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Tag: Pilot

My Chinese Air Force Watch-buying Adventure – SeaGull 1963

My wife and I spent about a month traveling around China last year and I knew going into the trip that I wanted to find a Chinese watch as a souvenir from our travels. I didn’t want some generic Chinese watch that was pretending not to be Chinese; I wanted something that was proudly Chinese, something with a tie to the country outside of simply being manufactured there to be exported elsewhere. The SeaGull 1963 seemed to fit the bill with its “21 Zuan” (21 jewels), Chinese characters and vaguely communist red star on the dial.

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.

$155,000 Rolex Daytona

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.

The Great Firewall of China doesn’t want me checking my email

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.

Tianjin Seagull Watch Factory

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.

November 15, 2016
Laco Augsburg Review (Type-A)

Laco Augsburg Review (Type-A)

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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 Augsburg Type-A.

Crystal:

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The crystal is a very slightly domed sapphire that sits below the edge of the case. Like most of Laco’s watches, the Augsburg has a sapphire display caseback as well, which is a nice bonus.

Laco Augsburg Review – Domed Sapphire Crystal

Case:

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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.

Dial/Hands:

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The dial on the Augsburg, like all Type-A dials, is very minimalistic and uncluttered. These watches were originally intended for pilots to be able to read at a glance, so the minimalistic design is part of the appeal of a Type-A Flieger. 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 Augsburg Review – Dial & Hands

Lume:

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Laco uses Superluminova C3 on the Augsburg, and there is plenty of it making for a nice bright watch that is easy to read at a glance. Where as the original Flieger watches only had lume on every other number, Laco opted to use lume on each number. This is a deviation from the original design, but many people prefer it and it does make for a more symmetrical design when viewed at night.

Laco Augsburg Review – Lume

Crown:

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The crown on the Augsburg, like the Aachen, is another interesting deviation from the original design. Unlike the usual onion crown that is thinner at the base and flairs out, Laco went for 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

Laco Augsburg Review – Crown

Strap:

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The strap on the Augsburg is aesthetically similar to the thick leather straps that define the Flieger watch style with thick brown riveted 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.

Movement & Accuracy:

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The Augsburg 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 Augsburg Review – Exhibition caseback with sapphire glass showing the Miyota movement

Conclusion:

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Laco has a rich and interesting history and makes a wide variety of watches to meet every price point. The Augsburg 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.

[button size=”small”]Options[/button]

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.

[button size=”small”]Price[/button]

$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.

July 1, 2016
Laco Aachen Review (Type-B)

Laco Aachen Review (Type-B)

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.

Crystal:

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.

Laco Aachen B-type Sapphire Crystal

Case:

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.

Dial/Hands:

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.

Lume:

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.

Laco Aachen B-type Lume

Crown:

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

Strap:

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.

Movement & Accuracy:

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 Aachen B-type Miyota Movement with Sapphire Glass

Conclusion:

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.

[button size=”small”]Options[/button]

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.

[button size=”small”]Price[/button]

$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.

June 30, 2016
Steinhart Nav B-Uhr Review (A-type)

Steinhart Nav B-Uhr Review (A-type)

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.

Steinhart Nav B-Uhr A-Type dial (Left) and B-Type dial (right)

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.

Crystal:

The crystal is a domed sapphire with anti-reflective coating on the inside.

Steinhart Nav B Uhr A Type Domed Sapphire Crystal

Case:

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.

Steinhart Nav-B Uhr Display Caseback

Dial/Hands:

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.

Dial & Hands – Steinhart Nav B-Uhr A-type

Lume:

The lume on the Nav B-Uhr A-Type is excellent. The large indices and hands are painted with plenty of Superluminova C1.

Blue Lume on the Steinhart Nav B-Uhr A-type

Crown:

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.

Strap:

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.

Brown leather strap on the Bronze Nav B-Uhr A-type

Movement & Accuracy:

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.

Conclusion:

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.

[button size=”small”]Options[/button]

The 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.

[button size=”small”]Price[/button]

$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.

June 26, 2016
Steinhart Nav B-Uhr Review (B-type)

Steinhart Nav B-Uhr Review (B-Type)

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.

Steinhart Nav B-Uhr A-Type dial (Left) and B-Type dial (right)

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.

Crystal:

The crystal is a domed sapphire with anti-reflective coating on the inside.

Case:

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.

Dial/Hands:

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.

Lume:

The lume on the Nav B-Uhr B-Type is excellent. The large indices and hands are painted with plenty of Superluminova C1.

Crown:

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.

Strap:

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.

Movement & Accuracy:

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.

Conclusion:

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.

[button size=”small”]Options[/button]

The Nav B-Uhr is available with a Stainless Steel case or a Titanium Case, and has two dial/hand options; black/white or antique.

[button size=”small”]Price[/button]

$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.

June 26, 2016