Made for the German Luftwaffe, the Beobachtungs-Uhren (B-Uhren), or “Flieger” watch (“pilot” auf Deutsch), were intended only as flight tools. The paramount focus of the Flieger was legibility; robustness and accuracy were factors as well, but if the navigator or pilot couldn’t quickly tell the time, the watch was of no use.
The Flieger was primarily made for the navigator (the “Beobachter”), and was not actually issued to keep, but as flight equipment with the expectation that the watch would be returned post-mission. It was made in two types, A and B, which had similar aesthetics: a 55-millimeter case diameter, a matte black dial with luminous markers and hands, a pocket watch movement, the trademark triangle 12:00 marker, and a long leather strap with enough material to be worn around the outside of pilot’s jacket. The difference between the two was the dial layout: the Type A being very simple, with more of a traditional clock layout, and the Type B being more technical.
The Type B displays the standard minute track, but instead of an hour indicator for every 5 minutes, there’s a numeric minute indicator that lines up perfectly with the length of the minute hand. On the inner part of the dial, an additional ring lines up with the hour hand and displays markers for each of the 12 hours. At a glance, it’s an incredibly easy dial to read.
The original Flieger manufacturers — IWC, A. Lange & Söhne, Stowa, Laco, and Wempe — remain household names. But luckily for watch nerds, a fat wallet or a giant’s wrist isn’t necessary to get the look and feel of a Flieger. With the exception of Lange, each brand still produces varying degrees of Fliegers, from traditional to modern, high-end to affordable. Other great brands also make Flieger-inspired timepieces today, some faithful reproductions and some that take creative license.
Among modern watches, Fliegers represent a relatively focused subset of the broader category of pilot’s watches but are popular and numerous enough to more or less constitute a genre of their own. Here are a few of our favorites from both the classic Deutsche set and some newer brands.
