Laco 1925 Men's German Laco Pilot 861688 Automatic Watch

I bought this watch about a week ago after much deliberation and research on pilot watches. I had a short list of requirements for my watch to have. It had to have numbers, not Roman numerals, it had to be mechanical, automatic, and it had to tell time. I didn't want a barometer, thermometer, tachymeter, alarm, stop watch, etc. I have all that on my phone. I also didn't want to pay an arm and a leg, easy to do with watches. So I weighed my options and pulled the trigger on this watch over the Steinhart, Stowa, Archimede, Hamilton, and the other Laco with the Swiss movement. Presentation. I got the watch in 2 days via prime shipping, and the box it came in was stellar. Simple black, high quality cardboard, with Laco 1925 on the front. Inside was a leatherette watch case which contained the watch and the instruction manual and the warranty card. On a sticker inside the box was a name of a watch shop in Canada. I suppose I'll email them if I have any questions that Amazon can't answer. The case has straps in it to hold the watch and like a cloth or something nice, but I will only use it if I don't plan to wear the watch for a long period of time. Appearance. On the picture, it shows the only text on the face being the Laco 1925. However, it actually says "Made in Germany" in tiny print by the 6. Not distracting at all, and the numbers are large and easy to read. They have a slight greenish off white tint to them, you get used to it very quickly. The crown is the right size for the watch and it just looks good on the wrist. It sits large, and might look funny on smaller wrists. The case is brushed so it doesn't show finger prints, but the case back around the sapphire is polished. So when I take it off to watch the movement, I have to wipe it off. The superluminova is great for I would guess about 4 hours after dark. It's on every hand and number and tick mark, but it starts to dim after an hour or so. One night at midnight it was still bright enough to read, but this morning at 4, there was a faint glow but it was pretty much unreadable. Strap. It comes with a brown leather strap. It has 2 rivets that it would look funny without. It feels sturdy and it had softened up nicely over a week. The buckle is high quality and it says Laco. Nice touch. Movement. I took this watch out of the box and wound it, set it, and put it on. Believe it or not, it told the same time that an $800 watch would! The Japanese movement works just as well as a Swiss movement for 1/3 the price. It has a slightly lower frequency, so it has a defined tick, 6 per second, as opposed to the smoother 8 of the Swiss ETA. It tells time the same so who cares? I've been watching closely to see how much time it gains and loses, and it works out to be about 4 seconds fast or so per day, and one night it gained 10 over night. But for the purposes I am using it for, mainly telling time, it is close enough. Setting it back a minute every couple of weeks is much cheaper than spending $850 on a watch that you have to set back a minute every couple of weeks. Conclusion. I can only think of 1 con to this watch, and that is that it is only waterproof to 5 ATM. That means it is fine to get wet, but not submerge. I don't plan on wearing this while swimming or in the shower or anything, but it makes me nervous to think about getting caught in a heavy rain storm. It shouldn't hurt it, but it still makes me nervous. Otherwise, it looks great, it tells time, it is the cheapest in the class, but is by far the best value, and is a great first watch for anybody looking to get into the mechanical watch game. It's not flashy or fancy, but it does every thing it advertises and I couldn't ask for more. It's a great watch and I would recommend it to anybody who occasionally needs to know what time it is.

I ordered this watch as I was looking for a Fleiger-type watch. I am a licensed pilot and was looking for something that would be easy to read at a glance while flying. I also wanted a mechanical watch because I'm a purist when it comes to watches. Finally, I wanted this to be an everyday watch. I have an Omega Speedmaster which I wear but, given how much I paid for it, it's not something I want on my wrist all the time. This watch fit the bill perfectly for everything I was looking for in a wrist-worn timepiece. It is not only a functional mechanical watch, but it's beautiful to look at as well. Its simple form and relatively large size make it very easy to read. The large dial and long hands make it easy to set with considerable accuracy. Best of all it DOES HAVE A HACK FEATURE. Not sure why some reviewers are saying it doesn't have a hack capability, unless older models had a different movement. With the hack capability I can set this watch with precision. I also love the leather band that it comes with. When I ordered it I was a little worried that the band would be too narrow given the diameter of the watch; however, it looks perfectly sized. And the band itself is nice looking. It was a little stiff out of the box, but after a week of wearing it every day it is now soft and has taken on a deeper color. The only discrepancies I've noted, and the reason I've given it a four-star rating and not a five-star rating, are because the watch-back is not a screw-on type and is pop on-and-off. I'm actually surprised it comes with a 5ATM water resistance rating. I've heard, but have not confirmed, that pop-backs lose their water resistance entirely if they are taken off for servicing and require a factory re-install to retain the water-resistance rating. The other discrepancy is that my watch loses about 8 seconds every 24-hours. Not too bad when it comes to a mechanical watch, and I certainly wasn't expecting the 1-2 second accuracy of my Omega, but for this price point I expected something somewhat more accurate. Nonetheless, my satisfaction can be summed up by the following: I would recommend this watch to a family relation or friend, and if I needed to I would definitely purchase another one again. UPDATE: Having now had the watch for a few weeks, the movement appears to have settled down (broken-in). I'm now getting a 1 second loss per 24 hours - folks, we're talking accuracy along the lines of an Omega! Will be interesting to see if it maintains this level of accuracy over the long haul. I'm still leaving it with a four-star rating, though. I wore it while out working up a sweat on a humid day. The next morning when I tilted the watch face and viewed it at an angle I noticed what appeared to be a smudge on the crystal. Only problem was that it was on the inside of it - moisture had apparently seeped into the watch from the previous day. With a 5 ATM resistance rating I would think sweat would not be able to penetrate the watch. Definitely not a time piece one would risk getting wet under any circumstances, and probably a reflection of the pop-on back cover.

