In June 2024, the German brand Stowa presented its new model – The Stowa Verus 40 Baumuster B. So yes it's a model that's already a few months old but I wanted to talk about it today. From an essential tool to a stylish daily timepiece, the pilot's watch is one of the most popular watch genres ever. Its distinctive design and its exciting history - when man first flew to the air, watches became an essential tool. That's the first reasons for its popularity. History of the Baumuster B The large original pilot watch in 55 mm case size, in the Baumuster B version by STOWA, is one of the rarest, large pilot watches ever. Most likely only 42 pieces were built. Both original STOWA pilot watches can be…
Stowa has been producing mechanical watches in the Black forest since 1927 – uninterrupted until today. From July/August they will offer another complement of their popular Flieger series. The Verus Sport 43 (43mm case) based on the Verus 40 (40mm case). As the name implies, this watch has very special sport features. For example, the metres waterproof cas with extra thick sapphire glass. On request, a screwdow crown. Inside the watch, they use the famous ETA 2824-2 movement in the good basic version. If you want the TOP finish movement, you can choose this optionaly. Later, a massive caseback should be available as well. With the Stowa Flieger Verus Sport 43 you get an extremely sturdy Fliger watch, which has been modernized by design, but still keeps the Flieger DNA…
One picture, that is all Stowa gave us just before they closed shop to enjoy their summer vacation, but even one picture can tell more than a thousand words. Stowa announced that they are releasing the Prodiver Blue. To me blue is always one of my favorite colors for a divers watch. It must be the reference with the water, or that it looks just a bit more casual than black. With Stowa that blue is a deep dark blue, that area of the ocean where you first have to flick on your diver light. The history of Stowa's sports and diving watches dates back to 1963, and in 1969 they already made a very nice blue one! [caption id="attachment_1362" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Historic Stowa Seatime from 1969[/caption] But this limited…
Yes, Stowa has their new Flieger watch DIN-certified. Great news, but actually not even the best news! The best news is without a doubt the watch itself, which is a fresh look on that classic Flieger uhr. [caption id="attachment_1033" align="aligncenter" width="632"] Stowa's DIN certificate[/caption] That fresh look is not too surprising, because once again Stowa collaborated with Hartmut Esslinger, the founder of Frog design, to come up with something new. The Flieger Professional DIN shows an updated design from the original Flieger-uhren (of which Stowa was by the way one of the original manufacturers during WWII) with a very legible dial. The traditional solid triangle has been replaced with an arrow shape, indicating twelve o'clock. Although the bezel is still clearly readable, it has large indentations so it can be…
There are watch brands that fight the smart watch, others mock it, while some even ignore it all together. Stowa decided to embrace it, and introduces a fully interactive app for the Apple watch. The small, German brand has always had an innovative approach, from design, to complications, as well as presenting and positioning itself in the world of watches. With the new app on the Apple watch, it brings an interactive and highly entertaining brochure to your wrist. It is a combination of fun facts, the companies extensive history and a catalog all in one. Of course this can very well the best place for a watch catalog to be; on the wrist! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX1k3wsRRm0 The app also has the ability to show different watch faces on your Apple watch,…
To start the year I had the pleasure to try the new Feynman One Eclipse, and guys, this is something you should add in your collection.Oh yes, this is not a sponsored post, but just my own thoughts. For the recall, Feynman Timekeepers was founded in Singapore by Yong Keong Lim who decided to name his brand after his son name, Feynman Lin, who was himself named like this as a homage to Richard Feynman, the father of Theoretical Physics. I saw their first release several times on the social networks and of course on their Kickstarter campaign launched in the end of 2018, and I always wondered about the quality of it. Now that I have it on my wrist I can say YES, this is a great timepiece…
Press Release - After a successful launch of watch winders in 2016, JUVO has taken on the same challeng to offer contemporary watch boxes, designed for Watch enthusiasts, offered at affordable prices. JUVO has collaborated on the launch of our limited-edition watch boxes with Dutch artist, Teun van Heerebeek, famous for watch illustrations. Teun, who launched his website « Watches and Pencils » in 2017, states “For me Watches and Pencils is an ideal stage to display things that are of interest among us Watch nerds. Through my illustrations I can bring certain things to one’s attention and discuss these in a more creative way. Sometimes there is a clear message or question, while other times the illustration is just a tribute to an iconic watch.” The collaboration has produced…
When you want to start a watch brand there are two roads that you can take: you can start from scratch, or find a historic brand that is available. That is the route Votum took, and although they start from scratch as well, they have the brands history as inspiration. [caption id="attachment_1791" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Vintage Votum Divimat[/caption] The original Votum did not make it past adolescence. It was founded in 1962, but did not survive the quartz crisis of the 1970's. However, in that short period of time, it did create watches impressive enough to make an impression on Rolf Bodmer, a designer and graphic artist from Zurich, and François Zahnd, a watch manufacturer and industry expert from Biel. The combined forces and revived Votum. I would have said to its…
This year there must have been a record, with so many micro watch brands launching crowd funding campaigns, the majority of them even for the very first time. Many of them even get successfully funded, but the question remains: when is the market saturated? On crowd funding websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, the majority of the watch brands that launch offer watches between US$100,- and US$600,-. When brands go higher, you really need to have something special to offer (and make some additional noise to get people on the platform that normally wouldn't shop there). When brands go lower, they often target the more fashionable consumers. Watch collectors and connoisseurs can only spend their money once, and that makes it continuously more difficult for new brands to have a successful…
Kickstarter and Indiegogo are full of them, department stores are full of them, and, what a surprise, Alibaba.com is full of them. Minimalist watches that are being presented to us in the most glorious marketing-terms, to convince us that less is more, often tossing some Scandinavian countries, as well as some Scandinavian looking people, in for good measure. Unfortunately these watches are often created by a designer with a minimum of talent, who wanted to invest a minimum amount of his time, because even he knows that the watch will be made at a minimum quality level, in a factory that most likely offers its workers as minimum of a wage as possible, all to maximize profits. Fortunately there are brands like Vapaus on Kickstarter, who try to set the…
