# First flieger, Stowa Klassik A Dial



## kwang411 (Jan 6, 2016)

Before I pulled the trigger on the Stowa, I also looked into Laco and Steinhart for a Type A flieger. Price wasn't an issue, it was just trying to choose one that is best for me, as each brand has own goods and bads. In the end I chose the Stowa because I like its overall proportions the best. I gave up on going the historically accurate route as I prefer how the Stowa looks on the wrist over the Laco, not a big fan of the straight lugs. Stowa is a great blend of modern watchmaking with historical elements and I think it works beautifully together.

After I placed my order I waited for Stowa to come back from vacation. Once they shipped from Germany, I got the watch the next day in Vancouver, Canada. I must say I'm very impressed with the shipping speed! Anyway, here it is:

I think Stowa changed the box design, it's different than the ones I've seen online








I really like this metal box, quite practical and looks great








Seeing the watch for the first time, always very exciting!








Just as beautiful in person as in the photos


The polishing and overall fit and finish is fantastic!


The strap feels quite nice, almost has a nubuck texture. It is very soft and comfortable. The only thing is the fit is slightly off for my 6.75" wrist, it's either a bit too loose or a bit too tight. 


Macro shot of the dial and we can see that the Superluminova is applied over the printed dial, and it slightly bulges out giving a 3D effect. 



I chose the Fl23883 engraving, even though it's a bit expensive at about $100 CAD, I think it's a pretty cool detail and adds to the watch. 



The onion crown is beautiful, the details are nicely executed and easy to manual wind. Though I personally prefer the diamond crown, this one is definitely more comfortable on the wrist as it doesn't dig in. 


The heated blue steel hands are beautiful. Even though this isn't my first watch with blue hands, I think it looks amazing over the black dial. 


The movement is the top version ETA 2824-2. The decoration is alright, nothing to write home about compared to my other watches. I actually like this rotor quite a lot though, it's very unique and the historical element is interesting to look at.
I would have chosen the handwind movement if it was available, but in the end it doesn't really matter. The auto is probably more practical for this watch anyway since I will definitely be wearing it quite a bit. 


Lume shot, it lights up like a flashlight 


Random comparison with my PAM422, 40mm vs 47mm. I really like military style watches, the simplicity of the design just works so well, perfect examples of form following function. 


The Stowa is very thin at ~10mm vs 422's roughly 16.5mm. Because of this, the Stowa is very very versatile and stress free on the wrist. 


The flieger is a perfect alternative to wearing my 422 when I feel like wearing something small but keeping that military style. Before I thought a 42mm or 45mm flieger would be ideal, but now that I've worn the Stowa for a few days I think the 40mm makes a lot of sense, especially for daily wear. I'm very happy that I went with the Stowa and it will definitely get a ton of wrist time :-!:-!

Thanks for reading!


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## hidden830726 (Oct 23, 2013)

That is some wonderful pics. Awesome review. Wear in good health

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## s_buba (Apr 28, 2016)

Nice watch. Congrats. And great review.


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## ATXWatch (Sep 1, 2015)

One nice benefit of the Stowa is that if you want to wear it at more formal occasions, all it takes is to add a nice alligator or horween shell strap....

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## radarcontact (May 29, 2010)

Great review and pictures of amazing watch(es). Interesting comparison to the Pam. I own 2 hand wound Laco's in 45mm (Type A and B) and had hard time to decide to get the Stowa in its mere 40mm, but I found that it wears surprisingly well on my 7.5" wrist. Laco's with their grey finish and size appear more 'brute', they are great in their own right. The Stowa is more delicate and refined. Both have very crisp dials and solid build. I opted for a logo dial as I feel it is more contemporary with its unobtrusive logo. The Laco of course are sterile dials.

Currently wearing mine on worn out Hirsh Liberty, had hard time to squeeze the 22mm strap in between those lugs but I am liking the result. For some reason the stock tan straps although great keeps the watch off balance on top my wrist. I can center it of course if I tighten it up but I like to wear the leather a bit loosely.










