What is a flieger watch?

 A flieger watch is a watch inspired by the German Luftwaffe aviation watches of World War II.  The German word "flieger" literally translates into aviator, airman, and flyer. The original flieger watches were designed with very large dials--especially by the standards of the era and emphasized readability and reliability. Dials were around 55mm in diameter and long straps allowed them to be worn over flight gear.  The original makers of flieger watches for the World War 2 Luftwaffe were:  A. Lange & Söhne, IWC, Laco, Stowa, and Wempe. These companies still make watches and some flieger models, but the most affordable mechanical ones are from Laco. I've posted about that company and their watches in my post Watches A to Z: Laco.

There were two main styles of flieger watch, Type A and Type B.  The Type A flieger watch was for pilots and had large readable arabic numeral hour markers around the dial.  You can check out a contemporary Laco Type A flieger here via my Amazon affiliate link.

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Laco Type A (Amazon Photo)

The Type B flieger watch was intended for navigators who needed to know the minute precisely for their duties.  It had minute markers with arab numerals around the outer edge of the dial and a small inner circle with hour markers. You can check out the Laco Type B flieger watch here via my Amazon affiliate link.

Laco Type B Flieger (Amazon photo)

Flieger-style watches are practical and popular. Many people collect them and many companies offer variations on the theme. If you are looking for an affordable quartz Flieger Type B, check out the Mil-Tec Vintage Aviator here via my Amazon affiliate link.

Mil-Tec Vintage Aviator (Amazon Photo)

If you look around, you'll start to see Flieger-style watch dials everywhere. It will be fun to see what pops up.