# Steinhart Nav B-Uhr pilot review by member mamas



## Guest (Sep 28, 2007)

*Background*

I have for a long time admired flieger watches because of their simplicity, their legibility and their tool like character and no frills like approach for timekeeping. They are designed for a purpose and serve the purpose well, with no redundant functions.

Originally Flieger "Beobachtungsuhren" or "B-Uhren" (observation watches) were produced by 5 brands (IWC, Stowa, Wempe, Laco and Lange & Söhne) and were unmarked on the dial. They had a number of common features including a case diameter of 55mm which often pilots could strap to their thighs, manual wind with a central seconds hand and a large crown for winding whilst wearing leather gloves. The earlier type of Flieger B-Uhren watch dial consisted of numerals 1 to 11 and the triangle with two dots at 12 .

It was this design that drew me to this type of watch and recently the popularity of these watches has markedly increased with several companies offering B-Uhren homages such as IWC (Big Pilot), Azimuth (Bombardier), Archimedes, Glashutte Original, Titoni and Steinhart amongst others. 
I decided to buy a Steinhart which i purchased from http://www.steinhartwatches.de/ for $415 usd + shipping.

*Case *

The case is made from 316 L stainless steel which is brushed consistent with the tool nature of the watch. It is a`large 47mm in diameter and 14mm thickness. The inter lug distance is around 55 mm and lug width is 22mm.

The case is very well machined and finished with edges which are very precise. The lugs are not sharp and curve gently downards making the watch appear not as massive as it could do. The case is made from one piece of stainless steel and the 'bezel' part of the watch is one with the rest of the watchcase:





The crystal is a gently curved saphire crystal with anti reflection coating on the inside of the crystal. The caseback of the watch is a see through caseback with again saphire crystal with the inscription on caseback of 'swiss made-stainless steel- Nav B-uhr - 17 jewels' aswell as the calibre of the movement.

*Crown*

The crown width is 10mm and the height is around 5 mm. It is machined with grooves along its length which allow easy manipulation. It is well made and solid as is the rest of the watch, although this is the only part of the watch were the stainless steel is shiny.



*Dial*

The dial is a matt black colour with superluminova indices from 1-7 and 11, with the upright triangle with two dots at 12 o'clock. Unlike the original B-Uhrens where the seconds had was central, because this piece utilises the Unitas 6497 movement the subsecond dial is located at 9 o'clock.
The manufacturers name, Steinhart is placed just below the 12 O'clock triangle but does not overpower the dial and is fairly subtle unlike some manufacturers such as Zeno where the name is rather too prominent for my tastes. The dial is incredibly legible and well balanced and does not appear at all cluttered. The dagger shaped hands are blued steel and have a generous layer of superluminova. Again i feel that the watch hands are just the right size, as there is a temptation to make them too large for a dial of this size by some manufacturers.







The luminosity of the hands is excellent and lasts all though the night and is a bright white colour. The dial is fairly luminous although it has a green hew to it. It is not as luminous as the hands and is slightly less luminous than i had expected. I certainly think this could be improved by adding a thicker coating of superluminova to the dial or using a higher grade / similar grade to that used in the hands.

*Movement*

The movement is a Unitas 6497 manual wind 17 jewelled movement. Thw movement is decorated with cotes de geneve waves and stainless steeled blued screws. The movement although fairly basic is attractive and can be seen through the saphire caseback.



The winding of the movement is smooth and mine has a power reserve of around 48 hours. It keeps to within chronometer tolerances at around -4 seconds per day which is more than accurate. Unfortunately it does not have a hacking function although this does not retract from the owners experience of the watch.

*Strap*

The strap is an antique brown colour with contrasting white stitching. It s around 5mm thick and very soft leather indeed. Often with watches of this price range straps are often an afterthought and they tend to be very 'cheap' although this is certainly not the case here. I am very impressed with the quality of the strap and i would have no hesitation in ordering further similar straps from Steinhart. There are 2 stainless steel steel tacks at the proximal end ofthe strap, although these ar eadded for decoration and do not pass through the strap as in other Flieger type straps.