Well, my beloved Seiko 5 went to the great watch rest home in the sky. One of my kids dropped it onto a linoleum floor from about 5 feet, and after that it ran unacceptably fast; about 45 minutes per day fast. If I had the tools, a loupe and the patience I might be able to fix it; from my readings on the internet it sounds like something to do with the balance spring hanging up on a pin or something. I tried the "unofficial fast-Seiko fix" (basically tapping the watch against a desk to try to free up the spring) but it didn't work. I decided to just say to hell with it, and treat myself to a new watch. What's Amazon for, right? I actually would have replaced it with another Seiko automatic (I love Seikos) but I decided I didn't want the day/date feature on it. After years of buying complicated-looking watches with chronometers, tachymeters, busy dials (all of which I hardly ever use anyway) I just wanted pure legibility, and the simple elegance of a watch face that's just that. Only problem is that for some reason it is hard to find automatic watches these days that DON'T have the day/date feature. I know Rolexes and Omegas do, but since I can't bring myself to spend that much on a watch, I kept looking. Eventually, someone mentioned the Laco lineup, and I'm so glad I found it. I've seen pilots' watches before, but never one this beautifully basic; all of the pilots' watches I've seen thus far have had the same kind of super-complicated dials that I was trying to get away from (think Citizen Blue Angels or Seiko Flight Alarm, or just about anything by Breitling). The fact that this watch is made by the same company that used to supply the German Luftwaffe adds a nice bit of authenticity to it. All I have to do now is buy a nice Hamilton, and let east meet west! Numerous other reviewers have expounded on the value that you get with $320, but it bears repeating: you really do get a lot of watch with this model. I opted for the Miyota movement; I couldn't justify paying 3x the price for a Swiss ETA movement, and besides, the Swiss model has a solid back. Half of the fun (for me) of automatic watches is flipping it over and watching it all work, and seeing the balance wheel spinning away. Miyota is well-respected in the watch world (they are the movement-making section of Citizen) and both the Japanese and the Germans are notorious for attention to detail and quality control, so I honestly didn't see how I could go wrong with a German-assembled watch with a Japanese movement. I set it to one of my quartz watches earlier in the day, and so far it's only gained a second. In half a day. Hope it keeps it up; I know the accuracy of unadjusted automatics will drift a bit for a month or so until they find their "groove", I just hope it isn't too much of a drift. You can also manually wind the watch, which I really like; manually winding watches (gazes nostalgically into distance) just makes me think of what the watch world must have been like in my parents' and grandparents' time, when watches weren't considered arcane relics by society at large, because everyone now has the time on their smartphones. The lume is excellent. I love the way that all of it lights up: the numbers, the second tick-marks, even the whole second-hand all glow. It's a well-constructed watch, I'm really happy that it came with a sapphire crystal. I'm not sure if the display-back is sapphire too, but I doubt my wrist will scratch it up that bad. The band is made of stout genuine leather; I needed to punch an extra hole in it, but it fits like a glove now, and I can't stop looking at it. It even came with it's own zippered felt-lined display box, with manual, warranty card and tag inside. This watch is just a class act all the way, and I'll reiterate how glad I am that I found it.

The minute hand is much too slender. I often confuse it with the second hand. I don't know why the Miyota movement doesn't have a so called hack feature. After all the whole idea of a pilot's watch is to be able to "Simonize" your watch with your fellow crew members. This lack of a hack renders it useless as far as a really useable tool.

