame-blued screws make for a great looking movement. Watching everything jump around when you start, stop and reset the chronograph is a treat as well.
Luckily, these watches are much easier to find in the United States than they are in China, so if you’re interested in picking one up yourself, you don’t have to look any further than the Amazon links below.
I don’t think you can find a better value in a watch for 300 dollars.
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]]>The post Kent Wang Bauhaus v4 Review appeared first on Tick Tick Tick Tick.
]]>Kent Wang is a small two person menswear company whose origins I think many people can relate to; when they were unable to find affordable clothing and accessories that lived up to their expectations they decided to go into business making their own. I know I have dreamed of doing the same, but they went out and made it happen. The Bauhaus v4 is their take on a Bauhaus inspired watch, which takes its modernist design queues from the Staatliches Bauhaus Art school in Germany, whose influences helped shape 20th century industrial design.
The Bauhaus v4 is the fourth iteration of their Bauhaus watch line and is my favorite of the bunch, however it is worth noting that the v2 and v3 options are still available to purchase though KentWang.com. They each have subtle differences, so I would encourage you to take a look at the whole lineup before making a decision.
As with all of the reviews here, I don’t feel comfortable casting judgement any watch I can’t get my hands on and wear for at least a week. Fortunately, the folks at Kent Wang were nice enough to send me a sample to review.
The hands are a nice deep flame blued color which appear black when they are not directly reflecting light. The width of the minute hand is exactly the width of the hour markers, which is a nice touch that is often overlooked in minimalist watch designs. As you would expect with a quality watch, the hands line up perfectly.
The scale of the hands to indices to bezel feels good with the slight exception of the hour hand which feels a little bit short when compared with the elongated indices on the dial. I think a slightly longer hour hand would help to balance the dial. Another slight nit-pic I have with the hands is again with the hour hand. I generally like my hour hands to completely cover the date window or not touch it at all when at the 3 o’clock position. Again, if the hour hand were slightly longer it would cover the date window rather than stopping half way across it. It’s a minor annoyance which would probably go unnoticed, but since this is a watch with a continually evolving and improving design I figured it was worth mentioning.
That said, the crown is actually quite nice. It resembles more of a scaled down onion type crown that you would find on a pilot watch. I figured with all of the straight lines inherent in Bauhaus styling the crown would also be straight. I’m glad it isn’t. The slightly pillowy-ness of the crown works well with the profile of the case and the curvature of the lugs. It is easy to grasp and has a nice pop and click when pulling and setting.
The Miyota movement has a nice côtes de Genève decoration which is always nice to see when a watch has a display caseback. I think all watch movements are beautiful and always appreciate a display caseback no matter what, but when you get a decorated movement as well it’s an especially nice treat.
When the crown is fully depressed winding it will engage the mainspring, which is very handy if you don’t have a watch winder. A couple seconds winding the crown and you are ready to set the time and go. The second crown position sets the date, and the third sets the time. The date function is smooth and the transition snaps over at the 12 o’clock position rather than “dragging” like some movements tend to do.
The Bauhaus v4 is available in white with optional cordovan strap or lizard strap upgrades.
Price
I hope you found this Ket Wang Bauhaus v4 review helpful! Did I leave something out? Have something to add? Let me know in the comments.
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]]>The post Why You Shouldn’t Trade Classic Watches For Technology appeared first on Tick Tick Tick Tick.
]]>Certainly, technology has advanced making the classic mechanical wrist watch seem slightly outdated, but a wrist watch is so much more than a tech phase. Smart watches will come and go, but a wrist watch is something you can keep and wear for a lifetime.
Technological giants like Google, Apple, and Samsung are all working on the next generation of smart watches, proving that the current versions are becoming more and more outdated every second. This is something a vintage piece cannot do, because no matter what kind of classic watch you wear, it will be something you will still cherish in 20 years’ time.
Many of us have a soft spot for our favorite watch brands, therefore, it is hard to believe that genuine watch lovers would abandon innovative design for an addition to their smartphone.
This is the reason why the big watch players such as Piaget, Cartier and Rolex have all continued to excel in the art of watch making and smaller brands have continued to grow expanding on colors and styles.
The reason that mechanical watches have remained popular in the digital age is due to their sense of style and craftsmanship which cannot be compared to an phone or iPad.
