Laco is a German pilot-watch maker that sells from laco.de in euros with the VAT in the price, and its Aachen 42 and Augsburg 42 are one watch with two dials, Type B and Type A. The decision it forces is whether a 42 mm case at 50 mm lug to lug and a 50 m rating suit you, because between the two dials nothing else moves.
Checked 20 September 2026 · list prices on the maker's site that day unless marked street
Laco sells its pilot watches from laco.de in euros, with 19% German VAT in the price and no US price listed, and the two Basic 42 models are one watch with two dials. The Aachen carries a Type B dial, an outer minute track with a small hour ring inside; the Augsburg carries a Type A, hours on the outer track. Every other figure is identical and so is the price, €390. What the sheets settle is a matte steel case, 20 mm lugs, sapphire with anti-reflective coating as a €50 option, Super-LumiNova C3 and the Laco 2S automatic, with the Laco 31 on a Sellita base as the €55 upgrade on either. The number to read twice is 50 m.
Islander's Aviator 42 at $249 and San Martin's bronze pilot at $188.30 are both rated 100 m for less money, and RZE's Resolute Type A at $499 is 100 m in titanium at 46 mm lug to lug. The Laco is the one with sapphire and the German price, and it is the one to keep out of the pool.
€390 was the regular price of both models on 20 September 2026, and nothing here is converted. Laco's page names the movement only as Laco 2S; the Augsburg's is recorded as a Miyota 821A base, a figure that is not the maker's.
Read the table as one case and two dials. Both rows are 42 mm, 50 mm lug to lug, 11.75 mm thick, 50 m, automatic, €390. The Aachen is the Type B; the Augsburg is the Type A. Choose by which dial you can read faster, because there is nothing else to choose.
The Type B Laco at €390 including VAT, reference 861690.2, and the dial to choose if you read minutes before hours, since the outer track counts minutes with a small hour ring inside. The case is the Augsburg's to the millimetre, 42 mm at 50 mm lug to lug, so the pair is a question of legibility and nothing else. Islander's Aviator 42 Type B is $249 on a Seiko NH36, 2 mm shorter and rated 100 m. The Laco is the one with sapphire at the German price; 50 m is the trade.
The Type A Laco at €390, reference 861688.2, hours on the outer track and the plainer dial of the pair; everything else is the Aachen to the millimetre, so choose it on legibility alone. RZE's Resolute Type A at $499 is the titanium alternative, 46 mm lug to lug at 39.5 mm against the Laco's 50 mm at 42, and rated 100 m; San Martin's bronze pilot is $188.30 at the same 50 mm lug to lug, also 100 m. Both rivals are rated 50 m deeper; the Laco is the steel flieger at the euro price.
Laco is for the buyer who wants the flieger dial from a German maker at €390 with a sapphire crystal, on a wrist of 7 inches or more, since 50 mm lug to lug at 42 mm is the full size and both watches here are that size. Look elsewhere if the wrist is under 7 inches, since RZE's Resolute Type A is 46 mm lug to lug at 39.5 mm for $499; if the watch will swim, since 50 m is the rating and Islander's Aviator 42 at $249, San Martin's bronze pilot at $188.30 and the RZE are all 100 m; or if you want a Swiss movement as standard rather than a €55 option, since Sinn's 556 I is a Sellita SW200-1 at 200 m for $1,840 and Farer's Barnwell is an SW300-1 in titanium at 43 mm lug to lug for $1,525.
Where it sits against the field
Set against the other pilot watches with published sheets, the Laco pair at €390 sits above Islander's Aviator 42 ($249, Seiko NH36, 48 mm lug to lug, 12 mm, 100 m) and San Martin's bronze pilot ($188.30, NH35, 50 mm lug to lug, 11.3 mm, 100 m), and below RZE's Resolute Type A ($499, titanium, 46 mm lug to lug, 100 m) and Lorier's Merlin ($549, 37 mm, 45 mm lug to lug, sold out). The Laco is the only one of the five priced in euros and the only one rated 50 m; it is 0.25 mm thinner than the Islander and 0.45 mm thicker than the San Martin. Above €390 the next pilot watch with a published spec sheet is Farer's Barnwell at $1,525, and the German comparison is Sinn's 556 I at $1,840, which publishes 200 m and no lug to lug.
Questions people ask
Where are Laco watches made?
Laco sells from laco.de with 19% German VAT in the price. The product pages checked for this guide list the movement as Laco 2S, with the Laco 31 on a Sellita base as a €55 option, and do not state where the case is made or the watch assembled; this page does not borrow a figure the maker has not published on those pages.
Laco Aachen vs Augsburg: what is the difference?
The dial, and nothing else. The Aachen 42 (ref 861690.2) has a Type B dial, an outer minute track with a small hour ring inside; the Augsburg 42 (ref 861688.2) has a Type A dial with hours on the outer track. Both are 42 mm, 50 mm lug to lug, 11.75 mm thick, 50 m, on the Laco 2S automatic, at €390 including VAT.
Is the Laco Aachen 42 water resistant enough to swim in?
It is rated 50 m, lower than any pilot watch it is compared with above, and this page does not recommend swimming in a 50 m watch. Islander's Aviator 42 ($249), San Martin's bronze pilot ($188.30) and RZE's Resolute Type A ($499) are rated 100 m; Sinn's 556 I is 200 m at $1,840. The Laco's case is the trade for its sapphire and its price.
