B-Uhr Baumuster B

Precise

Precise timing is a precondition for aerial navigation. Every B-Uhr was tested and certified for precision by an official institute.

Legible

A rigourous and easy to read graphic dial layout were part of the official B-Uhr specifications. Immediate time reading was a must.

Protected

Every B-Uhr was protected against adverse effects on the balance spring, and therefore precision of a watch, caused by magnetic fields.

Pilot

Unheated cockpits required pilots to wear gloves. An oversized crown had the purpose of allowing easy time setting while wearing them.

Watch Angels B-Uhr Blue

Automatic monopusher chronograph
Officially certified COSC chronometer
44mm diameter
Stainless steel
Power indicator by disk
Elapsed time marker operated by the bezel
Applied minutes ring
X1 grade Superluminova® luminous
Faraday antimagnetic movement cage
10ATM/100m/333ft water-resistant
Swiss made

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CHF 2,650.00

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Watch Angels B-Uhr Stealth

Automatic monopusher chronograph
Officially certified COSC chronometer
44mm diameter
Black DLC coated stainless steel
Power indicator by disk
Elapsed time marker operated by the bezel
Applied minutes ring
X1 grade Superluminova® luminous
Faraday antimagnetic movement cage
10ATM/100m/333ft water-resistant
Swiss made

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CHF 2,950.00

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Watch Angels B-Uhr Original

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CHF 2,650.00

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Watch Angels B-Uhr Vintage

Automatic monopusher chronograph
Officially certified COSC chronometer
44mm diameter
Grey DLC coated stainless steel
Power indicator by disk
Elapsed time marker operated with the bezel
Applied minutes ring
X1 Superluminova® luminous
Faraday antimagnetic movement cage
10ATM/100m/333ft water-resistant
Swiss made

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CHF 2,950.00

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Watch Angels B-Uhr Bluebird

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CHF 2,950.00

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Key Features

Compliant with the original B-Uhr specifications

Monopusher chronograph

The 2022 B-Uhr is powered by an automatic Sellita SW500 MPC b cam operated monopusher chronograph chronometer mechanical movement.

COSC Chronometer

Officially certified Swiss chronometer by the COSC (Contrôle officiel suisse des chronomètres). Checked in 5 positions and at 3 temperatures.

Antimagnetic

A soft iron Faraday cage protects the movement against magnetic fields which affect its precision. It can be seen through the display case-back.

Superluminous

The dial print and hands are executed in Swiss X1 grade Super-luminova® non-radioactive pigments. Grade X1 is the brightest and extends the long term legibility by factor 1.6.

Elapsed time

The elapsed time marker for aviation calculations can be positioned on the 30min chronograph scale by turning the bezel.

Power indicator

A turning disk at 9 o'clock tells the pilot if the watch is working.

Top grade

Superior machining and machine finishing, a swiss complicated movement, top grade components, genuine leather italian straps and anti-reflective sapphire crystals on top and on the case-back.

Swiss made

Technically developed, industrialised, manufactured and hand-assembled in-house in Switzerland.

The Watch

The evolution of the B-Uhr. A monopusher chronometer chrongraph

I / VI

Specified for purpose

Observation watches were made to aid seafarers
and pilots to navigate the sea and the air.
They were the essence of the tool watch.

The Watch Angels B-Uhr design type complies with the
original B-Uhr specifications.

Longitude

Observation watches were precision instruments that were mainly used by the military, pilots and seafarers to monitor and compare time. It's main purpose was however to help in determining position, and in particular Longitude.

Exact time above all

A pre-requisite to determine the geographical longitude is precise time measurement. All B-Uhr watches were tested and certified for precision by official institutes and observatories.

The Watch Angels B-Uhr is an officially certified Swiss chronometer. Each movement is tested for 15 days at three different temperatures and in five different positions (3 o’clock, 6 o’clock, 9 o’clock, dial on top, dial on the bottom) with an average daily rate tollerance of −4/+6 seconds.

Operational compliance

Precison was key, but to put it at use mission usability was equally important for pilots.

Time had to be perfectly readable in any condition, calling for a rigourous and simple dial layout, an oversized crown to be operated with gloves, and a stop seconds mechanism for time measurement.