. . Laco Type A Dial Miyota Automatic Pilot Watch 861688 . . Price ($289 free s/h and tax free, with a 2-year warranty) is not bad at all for a German made pilot watch! Pictures shown in Amazon do not do justice as to how awesome looking this watch is and its quality. Now, a single caveat is in order: one picture of the watch has the words "Made in Germany." This is misleading for me, not paying much attention to other pix, which do NOT show "Made in Germany." To be fair, the seller, longislandwatch (point of contact: Mark), does not have those words in its website. However, this is not to say that it is not made in Germany. According to the seller, this watch is made--at least *assembled*--in Germany (of course quality assurance is involved in that process). BTW, Mark from longislandwatch took his time in answering all my questions, including how the watch is made and how the warranty works. The more I look at my Laco, the more I fall in love with it. Love a number of its salient features, including simplicity (no day/date to adjust) and super-luminosity (stays bright through most of the night). Now, I'm thinking about getting another Laco pilot watch: the Laco Type B Dial Miyota Automatic Pilot Watch 861690.

I'm a huge fan of mechanical/automatic watches, but don't like paying for Swiss or German made cachet. I had never heard of Laco, but stumbled across some YouTube reviews that gave them kudos for price, performance and wear-ability. I've owned this watch for a week now, and I'm absolutely in love with it. This model is simplicity personified: no day or date, just the time in big, legible numbers and a movement that seems very accurate so far. I love everything about this watch: how it looks and reads, the case width and lug heft. My only complaint is with the watch band, because it's too thick and stiff for my taste. I easily remedied that with a swap out. I hate to use the term "love at first sight/wear", but this model challenges any hesitations I may have had about Laco. Kudos!

Nice watch when it works but it stopped working after 14 months. Also looses about 1 minute per day. The luminous hands are only bright for about 1 or 2 minutes max. Oh, and if you need it fixed you must send it to Germany on your dime…that sucks!

This is really an amazing watch. Great look, easy ready, beautiful finishing, wears perfectly. Only two down sides, the movement is slightly noisy you can hear the rotor spinning and water resistant is not great.

L'orologio dal vivo devo dire che rende ancora di più ha delle ottime finiture e il cinturino è di ottima qualità. È stato un regalo molto gradito per appassionati del genere pilot

Después de mucho buscar un reloj "flieger" me decanté por este por ser una de las empresas que fabricaron dicho reloj durante la II Guerra Mundial y por el precio ajustado junto a una calidad muy buena. El reloj viene muy bien embalado en una funda símil piel, el tamaño es grande pero sin ser exagerado. La calidad es bastante buena para el precio que tiene, teniendo además un movimiento automático ( por este precio es difícil conseguir un reloj automático fabricado en Europa). La correa es un poco rígida pero es muy bonita y no se hace incómoda llevarla. Los únicos peros que se podría poner (que a mi no me han impedido realizar la compra) son: - Movimiento automático de origen japones Miyota (aunque ya le ponen el nombre de Laco) que no tiene parada de segundero para ajustar la hora (para poder realizar un mejor ajuste de la hora). - El segundero de este movimiento va un poquito a saltos, aunque hay que fijarse mucho para verlo y si no te lo han avisado antes seguro que no lo notas. - Pone la marca en la esfera (los originales y los altos de gama van sin dicha marca) - El fondo es transparente (ventaja para algunos pero los originales y los de gama alta llevan el fondo ciego) De todas formas yo lo recomiendo como una excelente compra y muy recomendable si te gustan los relojes tipo aviador. No te arrepentirás de la compra.

Excelente reloj calidad-precio con gran historia. Buena luminosidad en carátula. Se adelante 1 min cada 2 días. 42mm

I wanted to get a nice pilot watch to include in my collection within a ~$500 budget. This Laco watches have a great German history and a lot of positives including, great lume (on all markers and hands), nice non-polished case, display back, and great leather band. The only minor issue I have is with the automatic movement (Miyota 821) not being able to hack (stop the seconds hand). As a pilot watch, you would expect to be able to hack the seconds hand. Also, this movement is not a high of frequency as Swiss ETA;s (its 21,600 bph vs the ETA 28,800 bph), so the second-hand sweep is not super smooth. Overall though, a great Flieger watch with amazing German history behind it.

I had been looking for a flieger style watch and came across this one on Amazon. It is made by the German watchmaker Laco which was one of the four makers of the original WWII Luftwaffe pilots watch that this design is based on. The watch is very clear to read as it should be and is well made. These latest models have a sapphire crystal and I know from experience that they just do not scratch unlike mineral or acrylic crystal. This particular model is slightly looked down on by the flieger watch aficionados on the watch forums because it has a Japanese automatic movement (Miyota 821a by Citizen), not a Swiss hand wound movement and because the lugs are a different shape to the original. However for most of us, this is a great looking quality watch which will last for many years and should be cheap to service. The only minor criticisms are a lack of anti reflective coating on the crystal and it's not possible to stop the second hand when setting the time. Did I mention that the time keeping is exemplary? Over a week the watch lost or gained a second or so each day but had lost nothing overall by the end of the week. Amazing, it puts my £2000 Fortis to shame. :)