Reply With QuoteI'd go with the Stowa, great watches and excellent service.
I believe Stowa were one of the original five flieger manufacturers for the German luftwaffe
If I remember correctly, the original five were:
A. Lange & Sohne, Laco, Stowa, Wempe and IWC
OK guys help required. My wife has officially taken over full rights of possession to my Archimede Pilot H. She is refusing to even consider the fact that the watch is mine and wont let me wear it.
So I am in the market for a new pilot watch and can buy without guilt.
I have narrowed it down to two
1. The tourby aviator automatic
2. The Stowa Flieger
Both are German
Both around the €750 mark
Both excellent value for the money.
I just cant decide which one?
Which one would you go for??
Tourby
Stowa
I'd go with the Stowa, great watches and excellent service.
I believe Stowa were one of the original five flieger manufacturers for the German luftwaffe
If I remember correctly, the original five were:
A. Lange & Sohne, Laco, Stowa, Wempe and IWC
Stowa. it's one of the original flieger manufacturer. I believe their quality must be better than tourby.
I have to agree that of those two the Stowa is your best bet. It's a good quality product for the money.
Regards,
Nick
Thanks guys. I hear you with the Stowa. I have a Marine Original and it is a great watch.
However..........I think the Tourby looks really good. A decision that would be easier to make if I could see them in the flesh.
The Tourby is 42mm Versus the Stowa 40mm........Is the Stowa a bit small??
Tourby dont get much of a mention around here but it is a great looking flieger
They only offer 12 months guarantee however versus 24 months with Stowa.
This is a decision that will have to fester in the back of the mind.
Pity I gave up drinking......A good dose of pints and a drunken log in would often sort this dilemma in the past. However doctors orders...
A mate of mine has just got a Stowa and it's a cracking watch, I don't think you'd regret it.
I prefer the Stowa. I think it looks slightly better. The crown is nicer too. But I'm getting petty.
Stowa is a great watch, sorry to add another manufacturer to the mix but i'd go for Laco, authentic and great value. Even have the original design numbers engraved on the watches!
https://shop.laco.de/en/Pilot-Watches.html
Last edited by bparker170; 25th June 2013 at 21:03.
I have the Stowa and I am very pleased with it.
I've not seen the Tourby but from photos the Stowa looks to have nicer hands and crown.
In fairness though I'm a little bit infatuated with the blued hands on my Stowa.
You can't go wrong with the Stowa, but I am really liking what I have read about Tourby. They sound like they are very high quality.
Cheers,
Jay
Stowa all the way. I've 2 Fliegers and an Antea and the quality for the price point is excellent.
bparker170 recommended Laco, I have a Stowa and a Laco. I like definitely like the Stowa more, but somehow Laco gets more compliments.
I can vouch for the extremely high quality of the Tourby: I had the 6497 model- it was very well built. And a lovely maple box too.
Stowa just pips it for me. Name and design features edge it in to the lead.
Decided that Stowa was the way to go. Should be problems over........
Except I have fallen into the regular dial or Baumuster B vortex!
Could be a while with this one!
Thanks for all the replies.
Have you considered the sterile Archimede? Think you can probably order them with normal crowns if you ask, the weird crowns on many pilots are a deal breaker for me. So you may not be able to wind them in freezing conditions while wearing your gloves and flying a spitfire - you may actually miss your target and fail to blow up a crucial dam or something. And that could change the course of the entire war. But it's a risk worth taking I think, onion crowns just blow that hard.
I have one, but my wife wont give it back to me! She has magpied my pilot H.Originally Posted by Itsguy
Cant bring myself to buy another one and admit defeat on the one I already own. The Stowa is a holding option.
The Archimede pilot is an excellent watch and I would recommend them.
Being new to this flieger malarky are they all 40-42mm now.? Does anyone do a full 55mm as per the original?
These do look lovely and I think I have a wish for a Stowa.
Good Luck with the hunt and decision.
Paul
The Tourby would be my choice. I couldn't get on with the crown on the Stowa.
I would pick the Stowa, I like the looks a lot more and it is a more than decent brand. I own a Stowa MO myself and still very pleased with it after a year!
And welcome.
Enjoy
Paul
Laco have a new 55mm that is as close to the original as possible. Not cheap though!
Have you seen this beauty?
http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.php?267010
Both look nice, but I'd go for the Stowa. I think the blued hands and the historical connection to the original fliegers give it the edge. Also whilst I haven't had the flieger I did once own a Stowa Prodiver which was a beast of a watch, excellently built and great value for money. Enjoy making your decision.
Michael
I'd recommend the Stowa - I had a Stowa Type B for a year or so. It was beautifully made and had a wonderful depth of detail - the blued hands, the counterweight on the second hand which perfectly overlapped the lume on the hour hand, and a nicely decorated workhorse movement. It's probably the one watch that I really regret selling!
I think that this has got to be one of the easiest questions to answer I remember whilst stalking these fora! Having test-driven one of these a couple of years ago (the only reason I didn't buy was cos the GBP-Yen exchange rate was awful) the Stowa is an easy easy choice. Scores full marks in the umami/yummy department.
If the question had been A. Lange & Sohne vs Laco vs Stowa vs Wempe then that would have been harder. (I've deliberately excluded IWC since they were not official suppliers to Luftwaffe). Alas, since Lange & Sohne got 'closed' by the Soviets in 1948, with the name being reused in about 1990, I would argue that they are about as authentic as Breitling (who closed in 1979 ... but I do concede that it at least sounds better that Sicura). Wempe over-priced ... after all, these are supposed to be 'tool' watches. So, Laco vs Stowa .... there's plenty of fora out there having debated this one.
So, why don't I have the Stowa Flieger yet? Hmm, Eddie's fault ... he popped the 29B in the post last year, and kind of 'scratched an itch'.
Is it worth pointing out that Stowa also offers a date option? And very nicely (read discretely) done too :)
If you do get one, please can we have some wrist shots ... I don't know why, but people often seem rather reluctant to supply wrist shots.
-mykk-
P.S. how wonderfully unique to have the opportunity to buy a watch GUILT-FREE!!!
I find the Stowa a good fit on my 7⅜" wrist. The photo makes the watch appear a bit bigger than from a distance.
The flieger is the only watch I've bought twice. I flipped the first one and was back in line waiting for another (a hand wind 2801 this time) within a year. They are nice watches, I have a Marine Original on order for September.
Stowa all the way, but I guess it really depends on what it looks like on your wrist! That being said, I'm not aware of any shops that stock them
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