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## Nokie (Jul 4, 2011)

Great review and most excellent pictures, especially the lume shot.


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## mpalmer (Dec 30, 2011)

You made a wonderful choice. Congrats on your Flieger!


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## Louie777 (Aug 25, 2015)

Great watch, nice photos and write up!


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## kwang411 (Jan 6, 2016)

Thank you all for the kind words! I've worn the watch for 5 days straight and I don't often do that with a watch!



radarcontact said:


> Great review and pictures of amazing watch(es). Interesting comparison to the Pam. I own 2 hand wound Laco's in 45mm (Type A and B) and had hard time to decide to get the Stowa in its mere 40mm, but I found that it wears surprisingly well on my 7.5" wrist. Laco's with their grey finish and size appear more 'brute', they are great in their own right. The Stowa is more delicate and refined. Both have very crisp dials and solid build. I opted for a logo dial as I feel it is more contemporary with its unobtrusive logo. The Laco of course are sterile dials.
> 
> Currently wearing mine on worn out Hirsh Liberty, had hard time to squeeze the 22mm strap in between those lugs but I am liking the result. For some reason the stock tan straps although great keeps the watch off balance on top my wrist. I can center it of course if I tighten it up but I like to wear the leather a bit loosely.
> 
> Sent from my MI 5 using Tapatalk


I totally agree with your word choice, the Laco is definitely more brute and the Stowa is refined. Both are great but for me I think the Stowa is much easier to match the wardrobe. ;-)


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## mreyman73 (Mar 6, 2013)

These posts never get old. Beautiful watch. Enjoy it!


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## kwang411 (Jan 6, 2016)

mreyman73 said:


> These posts never get old. Beautiful watch. Enjoy it!


Thank you! =)

Here is a wrist shot with the stock strap:








I ordered a IWC Big Pilot style strap that finally arrived today:








Looks awesome! Love the monochromatic and understated look








On wrist:















The black strap looks better than I had originally anticipated :-d


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## radarcontact (May 29, 2010)

Looks great! Can you please share from where did you get that strap? I like t he IWC style rivets and tang buckle.

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## kwang411 (Jan 6, 2016)

radarcontact said:


> Looks great! Can you please share from where did you get that strap? I like t he IWC style rivets and tang buckle.
> 
> Sent from my MI 5 using Tapatalk


I got it from Amazon, but it's from Strapcode.com, here's a link:

20mm, 21mm, 22mm IWC Big Pilot 5002 Type CrocoCalf Black Watch Strap, Rivet Lug,


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## DutchMongolian (Jul 5, 2016)

I changed my straps back to the brown rivets today and I feel like the brown really brings out the blue heated hands more when I look at my watch, maybe it's the contrasts of the colors, but when I wear it with the black rivets and NATOs, it's not as prominent? Any others feel this way?


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## radarcontact (May 29, 2010)

kwang411 said:


> I got it from Amazon, but it's from Strapcode.com, here's a link:
> 
> 20mm, 21mm, 22mm IWC Big Pilot 5002 Type CrocoCalf Black Watch Strap, Rivet Lug,


Thanks, 
good info!

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## radarcontact (May 29, 2010)

DutchMongolian said:


> I changed my straps back to the brown rivets today and I feel like the brown really brings out the blue heated hands more when I look at my watch, maybe it's the contrasts of the colors, but when I wear it with the black rivets and NATOs, it's not as prominent? Any others feel this way?


I also prefer to wear it on brown or tan strap. It makes the watch case, dial and hands to stand out better than strapping it on black. For me the 20mm strap works better without the rivets on that particular watch.

It looks good (I think) on that old blue suede nato strap that I have










And even better on a brown leather nato










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## TaTaToothy (Jan 29, 2016)

Great pics - thanks for sharing!


