Torn between two watches

Tough call.

I'd probably go with the Laco. It's less common and the design has a history behind it.

Seiko looks good but not as "unique" as the Flieger.

Definitely echo @foghorn’s sentiments! Thats said both are pretty great looking watches, so no wrong decision!

I’d go with the Seiko, it’s more versatile

might just be me, but the Type B dial always bugged me a bit. In the Laco's case, the hour hand covering up the hour annoys me. For that matter, the minute hand in this example does the same thing. my .02

also a sucker for a fumé dial so my preference would be the seiko

Why not both?!...or maybe just wait to see what we're coming out with 😎!

If you ask yourself the question you probably should go for the Seiko, partly because it's a type-A watch and thus more widely applicable. The point about type-B is to emphasize the legibility of minutes, and people who really want that would not even consider a type-A. If closeness to original design for the type-B is not all that important, you may consider a Hamilton, who have added a few design tweaks to make it more practical.

Oh, and the Laco is called Speyer, not Spayer. Laco names their models after German cities, and Speyer is an old cathedral seat.

Uh, the Seiko is soooo sleek! My vote/love is for Seiko for sure. 

100% the Seiko for me. As has been mentioned already its a much more versatile piece. 

For the sake of the looks, I'd go with the Seiko. However, I am far from trusting Seiko's QC and if it was me, I'd check the dial for alignment issues, debris, and then would get it tested on a Timegrapher to check if the movement's not snowing all over the readout. 

If you can get a discount on the Seiko, maybe it's worth a try. 

I had a massive dilemma when making my biggest watch buy. The choice was all Longines:

-Longines Spirit, because I fell in love with it the first time I saw it. Killer looks, specs to give far bigger fish among pilot-style watches a run for their money. Damn bloody costly for me, but...

-Longines HydroConquest 41mm (ceramic bezel), way less expensive than the Spirit, lesser finishing, non-COSC, but an original design, sporty, kind of elegant, at least in black it's very versatile.

-Longines Silver Arrow - a great reissue, vintage style I love.

-Longines Heritage Avigation BigEye. One of the most accessible Swiss column wheel auto chronos, if not the most accessible. Damn good finishing. 

-Longines Legend Diver. Great specs, very original among Super-Compressor style watches. One of my early watch loves. However, the lug to lug distance on it is massive.

Eventually...

So I actually have a Type B Laco in 42mm. Now I got the Miyota 821A equipped more budget friendly version with a display caseback (Aachen... the Paderborn would be the Swiss movement version) and, for the money, it really is a phenomenal watch. The build quality is excellent, the lume is incredibly bright, and it keeps excellent time. Now I see you have the higher end Sellita equipped version pictured, which, in addition to the movement, features a slightly curved crystal instead of flat, a bead blasted case instead of finished, and a more traditional military stamp caseback rather than display. The band is also a bit nicer.

Personally, I feel like the classic flieger, particularly the Type B, is the pilot watch to get. It's different and fills a void in the watch collection imo. And Laco, despite having gone through several owners, is actually still technically one of the 4 companies that made the originals, so you get the history, so my vote is for the Laco.
 

Type-B fliegers all look very similar to me, so I don't feel like you are getting much Laco brand flavor for your money here.  I ended up buying a San Martin (Chinese) Bronze type-B dial, and it looks great, for 1/3rd of the price.

The Seiko Alpinist is a much more unique looking watch in my opinion, and still has some history to it.

Edit: Not trying to disparage German watches, I also have a Sinn 556i, because I like the Sinn look and build quality.  Except the clasp, that thing is garbage.

Both are not my cuppa, fliegers usually wear too big, this B dial a bit too cluttered to my likings, and it doesnt really associate with a guy whos very much down to earth most of the time😅 

Bad jokes aside though, i would pick the flieger, despite fume dial on seiko is very my kinda thing. i have never liked how seiko does the numeric indices on alpinist, this version is a slightly better as it is not applied. Those applied one seem very unrefined to my eyes. 

The Seiko, for the aesthetics.

I like the dial of the Seiko. But for what it is, how light it is on the heritage, the movement it provides, it is a bit of a money-grab on Seiko's side. The number of Alpinist-variants have grown a lot in recent years, and I'm not sure about the value proposition. On the plus side, the Seiko can be an everyday watch.

I always found the B-Muster Flieger-Design a bit jarring. It's high-contrast with excellent legibility, but not exactly subtle. It will go great with a leather jacket, or as a very casual watch. Laco is one of the original manufacturers of this watch type. 

Personally, I would gravitate towards the Laco.

Seiko for me. The dial is more "easy" to be read and I like the colour combination and dial elaboration. But if you like the "busy" dial of the Laco and you want to have a "flieger" than go for Laco.

PS: on the second picture there is the "Laco" logo missing ... Achenar posted the picture with "Laco" logo.

the baby alpinist has a nicer case shape for me... looks more "put together" as a whole

Between these two, I’d go Seiko.  This is the best Alpinist they’ve made IMO. 
 

If you’re looking for legibility and wearability, a Stowa Flieger (non-B dial) would be my choice.  40mm, extremely comfortable on leather and great Swiss movements. 

Seiko. Laco's dial is just too messy for my personal taste.

Both great watches but bare in mind the Laco will look bigger due to the lack of bezel. 39 mm will look bigger than this Alpinist . 

Amazing choice! All of the options were great but I think I would have gone the same way you did. The Spirit is pure value and just stunning!

Ended up choosing the Seiko yesterday, mainly because of this and that when I tried the Laco on, the straight lugs kind of hung out of my wrist. Still love the flieger so maybe I'll get it in the future, but for now the wearability of the Seiko and that amazing fume dial make me very happy with my choice!