# My latest watch: Laco Bielefeld (the october 2012 edition with sapphire glass)



## user888

Well, thanks WUS. Not long ago I visited WUS because I was in the market for a quartz. Now I have six watches in my collection. The Stowa flieger (with ETA 2824-2) was my first auto and my first flieger. Now I bought my second auto and second flieger. I'm afraid it will not be the last.

I was looking for a relatively modern looking watch, not as dressy as the Stowa, and preferably PVD. I prefered the Laco Bielefeld (with Miyota 821A movement) above the Laco Kassel (with quartz movement) because of these reasons:

- The Bielefeld case is more modern looking (thus the less authentic lugs)
- The Bielefeld case finish is that of gun metal (never faced a gun, but just assuming), whlie the Kassel seems to have more like a powercoated black look (hard to see from stock images)
- I seem to prefer auto above quartz these days.

This new october 2012 version of the watch has these improvements: sapphire glass front and back, engraved rotor.

First some pictures.

























My findings: the box and leather case with zip makes unpacking quite an experience, +1 for that. The watch is so much nicer than can be seen from stock photos. I never understood why companies as Laco and Stowa are so sparse with putting pictures on their websites. The gun-metal PVD looks very nice, you can still see the brushed texture of the stainless steel underneath it. The movement is nicely decorated, the new rotor engraving makes it complete. Unfortunately I plan to wear this watch on a NATO strap with the strap completely covering the bottom glass (I ordered a black and tan/khaki one, both with PVD 'loops' or how is it called). The Miyota movement is ok for me, the secondhand sweeps less continuously compared to the ETA 2824-2 in my Stowa.

What I dislike to some extent is that the Laco logo and the circle are white compared to the rest of the numerals. The circle and the logo are not lumed, there rest is of course. The lume is very good in brightness by the way, not sure yet how long it lasts. In case of this watch I really like it that the lume gives it that green/yellowish color. In the case of my Stowa I prefer that it's more white (which actually is the case with the Stowa).

I like the watch very much, it's better than expected. The quality is on par with Stowa as I see it (I'm not an expert though). It will not be my dress watch (the Stowa is reserved for those occasions), but I'm sure it will be a watch I will wear many times.


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## user888

And a little clip to show off.


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## sci

Congratulations. Wear it in health and happiness. I am glad to see Laco moving slowly in upscale. Being not fan of PVDs, the watch still looks very good!


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## Uwe W.

Glad to see that it met your expectations. With your building B-Uhr fever, maybe there's a 55 mm on your not too distant horizon. :-!


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## Janne

Uwe W. said:


> Glad to see that it met your expectations. With your building B-Uhr fever, maybe there's a 55 mm on your not too distant horizon. :-!


Agree! No collection shoud be without a 55mm, vintage or modern!
:-!


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## user888

I'm afraid I don't have the funds for it, nor the wrists


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## user888

Some more pictures.


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## Neskio

Looks absolutely fantastic. I am skeptical about a PVD flieger, but looking at your photos and this beautiful contrast with the green lume, i think my mind changes a little bit. Please, post some wrist shots too!


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## user888

*Wrist shots*

Some wrist shots at your service. I have a small wrist size of 17.5cm.


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## sci

*Re: Wrist shots*



user888 said:


> Some wrist shots at your service. I have a small wrist size of 17.5cm.
> View attachment 844809


I just didn't get - how we deserve this gesture 
Aside of the joke - the watch is very cool, but for me it should be on vintage leather strap.


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## Uwe W.

*Re: Wrist shots*

Great wrist shots and it looks like a perfect fit for you, but I agree with sci; a Laco B-Uhr deserves to be on a leather strap. NATO didn't even exist yet when these watches were issued equipment.


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## user888

*Re: Wrist shots*



Uwe W. said:


> Great wrist shots and it looks like a perfect fit for you, but I agree with sci; a Laco B-Uhr deserves to be on a leather strap. NATO didn't even exist yet when these watches were issued equipment.


It was never my intention to go the authentic way with this watch, otherwise I would've gone for the Paderborn (more authentic lugs, more authentic color of the case, hacking movement), but I agree leather looks nice on this watch, especially brown. However, I don't like straps with rivets. But let's compare some shots:

*NATO straps*








Nylon brown NATO








Nylon red NATO








Nylon black NATO








Nylon skunk NATO








Nylon bond NATO








Nylon green NATO (18mm)








Leather brown NATO

*Normal straps
*







Brown Stowa leather flieger strap








Original Laco leather flieger strap

Comparing these pictures I like the brown / black combinations best.

