Reply With QuoteI'm not a fan of Stowa flieger - feels a bit sterile.
Bigger fan of IWC in general - as long as you buy at the right price. The heritage date placement isn't too bad. IWC should be doing that without a date, it would be an absolute winner.
Your thoughts and opinions. The two are priced very differently...
Stowa Classic 40
https://www.stowa.de/en/Flieger+Classic+40.htm
IWC Mark XVIII Heritage
https://www.iwc.com/gb/en/watch-coll...B&gclsrc=aw.ds
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I'm not a fan of Stowa flieger - feels a bit sterile.
Bigger fan of IWC in general - as long as you buy at the right price. The heritage date placement isn't too bad. IWC should be doing that without a date, it would be an absolute winner.
Stowa for me
It’s closer to the original BUhr in looks but in a more wearable size.
Not a fan of the IWC
I think the Laco version is probably the closest to the original. Both the Stowa and IWC are nice, the price of the Stowa is nicer though.
I've a sterile no-date Stowa Flieger, I prefer this variant over the others. It's extremely well finished and, in my opinion, a real quality item - it would be very interesting to compare it side-by-side to IWCs three-handers just to see what that extra £ gets you.
Stowa Flieger
I second this. Obviously I'm biased as I own exactly the same model as CardShark. You can pick up a brand new Stowa from Chrono24, they regularly sell their own exhibition pieces, as new, for 20% discount (just look for the commercial seller based in "Engelsbrand", that's Stowa).Originally Posted by CardShark
I don't mind IWC, but I don't rate them as highly that their pricing of 4x-5x those of Stowa would be justified.
that looks really nice.
Is that the 36mm or 40mm version?
Thanks.
It's very versatile when it comes to straps, I've either got it on Stowa's own riveted pilot strap or one of a few NATOs. I also have Stowa's Marine Original, another quality piece that wears well with a variety of straps.
40mm on my 7.25" wrist.
My feeling is that you will have more smiles with the IWC.
If you compare any premium brand to mid price alternative the price delta doesn’t have a lot to do with engineering, and that is true here.
Personally I find the Stowa too sterile, although I would go for sterile dateless version out of purity. I done like the aged look of the IWC heritage, and feel it would be much better without a date.
The Stowa has the look of the original that inspired it, but by any measure it’s a very different watch
Dave
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+1
D
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As Stowa were also one of the original manufacturers of this style of watch in the war and so has the same heritage then I can’’t really see what you get for the extra money for the IWC apart from paying an awful lot for brand recognition and a bit of titanium.
Plus with the Stowa you can specify, date or no date, auto or manual, logo or no logo so you can make it as busy or sterile as you like!
However, if brand, titanium and faux patina is more important to you and in some cases it is, then pay the extra 4k!
Last edited by paw3001; 3rd February 2020 at 21:24.
Back when they had the JLC 889 the price difference made sense. I've not looked recently but I assume it's still a modified 2892 and that's hard to justify. The moment you are looking at Stowa then I'd be looking a lot closer to home.
Here to be precise:
https://www.timefactors.com/sb3new.htm
Half the price, toe to toe or better on quality, a better bracelet and an entirely comparable movement with no questions about spares availability.
Easy.
+1
But a different style and no heritage so not really a comparison!
If we just compare Stowa as a brand compared to IWC as a brand and compare the watches (any IWC Pilot Mark again any Stowa Pilot), then how does the quality of each item compare? From case manufacture, to dial material, movements etc?
Generally, IWC are way mor expensive than Stowa. Is it simply the name that demands more money or could you qualify the IWC watches as generally better?
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Stowa are using the ETA 2824 as a base movement while, unless the latest have changed, the IWC uses the ETA 2892. The 2892 is generally regarded to be a better movement, although in my experience, in the real world, there isn't much between them - the 2892 is a thinner movement, which is an advantage but both are more than capable of passing COSC in a suitable state of tune.
I'd be astonished if either are anything other than 316L steel but, under a loupe I'd expect the IWC to be significantly better when examined with an expert eye. However, once again, in the real world, the differences might be hard to notice. IWC are nice, but the difference isn't startling in the way, say, Grand Seiko are.
I had recent dealings with Stowa and I was not at all impressed.
I placed an order and their order process forces you to fill in a box that asks for you house number.
My address has no number so to get through the order process I had to put something in that box.
