New Design Feedback

I like the dial layout. The straight lugs not so much.

It's quite a big case and L2L length that will size out the majority of people. Not sure if that's the best decision for sales.

Most of those specs are good. The case and LtL however are a hard “no” for me. And I have bigger wrists.

Hi, the dial Layout is nice.

But the crown is Not my thing.

I like the look particularly the oversized crown. I love the dial especially the 5 minute numerals and think brown would work well. The size though is just over the limit for me, would a 42mm be possible? It might make it more appealing to a wider audience.

Better with an inner 1-12 hour scale added.

I agree with most saying to shave off some of the case and L2L. The dial would make it look bigger than it is, and a brown dial would look great. I think a smaller crown would work better for most people. And @ayadai makes a good observation with the seconds hand.

Best of luck, can't wait to see the finished product!

I would like to see more fully liked hour and minute hands and a crown that doesn’t stick out so far from the case.

Edited to add a question: Does grade 5 versus grade 2 titanium really matter if you are going to treat it with a scratch resistant coating? We hear plenty of unsupported statements on this site about the characteristics of these two grades of titanium. It would be interesting to hear an informed perspective about the relative merits of each. I suspect that most people think grade 5 is “better” because, you know, 5 is 3 more than 2, so it must be better.

So far the most repeated suggestions have been small case/l2l, more fully lumed hands, and shorter crown. I think I can go with 41/48 for case and l2l and still maintain a fairly large wrist presence. The lugs are turned down somewhat. Wasn’t able to get two picture in the initial post.

I also like the idea of moving the red to the top of the seconds hand. When I saw it in the drawing, it was strange on the other end.

Thank you all for your comments! I got much more feedback than I was expecting, for sure. Super stoked about this project.

Allow me to drop in some thoughts:

Firstly, I'm not a massive fan of the Type B dial, so I'm admittedly not the target demographic - that's my qualifier before I mention that the alternating font size turns me off even further. Leaving them the same (smaller) size works best for this type of dial. I understand you probably want some form of dial differentiation, but having different size fonts - to my eye at least - causes confusion and distraction when reading the dial.

Secondly, I would echo the common sentiment on L2L distance, even speaking as someone who has a 7.25" wrist that can comfortably pull off that L2L distance; I think having the lugs angled downwards would help, and of course, chamfering the edge of the case so as to prevent the end of the strap being worn out on the corner of the case. Also, perhaps the watch could be kept to 41mm? That would help shorten your L2L distance, no?

Thirdly, the hour and minute hands seem a little undersized, like they need to be a good 5-10% longer; so, I reckon maintain the same width, but elongate them such that the minute hand just about overlaps the 5-minute indices, and the hour hand about covers the 12, 3, 6 and 9 dot indices.

I like what you're trying to do here, just remember that that part of the DNA of a flieger is that they're meant to be big watches, so I don't think 43mm is too large at all. (Lot's of small wrists on WC 😀) If you're prepared to go down to 41mm, that's all well and good, but any smaller and you risk moving too far away from being a flieger in my view.

I like type-b dials, but having looked at all of mine I do echo @errikwong in that the hour and minute hands seem a touch short. Legibility could then be an issue as you don't have the hour markers like you typically see on a B-dial.

What's behind the PT21043 reference? I like that it mimics what you see with FL23883, but what's the meaning in this instance?

Valid point about case size. I have a feeling I could get away with 49 L2L, which means I could comfortably keep 42. My assumption is people are a little turned off by seeing a ‘5’ on the front of that L2L.

I think I need to make the hands longer and make the lume area larger.

For the reference, PT is just pilot. 43 represents case diameter and 210 is the movement.

As @errikwong correctly assesses, for the dial, I am just trying to be a little different than the Type B.

You know what they say about opinions ... everybody has one.

• The minute markers are a bit too small will probably be lost in the edge of the sapphire crystal (they are already somewhat lost in your rendering).

• I would prefer a more equilateral triangle marker at 12, similar to a classic flieger type A dial, OR a stylized version of the arrow from the type B dial.

• I'd prefer equal font size for the arabics

• I like the lack of inner 12 hour scale; I normally find type B fliegers a bit too busy.

• Are the hands supposed to be blued? (I see they are colored blue in the rendering) I think they should either be black with the existing lume, or blued with fully lumed surfaces.

I should have worked that out. Makes perfect sense 👍

What program do you use?

I do agree that the minute markers may prove to be too small, but for now, I am going to roll the dice and make the final decision with I have the prototype in hand. What the drawing does not capture, are the recesses in the chapter ring.

For the triangle, I think I might give that a try. I actually can’t remember why I chose the exact angles I did for that.

I’ll be making the lume area larger on the hands. That has been a common suggestion. Yes, they are heat blued.

I use Fusion 360 for my CAD program. It’s the only program I have used, so I have nothing to compare it to. I’ve used it regularly for nearly two years and am now getting fairly proficient.

For the difference between T2 and T5, I am certainly not an expert. I’d say one is not clearly ‘better’ than the other, but each has trade-offs. Although T5 is resistant to corrosion, T2 is even more so. T5 is harder and stronger. If I am not mistaken, T2 is slightly lighter. Given that T5 is more risistant to scratches because of the hardness, I do think it is the better choice for this watch, but, as you elude to, I am also hoping that T5 has better name value.

I use Sketchbook! The only sad part is that you can’t curve text - I’m trying to make a concept for a retrograde date, and it’s irritating that I can’t warp the text.

Ah, super lame. You can curve text in F360. Are you trying to make a one-off peice, or a full production run? If it’s a full run, the engineers at whatever company should be able to do it for you.

Nice design, it reminds me a bit of a Rolex Air King, with a Flieger type B influence. I'm a huge fan of Flieger watches in general, so it appeal to my tastes.

Spec wise, don't see any problem with the material or movement, you take a route with great specs. Maybe I'd look for an automatic movement, but that's a detail. I like that you choose a no date, Fliegers don't need them IMO. I love that crown! keep it that way!

Size wise, I get it that Fliegers are meat to be big, have some commanding presence on the wrist, and I have a 39mm type B that looks a bit tiny, but 43mm with long straight lugs, it's definitly a watch for bigger wrists. I have a Speedy/Lunar Pilot hommage from Fossil at 52mm lug-to-lug and it fits barely me because the lugs are quite short. I'd say 50mm lug-to-lug is a sweet spot, I'd try to shorten the lugs a bit, and maybe make them a bit less squared ?

I'm not shure for the dots in the 12-3-6-9 position. Type B have a circle with the hours marked all around, maybe I'd replace the dots by numbers instead, or I would add smaller dots at every hour (12 smaller dots instead of 4 big). Also the red marker on your second hand seems to be on the wrong side, it look a bit strange.

I like that you chose to add dept on the dial by making markers ressessed instead of painting it, it will make it stand out.

Overall, it looks promising. I'm currious to see where it's going. Price wise, around 500$ seems interresting for the specs. Compared to a Laco Aachen 42mm, you bring some good specs for 100$ more.

I wish! I just make designs for fun!

Thank you for the reply and god luck with the watch.

Thank you!

That a huge no from me dog

Don’t lose that enthusiasm! As we’ve seen with other brands there certainly is some trial and error

Absolutely. Thank you. It’s a learning process, for sure.