I ordered a nylon NATO with PVD buckle in black and khaki, but now I found a leather NATO strap with PVD buckle... tempting...


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## Uwe W.

*Re: Wrist shots*

Of those NATO straps pictured I think the olive drab looks the most intriguing. The black is also nice, but all of them should really have black keepers. The Bond strap looks out of place. The only good thing about nylon straps is that they're inexpensive and quick to change, but I gave up using them altogether long ago because they felt cheap on my wrist. Enjoy your Laco; your photos certainly have me considering a PVD model now.


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## Levelman

*Re: Wrist shots*

That's a beautiful watch! I'm not familiar with the Laco brand, but will do a little research.
As for the smoothness of the second hand sweep, the Miyota 821A runs at 21,600vph vs the 28,800vph sweep of the ETA 2824-2 movement. Many people say they can't tell the difference, but to me it is obvious.
Enjoy your new Flieger!


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## bjoernbertelsen

*Re: Wrist shots*

First, congratulations with your watch.

Second, damn you for making me want a PVD style flieger.

I really like the look of your watch, but must agree with Uwe and others, that it definately looks better on leather. In my opinion a PVD watch like that looks best on a vintage tan/light brown strap.

But depends on what look you want, and of course the rest of your clothing! The brown leather Nato you have is also great looking! And a black nylon Nato is gat for any watch where you want to highlight the watch alone, and not the strap.


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## user888

*Re: Wrist shots*



Levelman said:


> That's a beautiful watch! I'm not familiar with the Laco brand, but will do a little research.
> As for the smoothness of the second hand sweep, the Miyota 821A runs at 21,600vph vs the 28,800vph sweep of the ETA 2824-2 movement. Many people say they can't tell the difference, but to me it is obvious.
> Enjoy your new Flieger!


Thanks, not that it bothers me much but the difference between 8 or 6 ticks per second is visible for me.


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## user888

*Re: Wrist shots*



bjoernbertelsen said:


> First, congratulations with your watch.
> 
> Second, damn you for making me want a PVD style flieger.
> 
> I really like the look of your watch, but must agree with Uwe and others, that it definately looks better on leather. In my opinion a PVD watch like that looks best on a vintage tan/light brown strap.
> 
> But depends on what look you want, and of course the rest of your clothing! The brown leather Nato you have is also great looking! And a black nylon Nato is gat for any watch where you want to highlight the watch alone, and not the strap.


Sorry, do you want me to quit posting pictures? ;-) I'm wearing it on the leather NATO now, it's great. Can't cancel the nylon PVD straps, better had used that money for one leather NATO with PVD.... That damned 'Buy me now' button on Ebay... ;-)


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## Neskio

Thank you very much for the pictures! Are the lugs protruding from your wrist? I think it looks just right.

Also


user888 said:


> View attachment 845148
> 
> View attachment 845153


Yes, I'm in love.:-!
This could be only better, if the straps had pvd fittings to match the case. Both look superb.

Man, you definitely got me thinking there. I don't have a PVD watch, and these pictures sure look sexy as hell... Maybe i will follow in your footsteps one day!


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## bjoernbertelsen

*Re: Wrist shots*



user888 said:


> Sorry, do you want me to quit posting pictures? ;-) I'm wearing it on the leather NATO now, it's great. Can't cancel the nylon PVD straps, better had used that money for one leather NATO with PVD.... That damned 'Buy me now' button on Ebay... ;-)


No Please keep posting, but honestly WUS is killing me - not unlike yourself, the encounter with this community and the interest in watches it creates comes with a pricetag - even though you stick mostly to affordables 

Too many watches, too little money


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## cooperj

*Re: Wrist shots*

Wow that's is an interesting updated twist to this watch and some interesting photos as well. The watch would look great with one of the canvas type NATO straps in a khaki color IMHO. I think it would complement the look of the modern finish of the case.


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## user888

*Two PVD straps*

Yesterday I received two NATO straps I ordered on eBay.








Tan/PVD nylon NATO strap








Tan/PVD nylon NATO strap








Black/PVD nylon NATO strap








Black/PVD nylon NATO strap

I think they both look really nice, I preferred the tan one until my wife noticed it looked a bit '[censored on request of moderator but let's say _feminine_]' (no offense to all the [_feminine_] people in the world).


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## Uwe W.

*Re: Two PVD straps*

Those PVD keepers made a big difference; I think both straps look great with that case and actually prefer the tan (looks olive drab on my monitor) for the way it compliments the printing on the dial. Nice job!