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## stefano11 (Feb 23, 2012)

great review and enjoyed the images (specially lume and macro/close ups)...iwc style strap really looks good too.


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## a_watch (Apr 2, 2016)

Great pictures. I also have a 6.75" wrist, and I think the 40mm size would be a great size. Congrats!


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## freight (Jan 4, 2016)

I too just received my first Stowa, the exact same watch as the OP and am loving it.

I ordered on 9/5 and received the watch on 9/9 in the US - was not expecting to receive it so quickly.

I also chose the brown leather strap and it looks better and is more comfortable than anticipated.


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## kwang411 (Jan 6, 2016)

Thank you all! This watch has gotten so much wrist time lately most of my other watches are getting jealous. :-d

Here are a couple more shots


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## TaTaToothy (Jan 29, 2016)

Thanks for sharing - beautiful pics! I am thinking I will pick up a Stowa (as my first flieger) soon.


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## Earl Grey (Aug 17, 2013)

That first shot just completely floored me. Amazing job.



kwang411 said:


> Thank you all! This watch has gotten so much wrist time lately most of my other watches are getting jealous. :-d
> 
> Here are a couple more shots
> View attachment 9342042
> ...


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## shawn burgess (May 21, 2016)

Very lovely watch, nice shots.


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## pacreamer1 (Oct 18, 2016)

I love the Stowa aesthetics. I'm new to the forum. I posted a wanted ad for an A type a few days ago. A member came through and hopefully this week I'll be a proud owner of this amazing watch myself!


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## kwang411 (Jan 6, 2016)

Earl Grey said:


> That first shot just completely floored me. Amazing job.


thank you for your kind words!


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## kwang411 (Jan 6, 2016)

pacreamer1 said:


> I love the Stowa aesthetics. I'm new to the forum. I posted a wanted ad for an A type a few days ago. A member came through and hopefully this week I'll be a proud owner of this amazing watch myself!


congrats! looking forward to seeing your photos!

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## Earl Grey (Aug 17, 2013)

kwang411 said:


> thank you for your kind words!


It's now part of my computer desktop rotation. Hope you don't mind. 

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## mountbatten (Aug 19, 2013)

Beautiful. The value you get for a watch of this level of historical significance is almost unmatched. Enjoy, my friend.


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## kwang411 (Jan 6, 2016)

Of course not! Glad you enjoy them!



Earl Grey said:


> It's now part of my computer desktop rotation. Hope you don't mind.
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## kwang411 (Jan 6, 2016)

mountbatten said:


> Beautiful. The value you get for a watch of this level of historical significance is almost unmatched. Enjoy, my friend.


Agreed, the value proposition for this watch is amazing. Thanks buddy!


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## mitchjrj (Aug 30, 2014)

kwang411 said:


> View attachment 9342042


I'm on the cusp of ordering this watch (have settled on the manual wind, no date, but want the logo even though shots like above make me think otherwise.) What I find particularly interesting about this photo is that it reveals a fine texture on the dial that I have not seen before. Or certainly not as prominently. Likewise really illustrates the depth of the markers, painted so thick they're casting shadows.

For the non-photographers out there if you want to reveal texture this is how you do it - a good dose of hard angle light.


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## hidden830726 (Oct 23, 2013)

I have a similar photo.

Edit: nvm. Tapatalk don't allow me to post picture

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## Peter Atwood (Feb 16, 2006)

Great photos of an absolute classic timepiece.


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## Origo_DK (Dec 8, 2013)

Lovely shots of a classic piece, thanks.


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## faiz (Jul 15, 2013)

Wow that photo is incredible. I never knew that the dial had so much depth. 

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## ctarshus (Apr 7, 2009)

Superb shots and great looking example, enjoy it!


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## propforall (Dec 15, 2017)

Thanks for sharing those great pictures. Surprised by how many straps this thing can take and still look great 

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