The Flieger Vintage Series Adds Retro Charm to Stowa’s Entire Range of Pilot’s Watches

As most of you might know, Flieger watches or so-called B-Uhren (abbreviation for Beobachtungsuhren, literally observation watches), originated during the 1940s to equip German Luftwaffe pilots. The overall style, with its distinctive utilitarian look and highly legible dial, has become a classic of the pilot’s watch category, which continues to be produced by many watch brands. This includes Stowa, a German manufacturer with historical relevance, which offers a wide range of Flieger models. And that range has just become wider still, with the addition of vintage-looking dials with “Old Radium” lume on all steel models, a style that was previously reserved for the bronze editions. Here’s the new Stowa Flieger Vintage series, with no fewer than 6 different base models, without including options such as date and logo… 

The whole idea with this new series is rather simple – but simple ideas are often the most effective… Starting from the idea that tradition and modernity do not necessarily stand in each other’s way, the latest series by Stowa delivers modern watches (which are all well-known from the brand’s fanbase) with a retro style. Taking all of the brand’s catalogue of classic Flieger watches in steel, all of them equipped with matte black dials, blue central hands and (most importantly here) white printings and luminescent material, the brand now adds a new option to have vintage charm. Using a style that was previously only available on bronze-cased watches, the brand brings patina-like “Old Radium” colour on the dial’s tracks and printings, on the hands and for the Super-LumiNova coating.

While keeping the functional and utilitarian style of the Classic Flieger series, with brushed steel cases and perfectly legible matte black dials, the Stowa Flieger Vintage series elevates the cool factor and the historically relevant look a few steps with warm, retro-looking printings and luminescent coating. This luminous material has an orange shade in daylight and thus underlines the vintage character. The afterglow has a yellow-green tone and is of high intensity. This is here paired with brushed steel hands. And the good news is that, even if a portion of watch enthusiasts aren’t fans of the so-called fauxtina, you’ll still have the option for the more modern white lume in the Classic Flieger series. Stowa offers the choice for that, but also for many more things in its collection.

Choices and options… This has always been one of the best points with Stowa. The Flieger Vintage isn’t just a new watch, it’s an entire collection of now fewer than 6 different base models, all of which are customizable with different displays, logos, dial styles and straps. All in all, we’re talking about 40 new references added to the brand’s portfolio today. So let’s quickly break down your possibilities… The new series comprises the Flieger Vintage 36, available with automatic SW200 and hand-wound SW210, and housed in a 36mm x 10.8mm (automatic) or 10.3mm (hand-wound) case. Then comes the Flieger Vintage 40, again available with automatic SW200 and hand-wound SW210, and finally the Flieger Vintage 40 model B, which comes with the more complex, multi-scale B-style dial, but then again available with automatic or hand-wound options. Both models are housed in 40mm x 10.2mm (automatic) or 9.2mm (hand-wound) cases.

Then come the larger models, namely the Flieger Vintage 6498, with a 41mm x 12.8mm case and inside the classic hand-wound Unitas movement, which can be ordered as a classic two-hand only (no seconds) or with a small seconds sub-counter at 6 o’clock. Finally, we have the Flieger Vintage Sport and Flieger Vintage Sport model B, sportier and slightly more modern models with a 43mm x 12.8mm (automatic) or 11.8mm (hand-wound) case, a wider bezel, a 200m water-resistant capacity and again the choice between an automatic SW200 and a hand-wound SW210.

Finally, some customization options are available, depending on the versions, including the ability to have or not (or combined) a date window and the Stowa logo at 12 o’clock or not. Also, Stowa offers the option between two colours – beige or black – for the classic aviator-style strap with rivets. A Milanese steel bracelet can also be fitted on option.

Now available from the brand’s website, the Flieger Vintage 36/40/40 Baumuster B Automatic retail for EUR 1,250, the Flieger Vintage 36/40/40 Baumuster B hand-wound retail for EUR 1,270, the Flieger Vintage Sport/Sport Baumuster B Automatic for EUR 1,450, the Flieger Vintage Sport/Sport Baumuster B hand-wound for EUR 1,450 and the Flieger Vintage 6498 for EUR 1,750. To discover all possible options and to check the detailed specifications of each model, please visit www.stowa.de.