Type B-Uhr Pilot Watch

I have developed a concurrent AD for watches and have been searching for a affordable Type B pilot watch for some time. Found a Korean manufacturer that meets all my requirements and purchased a watch. At $149 (included shipping) it was only about 10% of the cost of a Stowa Flieger Baumuster B. Fit and finish is outstanding, 43mm, automatic 25 jewel movement, and a Sapphire crystal option which is well worth the $30 upgrade IMO. With wrists over 8.25 inches I have to special order XL watch straps on just about all the watches I purchase and hope the new strap will be delivered in the next few days. Website in English is: http://tisellkr.com.

Nice looking watch! Hmm, haven't got a Pilot watch ..

I have that brand bookmarked, and have been tempted to pull the trigger. They look like pretty high quality watches for the price.

I have a Chinese Fleiger style watch, and it is fine, but this one looks to have better lume, and the ability to upgrade to sapphire would be worth it to me.

That sort of price is what a watch like this is REALLY worth. All the fancy brands out there that produce similar models to this are so overpriced it's downright laughable. Good find!

Looks nice. How's the quality of the strap? I think that's one thing where you tend to see big deferences between manufacturers at different price points

jesseix said:

Looks nice. How's the quality of the strap? I think that's one thing where you tend to see big deferences between manufacturers at different price points

Click to expand...

At some places, you buy the watch separately from the strap. In most Western countries people do expect a strap/bracelet so some manufacturers slap on a super cheap strap/bracelet when selling, thinking it will anyway get swapped for something the owner prefer.

Vostok from Russia is an example of this. Their watches are really nicely made but the bracelets are super terrible. The end result is pretty much proving the point as some swap the bracelet to a NATO-strap, other to shark-mesh etc. People prefer different straps and then it is good almost all the money went to the watch and not to a strap/bracelet people do not find optimal.

Very true, but I always think it's worth considering since the price of a nicer new strap can easily run $50-100+, and you reach a total price point where you could be looking at different watches that now include better materials, better customer service, etc. I'm a fan myself of rotating bands though so I definitely get the point of picking your own different 'accessories' to mix things up with.

The band is a little better than I expected but still on the thin side, decent but plain, is how I would describe the strap. I really end up replacing most all OEM straps, or adding links, due to the size of my wrist so its never been a real consideration when I am deciding on a watch. One of the selling points for me was the size (43mm), affordability, and type (pilot). So far I'm very please and may look at the Bauhaus style they make with the Miyota movement.

Tisell has been pretty well regarded around the watch world for being so new, it seems their watch per dollar ratio is excellent.

A great place to look for some straps- Crown and Buckle and Panatime.

Also, for those of you looking for similar B-Uhr watches, Ticino is about the same price, available from a couple sites online.

DanOK- if you're hunting for a Bauhaus, Rodina and Sea Gull might be worth a look as well. The Rodinas come up for sale relatively often and is possible to find them under $100.

Sorry I forgot the pics. I have it on a NATO till the leather strap I ordered from David at Vintage Watch Straps arrives. He is making me a NATO RAF lather strap in brandy with white stitching. As noted before, my wrists are 8.5 inches so the strap that came with the watch could not be buckled at even the last hole. I think most of us with large wrists accept the fact, that in a lot of cases, we are going to need a larger strap on watches we purchase. It is a nice size for me and I like the way it wears.

I have wanted an automatic watch for a while now, and after reading this thread and doing some online research, I have taken the plunge. Ordered the same model as yours and plan on also trying a NATO band.

Thankyou for the thread!

Dan

Very nice. Hope it works as well as it looks.

I hope your enjoy yours when it arrives. Mine has been my daily watch since it arrived, except for one day I was out at the lake and switched to my Orient Mako. In all that time it has only picked up a little over 1 minute. For me that is outstanding accuracy for around three weeks of wear plus the power reserve was more than adequate to handle a day off my wrist.

For those interested, the NATO RAF strap, I ordered from Vintage Watch Straps, was approximately $37 (after converting pounds to dollars) bring my total investment to $186. As I mentioned earlier I don't really take the cost of a new strap into consideration as I almost always have to purchase a larger strap due to the size of my wrists. In this case I consider the total cost to be a very reasonable amount for the watch.