Stephen Puvirent, associate editor of the online watch publication HODINKEE stated why he believes watches win over tech:
We’re all extremely attached to our cameras, our phones, our computers, our iPads, and I think there’s something charming about owning something analogue… I’m going to replace my iPhone sometime in the next few years. But a really high-quality watch I can wear and enjoy on a daily basis.
If you understand the world of watches then you will know that it can take years to master the designing and manufacturing of the elaborate interior mechanisms that make mechanical collectors’ watches so unique. Something as mass produced and replaceable as a smart watch surely cannot be put in the same category as a collector’s chronograph.
There is something personal about choosing a watch design. In most cases a watch wearer will pick the design that they want themselves, even if it is given as a gift. A watch is something practical that someone will wear perhaps every day as well as being something they can keep for a lifetime; therefore it is important to highlight the power of nostalgia behind a classic watch.
Jewelry often becomes sacred after the death of a loved one as it may have been something they wore every day. The watch industry recognizes the significance of this and the notion that watches are not just pieces that tell time. Patek Philippe’s motto is,
You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely take care of it for the next generation.
Watch brands are aware that they create pieces which will one day be something that their customer can pass down to family members, therefore an emotional connection is often built between a watch and the wearer.
Watches are often given as a gift to mark a special celebration. Many people mark special birthdays with watches, or they are given in memory of a special graduation or as wedding gifts. Chris Anderson, Editor of Business Insider wears one watch as a form of respect to his father in law who gave it to him as a wedding present.
Online Watch Repair brand, Repairs by Post, recently restored a 1970s ladies Omega DeVille for a customer who had a very special attachment to her watch. When the customer enquired about having the watch fixed she revealed why it was so special:
It represents a first Christmas as a family of three… it is a rare Christmas that my husband and I actually get to spend together. I love that little watch. Although I haven’t had the watch that long and it is second hand, I feel a connection to it; it’s my watch.
This proves that no matter how old a watch is, if maintained and serviced carefully it can give the wearer happiness for years to come.
A classic watch will hold its value and can be a sentimental piece of jewelry that can be passed on to loved ones. With a collective lifespan of over 500 years it looks like the history and design of classic watches will outlive modern smart watches.
Next time you are buying a wrist watch as a gift or for yourself, consider the skill the craftsmanship of watch making and you are sure to find a piece that you will create a connection with.
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]]>The post Bergeon 6767 Spring Bar Tool Review appeared first on Tick Tick Tick Tick.
]]>Any watch enthusiast should have a set of tools to help maintain their watches, and at the very top of my list of suggested tools is the humble Spring Bar Tool. Designed to simply depress a spring bar, this is a tool that you might not think you need, but trust me; you do.
When working with small delicate parts it’s always best to use the correct tool for the job. I’ve seen countless watches with scratched up lugs and case-backs because somebody figured they could get away with swapping out a strap using by using their cheap eyeglasses screwdriver set. Is it possible? Sure, but why use the wrong tool and potentially damage your expensive watch when investing in a quality spring bar tool could make the process so, so much easier.
The Bergeon 6767 Spring Bar Tool is available in both “F” and “S” varieties. My recommendation would be to purchase the one you will use the most, and then purchase the other tip separately. You can always swap tips as needed.
Price$26.36 Bergeon 6767 Spring Bar Tool “S” at Amazon.com
$21.99 Bergeon 6767 Spring Bar Tool “F” at Amazon.com
$11.99 Replacement 6767 “S” Tip at Amazon.com
$11.99 Replacement 6767 “F” Tip at Amazon.com
I hope you found this Bergeon 6767 Spring Bar Tool Review helpful! Did I leave something out? Have something to add? Let me know in the comments.
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]]>The post Laco Augsburg Review (Type-A) appeared first on Tick Tick Tick Tick.
]]>Designed by the Reichs-Luftfahrtministerium, Laco wasn’t directly responsible for the design of the watches, only the manufacturing. After the end of WWII Laco, like many other German watch manufacturers began reproducing flieger watches under their own brand, experimenting with slight design variations and manufacturing techniques that led directly to the commercially available offerings today.
If you visit Laco’s website you’ll find an overwhelming amount of flieger watch variations, each with their own unique names, but today we will be focusing on one of their more popular watches, the Laco Augsburg Type-A.
Laco produces a dizzying array of options for this design, from different dial colors, to movement options and case variations; too many to list here. Your best bet is to visit their website or download their catalog.