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## Neskio

*Re: Two PVD straps*

Can't get better than this.
Tan looks badass. The black one looks nice too, but the tan gives a very serious military look, which i personally think i prefer over the black.


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## DannyStyle

*Re: Two PVD straps*

I've got my grey finished one sitting on a navy blue nato right now.

Finally killed the leather strap it shipped with and this is all I had.

Extremely comfortable, will be hard to go back to a leather band!


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## user888

*Re: Two PVD straps*



DannyStyle said:


> I've got my grey finished one sitting on a navy blue nato right now.
> 
> Finally killed the leather strap it shipped with and this is all I had.
> 
> Extremely comfortable, will be hard to go back to a leather band!


Pictures?


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## DannyStyle

*Re: Two PVD straps*

Hi Mate,

I'll take some tonight and post them up.

It doesnt look good on blue but its very comfortable.

D


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## Yunsung

*Re: Two PVD straps*

I am seriously considering purchasing the LACO Pilot A, but I prefer the swiss movement if possible. Do they offer the black PVD with a Swiss ETA movement? Or will I have to go down the Archimede PVD route?


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## Renisin

*Re: Two PVD straps*

The best answer is the one you get from Laco, so email them! And then let us know!



Yunsung said:


> I am seriously considering purchasing the LACO Pilot A, but I prefer the swiss movement if possible. Do they offer the black PVD with a Swiss ETA movement? Or will I have to go down the Archimede PVD route?


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## Yunsung

*Re: Two PVD straps*

I have asked!


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## user888

*Stowa flieger strap with PVD buckle*

After searching for a leather NATO strap with PVD buckle like this one I decided that a normal leather strap would look nicer, less complicated. Preferably a tan-coloured with a weathered look and of course PVD buckle. I decided to assemble my own:




























*

Strap
*Stowa brown Flieger leather strap without rivets 20 mm. Link
Yes, it looks different on the site than on my pictures, because of these steps I took:


Remove the buckle
Use dishing soap and rub it on the strap
Fill a bowl with hot water (don't boil, just tapped hot water)and also put a little dishing soap in it
Put your strap in the bowl with hot water
Leave it 8 hours
The water will get from yellow to brown
Get it out and let the strap dry slowly
You can use transparent shoe polish to make the strap a bit more flexible if you'd like. I didn't.

*Buckle
*Ebay seller *globalwatchband* 
Item: 20mm Black PVD Tang Watch Band Buckle. Matte. Link


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## Renisin

*Re: Stowa flieger strap with PVD buckle*

That is a fantastic looking watch! I love it!



user888 said:


> After searching for a leather NATO strap with PVD buckle like this one I decided that a normal leather strap would look nicer, less complicated. Preferably a tan-coloured with a weathered look and of course PVD buckle. I decided to assemble my own:
> 
> View attachment 865423
> 
> View attachment 865426
> 
> View attachment 865428
> 
> View attachment 865430
> *
> 
> Strap
> *Stowa brown Flieger leather strap without rivets 20 mm. Link
> Yes, it looks different on the site than on my pictures, because of these steps I took:
> 
> 
> Remove the buckle
> Use dishing soap and rub it on the strap
> Fill a bowl with hot water (don't boil, just tapped hot water)and also put a little dishing soap in it
> Put your strap in the bowl with hot water
> Leave it 8 hours
> The water will get from yellow to brown
> Get it out and let the strap dry slowly
> You can use transparent shoe polish to make the strap a bit more flexible if you'd like. I didn't.
> 
> *Buckle
> *Ebay seller *globalwatchband*
> Item: 20mm Black PVD Tang Watch Band Buckle. Matte. Link


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## cooperj

*Re: Stowa flieger strap with PVD buckle*

That's a nice look! Thanks for posting the steps to tweak the look... very nice!

Cheers
John


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## mocapitane

*Re: Stowa flieger strap with PVD buckle*

Very nice strap. Thanks for posting the links . I also like the Natos on this watch aswell.


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## user888

*Re: Stowa flieger strap with PVD buckle*

Thanks for all your comments. I still hope Laco would release one with tan-coloured lume:


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## Yunsung

*Re: Stowa flieger strap with PVD buckle*

Thank you very much for the ideas. I actually have a Stowa with the brown leather strap without rivets. And also a Laco PVD Altenburg on the way so this has givem me some interesting ideas indeed.


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## user888

*Re: Stowa flieger strap with PVD buckle*

I want to let everybody know I wear this watch almost everyday, with the leather strap that is. Recently replaced the buckle with a PVD deployment buckle. Oh, do I like this watch! The PVD paint holds very well. Only on minor scratch at the edge.


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