Flieger Classic Sans Logo

Here I was waiting in line at Omega Service Centre, Wisma Goldhill to pass my Omega Speedy for a full servicing. The polite CSR informed me that there would generally be an influx of watches sent to the SC prior to festive seasons- in this case, the upcoming Lebaran; so there would be pretty much a queue. So I took my queue no. and sat down to update my blog.

Running through my collection over the years, I realised that there was a certain model that had been missing from my collection i.e. Flieger Classic sans logo. I have concentrated mainly on the diver genre, as could be seen through my flipped list; and it was high time to add a Flieger Classic to my current collection. There were 2 main designs i.e. Type A and Type B, and my general preference was inclined towards Type A due to its cleaner dial. Further, I wanted to get a piece circa 42mm for easier wearability and with an automatic movement so that I could place it in the winder during rotational wears. And so, while seated in the SC, I started reading online on references towards the Flieger Classic Type A.

First stop was at Stowa's website as the brand was well-known for their pilot watches. It was the German war-machine that started the mass production towards the Flieger, so it seemed to make sense to get a German brand in this regard. The model that caught my attention was the following :

Stowe has great reputation in the Flieger Classic so it was a no-brainer that the watch would be in great quality. My only beef was that I would prefer for the crown to be in the classic big onion shape. Anyway, I searched for reviews on the Stowa above and chanced upon comparisons with another brand i.e. Archimede. An extract from one of the reviewers, Ivy Time was as per the following :

"The Archimede Pilot 39 H Automatic B-Watch is well-executed homage to a bygone era in aviation. The B-Uhr styling is readily apparent from the first glance to the moment it touches your wrist. On the wrist, the watch wears smaller than 39mm which is something to note. Going into this review, I thought 39-40mm was the perfect size for my 7.5in wrist but it truly depends on the other dimensions of the watch such as lug length and case thickness. Compact on the wrist, the watch accomplishes its three major tasks- legibility, reliability and accuracy. The ETA 2824-2 movement is known industry wide for being reliable and accurate. Combine this movement with the very simple/legible design of the dial, and you have a great package. I really appreciated the lengths Archimede went to make this piece historically accurate. Despite my gripes with the leather strap, I would recommend this watch to anyone looking for a very affordable B-Uhr style pilot's watch. This watch gets the job done while remaining true to its historical roots."

Going to Achimede's website, I saw that the 42mm Flieger Classic that I was interested was as per the following :

Some of the reviews indicated that the lume was nothing much to shout about, but owners' posts of the 42H lume looked acceptable as the below picture. In any case, I was not expecting the lume to be similar to my diver watches and the Flieger Classic addition was more for its infamous classic pilot design.

And here was a picture of both Flieger Classic from Stowa (brand on dial) and Archimede side-by-side. If you looked very closely, you would noticed that the tip of the hands on Archimede was not pencil-sharp, but rather "squared off" to an angle. I thought that it was quite unique a detail, which was noticeable only to the most discerning observer yet would be relatively invisible to most.

At the end of the day, both watches looked similar from online pictures although there could be quality differentiations while handling in person, given that Stowa's RRP : €1,067 while Archimede's RRP : €521. But I like the onion-shaped crown and the relatively low entry-cost to Flieger Classic ownership while still having the ETA 2824-2 workhorse, so I know which piece I would be adding to my collection. Keep your eyes peeled hereabouts for the review in due course.