The buckle is a stainless steel brushed pre V type buckle with a screw allowing ease for strap changes and the name Steinhert etched into it.





*Final thoughts*

I think that for the price of $415 usd this is an incredibly made watch whose manufacture quality does not reflect the price. The case finish is as good as many watches at least 3 times the price. Obviously in watches such as the IWC a lot of money goes into the well finished inhouse movement rather than a rather plane Unitas movement and clearly companies such as IWC have a very long and esteemed horlogical history in comparison to Steinhart. Does this Justify the 20 fold difference in price? in a word, no. This does not feel like a $400 watch and i feel that if you are unhappy with the quality of this product, you will need to spend several thousand dollars to find something better.

In terms of design, this is a classic B-Uhren homage design which fits in well with the clarity and tool like ethos which these watches were originally designed

My guess is that many will be stopped from buying such a piece from the size of 47mm which is a large watch. Certainly this was an issue for me before i decided to bite the bullet. Of note my wrist size is 6.75 inches and so i include some wrist shots for you to judge whether this type of watch would be suitable for you.


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## ebrandwein (Mar 10, 2006)

*Great review*

I have a few Steinharts along with a Debaufre (the name Steinhart adopted in the USA to avoid a trademark lawsuit) and I am very happy with all of them.

BTW, that movement picture is really nice. What camera are you using if you don't mind me asking?


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## Peter Atwood (Feb 16, 2006)

Great review Mike! And a beautiful watch, enjoy it. :-!


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## mamas (Feb 10, 2006)

*Re: Great review*



ebrandwein said:


> I have a few Steinharts along with a Debaufre (the name Steinhart adopted in the USA to avoid a trademark lawsuit) and I am very happy with all of them.
> 
> BTW, that movement picture is really nice. What camera are you using if you don't mind me asking?


I am using quite an old Olympus Mju 400 digital caera with macro function switched on. I guess for thes esorts of shots lighting is all important and i took this next to my patio doors with polythene bags over the window to stop reflections :-d:-d


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## funkright (Feb 11, 2006)

*Most excellent review*










Any chance to see it compared to other watches, photo wise.. :-s :thanks


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## mamas (Feb 10, 2006)

*Re: Most excellent review*



funkright said:


> Any chance to see it compared to other watches, photo wise.. :-s :thanks


I'll see what i can do when i get time, although to be honest with all of my other watches are old vintage omegas as per my website so i dont know how useful such a comparison will be??


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## mamas (Feb 10, 2006)

ok, a quick and dirty shot of my only other modern watch, my seadweller.. everything else is between 30-70 yrs old :-d:-d:-d


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## cestommek (Aug 19, 2007)

Wow,great review and beautiful watch.The steinhart "flieguer"is in my list to next year....


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## shelezyaka (Oct 20, 2007)

Great review!
Thank you


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## song31 (Mar 31, 2007)

SOLD ME! I had thought of a STOWA and realized that why??? this has the size I want and that MAMA review sold me- you should get some kickbacks man as I know i bought due to that review guiding me!
ps, Stowa is raising prices which tells me they have decided to ruin their "good quality to price ratio" and will be competing with wayyyy too many watches in the 900+ range I prefer smaller companies that dont overcharge STEINHART meets this goal! I cannot wait to get and then review mine- plus I know they have some awesome things in the pipeline that they shared in an email- that was just superior to what I got when I dealt with Omega, and those who wanted to become that level (kobold,Doxa,Nauticfish)


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## wilfreb (Jul 10, 2007)

excellent review, debaufre make excellent timepieces.


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## Artistmike (Feb 11, 2006)

I've been wearing mine now for a week and I have to agree that it's an amazing watch for the price. In fact it's a pretty outstanding watch altogether. I too was a little wary of the size but it's very comfortable to wear and I am very glad I jumped and bought one.