Price$284.00 Laco Augsburg Type-A From Amazon
I hope you found this Laco Augsburg Review helpful! Did I leave something out? Have something to add? Let me know in the comments.
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]]>The post Laco Aachen Review (Type-B) appeared first on Tick Tick Tick Tick.
]]>Laco is a german watch manufacturer founded in 1925 by Frieda Lacher and Ludwig Hummel. Early in their history Laco began manufacturing Fliegeruhren, or Pilot’s watches, that eventually caught the attention of the German military. With this attention came contracts from the German Airforce to manufacture the infamous Beobachtungsuhren watches for bombers during WWII.
Designed by the Reichs-Luftfahrtministerium, Laco wasn’t directly responsible for the design of the watches, only the manufacturing. After the end of WWII Laco, like many other German watch manufacturers began reproducing flieger watches under their own brand, experimenting with slight design variations and manufacturing techniques that led directly to the commercially available offerings today.
If you visit Laco’s website you’ll find an overwhelming amount of flieger watch variations, each with their own unique names, but today we will be focusing on one of their more popular watches, the Laco Aachen Type-B.
The crystal is a very slightly domed sapphire that sits below the edge of the case. The Aachen has a sapphire display caseback as well, which is a nice bonus.
The case is 42mm in diameter and is made from stainless steel with a sandblasted matte finish on the bezel and lugs. Unlike the front, the case back uses polished stainless steel, which to me seems out of place with the matte finish on the rest of the watch. It is also rather thick at just over 12mm. This thickness is partly due to the deep recess created by the space above the dial and hands, and in part due to the thickness of the automatic Miyota movement.
The dial and hands have a nice balance in proportion. The dial is a slightly grey black, which is more noticeable in direct light. The indices and hands have a greenish hue to them due to the superluminova C3 paint. Some people dislike this, but to me it is a perfectly fine color, and is actually more in line with the original Luftwaffe watches. The hands aren’t blue like the original Beobachtungsuhren watches, and instead are painted black. This makes for a more crisp glow at night, but I still prefer the original blued hands.
Laco uses Superluminova C3 on the Aachen, and with thick type-b hands there is plenty of it. As with most Superluminova watches, they can be spectacularly bright, but are often not terribly long lived in their brightness. This is fine with me. If you want brightness Superluminova does the trick, if you want longevity you’re better off with Tritium gas tubes.
The crown on the Aachen is interesting. Unlike the usual onion crown that is thinner at the base and flairs out, the Aachen has more of a dome shaped crown that is wide at the base and rounded at its point. Where as the original shape was more convenient to grip with a gloved hand, this shape is probably more comfortable for daily use. I should point out that if this is a make it or break it feature for you, Laco does employ the traditional crown shape in its more expensive ETA based watches such as the Replica 45
The strap on the Aachen is aesthetically similar to the thick leather straps that define the Flieger watch style with thick brown rivited leather. The leather and craftsmanship on the strap are slightly lacking, but luckily the strap is the easiest part to replace on any watch. This one does the job, but I wouldn’t expect it to last long or age particularly well.
The Aachen is listed as having the Laco 21 movement, which is really just a stock Miyota 8215 movement with a Laco branded rotor. There is nothing wrong with that in practice, in fact many many high end manufacturers do exactly the same thing, but it’s nice to know what you are actually buying. The movement itself is a 21,600BPH movement, meaning it ticks 6 times per second. The rotor winds in a single direction and spins freely in the other, the result being that it winds up more slowly and can sometimes be noisy. I didn’t personally notice much noise in the movement, but it is a complaint that many people have reported.
Laco has a rich and interesting history and makes a wide variety of watches to meet every price point. The Aachen is a very budget friendly watch with a direct lineage going all the way back to the very genesis of this design. If that is something that appeals to you, then this could be the watch to jump on. Every Laco watch comes with a 2 year warranty, and the fact that you can get them on amazon makes it an even safer purchase.
OptionsLaco produces a dizzying array of options for this design, from different dial colors, to movement options and case variations; too many to list here. Your best bet is to visit their website or download their catalog.
Price$284.00 Laco Aachen Type-B From Amazon
I hope you found this Laco Aachen Review helpful! Did I leave something out? Have something to add? Let me know in the comments.
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]]>The post Steinhart Nav B-Uhr Review (A-type) appeared first on Tick Tick Tick Tick.
