My oh my. We’re about to take a close look at one of the most legit tool watches I’ve ever had the pleasure of getting my French hands on: the Laco Kiel.2 Blau. Through this experience we’re going to have an opportunity to talk about a type of watch we haven’t talked about here before, that is the mechanical pilot chronograph. So a timekeeping device as genuine as tool watches come, complete with the classical design traits of such models—which we will discuss in depth later on—, a robust and functional movement, a clean and legible dial, and an imposing stainless steel figure we could of course anticipate to find here. The Kiel.2 Blau is big and heavy and not for the faint of hearts, or for those who believe that only smaller watches look good on their wrists. I mean I’m that type of person—half the time I’m being a watch enthusiast that is—and I feel this Laco is right for me. 

Because it’s drop dead gorgeous and functional, full of character and history which matters to many of us. As we saw with the Hamburg GMT DIN 8330 and the Sports “Scorpion” Atlantik 39 DLC, Laco knows well how to make serious and sturdy tool watches. But the Kiel.2 Blau fits better with the brand’s heritage making precise and legible tool watches for the German military. Laco prides itself for having found its own way to navigate through its turbulent history—as it puts it—and to stick to its metaphorical guns in order to keep on manufacturing exceptional tool watches. (That’s my opinion.) And while the Kiel line of pilot’s chronographs isn’t new at Laco, this blue version was made to celebrate the brand’s 100th anniversary this year. Blue isn’t a color we often assimilate with tool watches but here it works and it endows the Kiel.2 Blau with a nimble and clever versatility that would make it look good in a variety of situations. 

Any situation as long as it is on my wrist, of course. 

Specifications 

I know I’m going to sound dumb but I just realized that complex calibers must be big in order to be complex. All the cogs, wheels, and levers required to create a full-fledged tricompax caliber with a day/date complication require additional physical space and cannot fit, therefore, inside smaller cases unless they are of the battery-powered variety. (Or unless they come from boutique brands and cost more than your retirement plan.) I know! Duh, right? But that’s the kind of thing I don’t necessarily think about from where I stand. I’m not an expert or scientific person who knows more about mechanical movements than they do about the history of pilot watches. And I’m not one who gets chills down my back for saying something clever about movements that nobody else in the room knows. So I was surprised to see how massive the Laco 500 caliber is (based on an Sellita SW500), which makes sense given what it can do for you. 

While Laco offers two versions of this movement—Élaboré or Top Grade—the general specs are as follows: a 4Hz beat rate and 56 hours of power reserve, a running seconds hand at the nine o’clock, a 30-minute counter at the twelve, a 12-hour totalizer at the six, and a day/date complication at the three. The version I had in for review displays this information in German but you can opt for the English version for an extra 70€. You can also upgrade to a Top Grade version for an extra 150€, and swap a leather strap for a stainless steel bracelet for an extra 170€. The version you see here retails for 2,290€/$2,655 USD and has the reference Kiel.2 MB Blau 862186.MB. Phew. I know it can get a bit confusing navigating Laco’s extensive customizations options but you can get exactly what you’re looking for and that’s cool and rare coming from an independent brand even one that has as storied of a background as Laco does. 

Besides the caliber, the Kiel.2 Blau’s specifications are complete and jaw-dropping, as we find for example 100 meters of water resistance despite the absence of a screw-down crown or threaded chronograph pushers, a double-domed sapphire crystal with inner anti-reflective coating, a see-through sapphire case-back, and loads of C3 lume on the main hands, hour markers and large hash-marks, as well as the running seconds hand. (So that, I assume, you know the watch is running.) And this imposing tool watch comes with the following healthy dimensions: 43mm in diameter, 51.5mm lug-to-lug, 14mm thick, and a 22mm lug with. As supplied on the stainless steel bracelet with all links, the Kiel.2 Blau weighs a healthy 185 grams which ain’t light. But when you take into consideration the movement within, its complex structure, the 100 meters depth rating, and sapphire sandwich construction, then it all makes sense. Doesn’t it? 

Yes because Laco had to make the dial large in order to be legible, as we’re about to see. 