The company have now changed their name to Débaufré and this is the new dial as it sells currently. They would seem to have addressed the issue of the lume on the dial whilst they were at it, as it certainly matches the hands on mine and lasts well through the night. In all I totally endorse what Mike says and wouldn't hesitate to recommend this watch to anyone.:-!


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## HK Shooter (Apr 17, 2007)

stuffler said:


> I decided to buy a Steinhart which i purchased from http://www.steinhartwatches.de/ for $415 usd + shipping.


Where did you get this price.


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## Guest (Oct 24, 2007)

HK Shooter said:


> Where did you get this price. It is currently quoted at $580 USD + shipping. :thanks
> 
> http://www.steinhartwatches.de/index.php?id=80&Sel_ID=&lang_nr=1


I didn´t. Please read carefully. I posted a review of our member mamas !


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## mamas (Feb 10, 2006)

Thanks for all the great comments guys 
HK Shooter.. it was a mistake on my behalf, price is $429 usd on the european website :
http://www.steinhartwatches.de/index.php?id=67&artnr=13&Sel_ID=18#13

the US dealers seem to charge over $100+ extra on top of this for the same watch under a different name, so unless taxes to your country is an issue, i wuld stick with the website above.

Artist mike, i think this particular dial is a new batch, as my watches lume although good isnt as bright as the hands. Mr Steinhart had said he was going to get a new batch with better lume, so they are going to send me a new dial :-!:-!

This piece has hardly left my wrist, which isnt bad given the competion for wrist time, as i own close to 40 omegas. I agree with you that this is agreat piece for $$$ paid.


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## Artistmike (Feb 11, 2006)

Well it's all one company and of course I presume their new name will presumably be on all their watches when they have sold off the old Steinhart stock, due to that problem over the name.

I started off by being in communication with the USA Débaufré site and when I said I was worried about paying Import Duties, VAT etc etc, when it came in from America, they kindly and very efficiently had one sent from Germany to overcome that and made price adjustments for me on postage etc.... superb service seems to be one of their strengths.

The dial I have is certainly great in terms of lume, so if they are sending you a new one I think you'll be happy with it, I am, at night it looks like a darn great glowing flying saucer !:-!

It was partly due to your review I went for this watch and I'm thrilled I did, it's amazing quality and, like you, I can't get it off my wrist and I do have to say ...... all my other watches seem to be shrinking ! :think: :-d


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## song31 (Mar 31, 2007)

Artistmike said:


> Well it's all one company and of course I presume their new name will presumably be on all their watches when they have sold off the old Steinhart stock, due to that problem over the name.
> 
> I started off by being in communication with the USA Débaufré site and when I said I was worried about paying Import Duties, VAT etc etc, when it came in from America, they kindly and very efficiently had one sent from Germany to overcome that and made price adjustments for me on postage etc.... superb service seems to be one of their strengths.
> 
> ...


I still bought the STOWA- and still am impressed with both- at the price points its amazing-
did you see the new Gold case on the website? apparently coming out in Feb- looks wonderful and the price is also wonderful! I think the customer service does say alot about a company, especially in todays mass company climate it is good to have both Jorg and Gunther offering a caring and attentive buying and owning experience


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## Rahbari (Nov 9, 2006)

song31 said:


> I still bought the STOWA- and still am impressed with both- at the price points its amazing-
> did you see the new *Gold case* on the website? apparently coming out in Feb- looks wonderful and the price is also wonderful! I think the customer service does say alot about a company, especially in todays mass company climate it is good to have both Jorg and Gunther offering a caring and attentive buying and owning experience


Which golden case are you refering to? A new Stowa or a new Steinhart?


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## song31 (Mar 31, 2007)

Steinhart- it is now up on the de site


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## @rogue (May 17, 2011)

Sorry to raise this thread from the dead, but the review and pictures helped me pull the trigger on one of these yesterday, so thank-you!


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## longstride (Jan 13, 2011)

Great review - here's my more "military" Bead Blasted model in 47mm...


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## Shawnny (Mar 12, 2010)

They are a great watch!


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