]]>Steinhart is a german watch manufacturer founded in the 1990’s by Guenter Steinhart. With a degrees in Architecture and Mechanical Engineering, Guenter decided to turn his love of watches into a business with the intention of producing high quality Swiss watches at an affordable price point. While Steinhart does produce many different styles of watches, today we will only be looking at their Pilot line, and more specifically the Nav-B Uhr A-Type.
The Steinhart Nav B-Uhr takes it’s design queues directly from the historically accurate German Luftwaffe watches. Designed by the Reichs-Luftfahrtministerium and manufactured during WW2 by German companies such as A. Lange & Shone, IWC, Laco, Stowa & Wempe for the German Airforce, it’s hard to forget that these watches have a history that can be difficult to reconcile. B-Uhr or B-Urhen is an abbreviation for Beobachtungs-uhren, which translates literally to Observation Watch, hinting at the original purpose of the watches. The A-Type watches were issued to the pilots of multi-crew bombers as well as single and double cockpit aircraft. This watch employs a design as historically rich as any watch out there. Regardless of it’s origins, the aesthetics of the Nav-B Uhr have outlived it’s usefulness in the cockpit, and what we are left with is an interesting and attractive timepiece.
Where as the Nav B-Uhr B-Type is a direct interpretation of the original German watches, this version of the A-type has adopted a different dial configuration to accommodate the ETA 6497 movement with it’s sub-second dial at the 9 o’clock position.
The Nav B-Uhr A-type is available with a standard Stainless Steel case or solid bronze case with hand wound Swiss ETA 6497 movements.
The crystal is a domed sapphire with anti-reflective coating on the inside.
The cases are 44mm in diameter and both materials have a display case-back standard. This is wonderful since the ETA 6497 is such a beautiful movement. I like the bronze case in particular since unlike the stainless steel it will start to develop a patina over time as the bronze oxidizes and reacts with the oils and acids in your skin. Much like an old leather chair, this case should develop a unique patina that just gets better with age.
The Dial on the Nav B-Uhr A-type is a matte black with either highly polished silver hands for the SS model, or satin bronze hands for the Bronze model. Both options have a sub-second dial at the 9 o’clock position.
The lume on the Nav B-Uhr A-Type is excellent. The large indices and hands are painted with plenty of Superluminova C1.
The Nav B-Uhr A-Type uses a deeply grooved onion type crown. This design was originally made so that pilots could easily pull the crown and stop the sweeping seconds. These onion shaped crowns had to be large enough to pull and manipulate with gloved hands. Modern iterations of the Nav B-Uhr have scaled down the crown slightly, but thankfully Steinhart’s Nav B-Uhr offerings still has a crown that is big and beefy and a pleasure to pull an manipulate.
The Straps on the Steinhart Nav B-Uhr watches again vary depending on the model you choose. Both are thick leather pilot style straps. The stainless steel option comes with a riveted black leather strap while the Bronze option comes with a sewed brown leather strap.
White the B-type comes with an automatic movement and sweeping center seconds, the A-Type uses an ETA 6497 movement whis is hand wound, meaning you will have to wind it periodically. I find that I actually enjoy the process of winding my watches, so this is a characteristic I look for in a pilot watch.
Steinhart makes amazing watches for the price. Any of their pilots are going to be an outstanding value, and the Nav B-Uhr watches are great examples of a classic Pilot watch with great craftsmanship.
OptionsThe Nav B-Uhr A-type is available with a Stainless Steel case or a Bronze Case, and has two dial/hand options; silver or bronze. It is available with a 44mm case or a 47mm case, both utilizing the hand wound ETA 6497 movement.
Price$540.00 Nav-B Uhr A-type Stainless Steel From Gonom Watches
$560.00 Nav-B Uhr A-type Bronze From Gonom Watches
I hope you found this Steinhart Nav B-Uhr Review (A-Type) helpful! Did I leave something out? Have something to add? Let me know in the comments.
The post Steinhart Nav B-Uhr Review (A-type) appeared first on Tick Tick Tick Tick.
]]>The post Steinhart Nav B-Uhr Review (B-type) appeared first on Tick Tick Tick Tick.
]]>Steinhart is a german watch manufacturer founded in the 1990’s by Guenter Steinhart. With a degrees in Architecture and Mechanical Engineering, Guenter decided to turn his love of watches into a business with the intention of producing high quality Swiss watches at an affordable price point. While Steinhart does produce many different styles of watches, today we will only be looking at their Pilot line, and more specifically the Nav B-Uhr.