I put down " there is no number "
Then I contacted them to adjust my address and spoke to them on their website.
I explained what had happened and that their system had my address looking jumbled up and I asked them to delete the " there is no number " part.
Anyway several weeks later they posted it out and emailed me ( in German )
It arrived on my doorstep and nothing had been amended at all.
I have also asked them to date a watch for me and I was told they would email me the answer. They never emailed.
All in all I give the experience 1 out of 10
The IWC MK range are jazzing on the theme established by the IWC MK II, as is Eddie's offering. Stowa certainly do have a heritage, but it does involve producing watches for the Axis, effectively ceasing to exist as a manufacture in '74 when bought out by Pallas for whom they were a sub brand and then being reanimated in 1996 by an enterprising soul with no connection to the original company. Precista, reanimated by Eddie after a mere six year pause, produced military watches for the British army, Navy and Air Force:
https://thewatchforum.co.uk/index.ph...matic-history/
Which looks to me like a heritage. I'm pretty sure that both Precista and Stowa used Fricker to make their cases for a while.
The fact is that all three are in the homage business and none of the watches on offer share any parts with the watches they are modelled on. IWC have a direct unbroken connection with a watch they actually made once, even if the current offering is rather a distance from that watch. Stowa and Precista do not.
I don't own an IWC, primarily because they do not offer a version without the date function. I hope that changes someday.
I've owned a half dozen Stowas and currently have three, a Marine auto with Roman numerals, a Marine Original I rarely wear (and that needs service) and I just acquired a blue flieger that I really like. The three I've flipped were all black dialed fliegers, one A dial and two B dials.
The watches are well made and the 40mm size works well for me. I flipped the Stowa fliegers over a period of years, moving the last one on when I bought a Hanhart Pioneer One which scratches the austere (matte case and black dial) flieger itch. I do wish it were 40mm rather than 42mm though.
I always liked the IWC Petit Prince with the blue dial but never considered it because of the date feature. On Black Friday Stowa came out with a blue dialed flieger and I jumped on it. It has proved to be a wonderful, dressier alternative to my other watches, most of which are black dialed and dull cased. Other than the partially polished case and blue dial/polished hand set it is identical to the regular flieger.
The top grade 2824-2 keeps exceptionally good time, gaining 5 seconds over the first three days I owned it. I do prefer a 2892 to the 2824 though, mainly because the 2892 winds so much more smoothly. To me winding a 2824 or 2801 feels and sounds like the case is full of sand.
The strap on it is temporary, I've ordered and am awaiting an IWC style strap with white stitching made by Rios1931. My wrist is 7.25"
I too have a sterile Stowa Flieger
Great watch and totally superb company to deal with- I’ve visited them twice in the Black Forest
I have also owned in the past a number of IWC Flieger
With the exception of the mk18 I generally prefer the 90’s- early 2000’s models.
Also look at Wempe’s Flieger range- very nice also.
Would you not just put down 0?
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How blue is it, the Petit Price is a not a bright blue, it this bright?
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IWC much like Rolex, Omega etc spend a lot on advertising and branding. That's partly why they are more expensive. You either like that and pay the premium or you dont
It is not subtle and won’t be mistaken for black. It is a very bold blue and is clearly blue even in low lighting. I’ll try to post a couple more photos when I get home.
I own a Portugieser with blue dial and really enjoy it - although it's a bit sad to see how much they depreciate now o.o
I have Stowa Flieger and it is great...
IWC mark line-up? The last good gen was XVI imho... I would love to get XV or XII...
A few more shots in different lighting, also a movement photo.
I contacted them to amend the address, the point is they didn't amend anything even though they said that they did.
I carefully arranged the address to them as it should be in their live chat several days before they sent it out.
It is reasonable for me to expect my address to resemble my address lol.
Last edited by xellos99; 5th February 2020 at 00:40.
I've never understood the lack of lume on the Mark XVIII (the titanium is fully lumed I understand), seems an odd omission given how highly prized legibility is in fliegers.A few more shots in different lighting, also a movement photo.
Much prefer the look of the IWC, except for that date position which does ruin it imho. I expect the MXIX will follow the Spitfire and correct this. Surprised to hear negative feedback on Stowa, it's usually glowing; which is the exact opposite of what I read of IWC. My only real fear of Stowa, is that Mike Stuffler might show up at your house.
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