Design 

The thing is with most full-fledged chronographs is that their dials are busy because there is too damn much information to digest, especially when opting for cases with diameters of 40mm or smaller. And that is true even when looking at models which do not come with a date or day/date complication, with a few exceptions for dressier models of course. For example, I’m a big fan of the Sinn 356 which has a 38.5mm diameter, but some of the hour markers were omitted in order to fit the tricompax layout inside the smaller dial. To me that removes some of the functionality and legibility out of the watch. But with the Laco Kiel.2 Blau, all numerals for the hour markers are present and printed smaller in order to ensure they all fit, safe for the pilot’s triangle at the twelve o’clock. So the dial of the Laco is easier to read and more balanced, which goes to show that we cannot discount the century-long expertise the German brand has in designing tool watches. 

So we find the typical Flieger layout with majestic thermally blued Alpha hands which reach the points they are supposed to reach; a long and lumed chronograph seconds hand, and three smaller ones for each register, in the shape of course of tiny Alpha hands. As we know, only one of the three is lumed which is why it has a yellow tint as do the hour + minute + chronograph hands as well as the applied lumed markers. The color difference between what is lumed and what isn’t is minimal but aids in creating a subtle visual hierarchy which helps in processing the information faster. Because easily and accurately telling the time is a pilot’s watch chief task, the emphasis was put in being able to quickly match the Alpha hands to the hour markers and not the chronograph functionality. Though the latter is easy to read at a distance when we need to direct our attention to it, so it is as well with the day/date complication at the three. 

And that is where once again Laco’s expertise comes into play. The day/date discs are color-matched to the dial and the letters and numerals printed in white so that they perfectly blend in whilst being legible. And a similar but different design work was applied to the sub-registers to create a similar effect. Each disc is slightly recessed from the dial and complemented by a radial finish each coming with its own sunburst effect. Only the most vital information is indicated by way of hash-marks of various sizes and small numerals, so that globally it appears as though there are two watches blended into one: a classic time-only Flieger and a chronograph. The superb deep blue color of the 100th Anniversary edition completes the whole package like a bow, and adds another and final layer of visual spectacle for it also comes with its own sunburst effect. The Kiel.2 Blau deserves that you observe it up-close in order to get a full grasp of how well it is designed and made. 

The Heart of the Matter

At the heart of this lengthy matter—and I do not apologize for the meaty paragraphs—is the fact that Laco created a new version of its iconic multipurpose pilot’s watch that is unique to the brand on account of its singular design and color. Yes, I would argue that this model looks very much Laco and nothing like what your head is thinking about right now—a spiritually similar pilot’s chronograph from a Swiss brand which we refer to by its three-letter acronym—for it does a few things differently and much better. Being dedicated to manufacturing excellent tool watches, Laco found a way to preserve the full legibility of all dial elements instead of jettisoning some of them for, arguably, effect. Which is why we find a full set of a pilot’s watch hour markers, fully formed sub-registers, a perfectly integrated day/date complication, and minimal branding. Therefore a pilot’s chronograph entirely anchored into the utilitarian tradition of military watches whilst being endowed with superb and modern technology. 

All of this for more than three times less than you know what, and you will immediately know there is a second heart to the matter in this review: 2,290€/$2,655 USD is a normal price for what you get, a normal price for a professional tool watch which comes with all of the necessary mechanics and design traits to make it a serious piece of utilitarian horology instead of a flex piece. So by releasing the Kiel.2 Blau to celebrate its 100th Anniversary, Laco is in fact celebrating 36,500 days of sticking to a self-imposed tradition of excellency, to honoring its own  passion for creating the truest versions of form-follows-function tool watches for those who need them and those who admire them. So in fact being consistent for 100 years while most brands couldn’t resist but to step into the path of luxury and to transform their once practical creations into watches whose primary merits stem from what they are made of instead of who they are made for.

Conclusion 

Brands such as Laco are rare nowadays. Most historical brands born before or at the same time as Laco have become something different. Long gone are the days when Rolex, IWC, Omega, and Blancpain made tool watches for professionals—straightforward, reliable, and priced accordingly. And while today there is a plethora of micro and independent brands that wish to become something of a Laco, as well as other utilitarian-leaning German watch brands, well I believe there is only one Laco and today we took a look at one of the best expressions of what the brand excels at. I would have a hard time finding a similarly priced and spec’ed pilot’s chronograph which looks as legit as the Kiel.2 Blau does. But I might be missing something…or am I? 

I encourage you to take a look at the Kiel.2 Blau on the brand’s website and to lose yourself in its configurator. 

Thanks for reading.