The Steinhart Nav B-Uhr B-type takes it’s design queues directly from the historically accurate German Luftwaffe watches. Designed by the Reichs-Luftfahrtministerium and manufactured during WW2 by German companies such as A. Lange & Shone, IWC, Laco, Stowa & Wempe for the German Airforce, it’s hard to forget that these watches have a history that can be difficult to reconcile. B-Uhr or B-Urhen is an abbreviation for Beobachtungs-uhren, which translates literally to Observation Watch, hinting at the original purpose of the watches. Not to be confused with the A-Type dial which was issued to pilots, the B-Type was used for navigation, observation and reconnaissance, as well as targeting operations in multi crew German bombers. This watch has a design is as historically rich as any watch out there. Regardless of it’s origins, the aesthetics of the Nav B-Uhr have outlived its usefulness in the cockpit, and what we are left with is an interesting and attractive timepiece.
The Nav B-Uhr B-type is available with standard or “Antique” dials, and has a variety of case options at various price points including Stainless Steel and Titanium.
The crystal is a domed sapphire with anti-reflective coating on the inside.
The cases on both style options are milled from a single piece of steel/titanium and have a brushed patina applied. At 44mm in diameter the cases are large, but that is expected with a pilot watch. The casebacks are that of a screw down variety and are engraved with the watch’s specs as well as a pilot’s face.
As mentioned before, the dial and hands are available in a standard Black/White configuration or an “Antique” color variation, which is meant to imitate the fading and yellowing that is present when radium doped paints age. Unfortunately, the “Antique” variation ends up just looking like a dull yellow to me. I much prefer the black and white, even if it is a little bit plain in appearance.
The lume on the Nav B-Uhr B-Type is excellent. The large indices and hands are painted with plenty of Superluminova C1.
The Nav B-Uhr B-Type has two different styles of crowns depending on the model. The crown on the standard model is more squared and has a Steinhart “S” on the end. The “Antique” version has a more traditional onion shaped crown with deep v-shaped cuts. Both options have large and prominent crowns as all pilot watches should. Originally designed so that pilots could easily pull the crown and stop the sweeping seconds, the typically onion shaped crowns had to be large enough to pull and manipulate with gloved hands. Modern iterations of the Nav B-Uhr have scaled down the crown slightly, but thankfully Steinhart’s Nav B-Uhr offerings still has a crown that is big and beefy and a pleasure to pull an manipulate. I would give the nod to the “Antique” style crown if I had to choose.
The Strap on the Steinhart Nav B-Uhr watches again vary depending on the model you choose. Both are thick leather pilot style straps. The Standard option comes with a riveted black leather strap and the “Vintage” option comes with a sewed antiqued brown leather.
Both options come with an ETA 2824 movement under the hood. While this is a solid and dependable movement, it is also automatic which is a diversion from the traditional hand-wound pocket watch movements these watches originally used. While Steinhart does offer hand wound pilot watches, this dial configuration with the sweeping seconds hand means you’ll have to settle for an automatic here.
Steinhart makes amazing watches for the price. Any of their pilots are going to be an outstanding value, and the Nav B-Uhr watches are great examples of a classic Pilot watch with great craftsmanship.
OptionsThe Nav B-Uhr is available with a Stainless Steel case or a Titanium Case, and has two dial/hand options; black/white or antique.
Price$480.00 Nav B-Uhr Standard SS From Gonom Watches
$560.00 Nav B-Uhr Antique Titanium From Gonom Watches
I hope you found this Steinhart Nav B-Uhr Review (B-Type) helpful! Did I leave something out? Have something to add? Let me know in the comments.
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]]>Is your brand new NATO strap a little too stiff? Well don’t worry, just like leather straps, and leather anything for that matter, NATO straps take a little while to break in and become molded to your wrist. Luckily, there is a quick way to speed up this break-in process and it’s as simple as doing a load of laundry.
I just received this new 22mm NATO strap from Crown & Buckle, but like all new NATO’s it was a bit stiff.
So whats the trick? Simply drop your new strap into the pocket of a pair of pants when they’re going into the washing machine.
Once the wash is done check to make sure the strap is still in your pants pocket and add a fabric softener sheet before tossing them into the dryer. Chances are the strap will fall out of the pocket while it’s bouncing around in there, so add a balled up sock to the pocket to keep the NATO in place.
Once the laundry is done your strap should be nice and soft, and should smell like fresh laundry to boot!
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