The Watch Angels B-Uhr not only complies with the B-Uhr usability standards, but in many respects exceeds them and, importantly, adds day-to-day usability to a "mission grade" watch.

Identification

The logo of the manufacturer does not appear on a B-Uhr. Like any military sourced object it was identified by a certain number of identification markings.

On the case-back would appear: The design type, the instrument number, the movement number and the manufacturer. On the side of the case would appear: the Specification code (FL.23883).

The Watch Angels B-Uhr is identified by the following markings: 1) Design Type: Watch Angels 2) Instrument number: 127.560 A.1 3) Movement number: SW500 MP b 4) Specification code: FL. 23883
5) Manufacturer: Watch Angels, Mendrisio.

The Inspiration

The original B-Uhr Baumuster B

I / IV

Historically, the observation watch was conceived and built for purpose. It was made and specified to aid seafarers and pilots to navigate at sea and in the air. Our approach has been to respect the original B-Uhr specifications, but to execute them like if the B-Urh would have been first made today. With today's technology and aesthetic codes.

Chronometric precision, perfect dan and night readability, anti-magnetism and an oversized crown are are all present in this 2022 B-Uhr. In addition, the design and construction take great care in assuring wearer comfort and every day usability.

We have made the B-Uhr like it would have been made today, with additional features and guaranteeing day-to-day usability and wearer comfort.

The origin of the B-Uhr

Finding Longitude

Anyone who in the Middle Ages mastered positioning in the vastness of the oceans mastered the world commercially and militarily.

Precise time measurement

A minute deviation leads to a length error of 15 km. At the equator it's even 27.6. That's a lot in the vastness of the oceans. An observation watch required a max. +3/-3 deviation rate.

John Harrison

Mastered this challenge. His most important chronometer, the H4, completed in 1759, fulfilled the high precision requirement.

Air navigation

With both hands on the joke or the center stick, pilots needed a different type of clock. Navigation and flight calculations required to read time quickly, reliably and to the second.

Size matters

In cold and unpressurised cockpits it had to be possible to wear a watch either on the arm or on the thigh over the aviator's gear. Only a big watch, crown and strap sizes could be considered.

Specified for purpose

The German aviation ministry precisely defined the construction, horological execution and regulation of this type of clock.

55mm

The movement was to be housed in grey cast bronze or steel case with a diameter of 55 mm. The large or protruding winding and pointer crown was ment to be operated with gloves.

Item identification

The inside of the base bore the following engravings: type, device number, serial number, requirement mark and manufacturer

Anti-reflectivity

The uniformly matt cases and dials had to prevent any light reflection for optimal readabolity. For night operations strong radium luminous paints were used.

Balance stop

All movements had a centrally located seconds hand with a counterweight and a balance stop device for setting the time to the second.

The precursor

At the turn of the century, A. Lange & Söhne was of the greatest importance in the production of observation watches. It not only produced the highest quantity, but also delivered considerable numbers to the testing institutes.

The licenses

In the 1930s, and especially during WWII, the need for observation watches increased so rapidly that Lange could no longer satisfy it. Licenses were granted to companies such as Deiter in Essen, Felsing in Berlin, Huber in Munich and Wempe in Hamburg.

The big five

Five manufacturers have provided most of the Observation watches to the German military: Lange & Söhne, IWC, Wempe, Stowa and Lacher & Co. Today, the ones from A. Lange & Söhne and IWC enjoy the highest reputation among collectors.

Project Curator
Gisbert Brunner

Gisbert L. Brunner, the curator of the project is an expert in pilot watches and the B-Uhr. He has been working on watches, pendulum clocks and other precision timepieces since 1964. During the quartz clock crisis of the 1970s, his love for the apparently dying-out mechanical timepieces grew. In the early 1980s, his passion as a hobby collector eventually led to the first newspaper and magazine articles and then to the by now more than 20 books on watches. Gisbert Brunner is the co-founder of Uhrenkosmos.

Website
Instagram

As project curator Pilot watches and B-Uhr expert, Gisbert Brunner has worked alongside the Angels community. From the defintion of the specifications, to making sure that the original spirit of the B-Uhr was maintained and, finally, in the selection of the final design and variants. Together we answered the question: how would the B-Uhr have been made today, with todays technology and aesthetic standards?

Gisbert Brunner made sure that the historical integrity was maintained for this new "Baumuster B" type.