Stowa Flieger Vintage 6498

Quick specs Stowa Flieger Vintage 6498
Price: approx. $ 1,900 | € 1.750 | approx. £ 1,500 | approx. CHF 1’650
Size: 41 mm
Reference: not provided

This Stowa Flieger Vintage 6498 is part of a new series of classic pilot watches from the German brand. But as there are about a million options to choose from in order to get your perfect Flieger Vintage, we have divided them into two categories. And then you still need to do a lot of math in order to figure out your choice.

Anyway, if you want to read about all the models with the Sellita caliber SW200 or SW210, go to our Stowa Flieger Vintage 36 / 40 / 40 Baumuster B / Sport / Sport Baumuster B article. There you will also find out the differences between the Baumuster A and Baumuster B dial design. This Flieger Vintage 6498 only comes in the Baumuster A design.

Unitas caliber and small seconds

In this article, you will learn about a rather special edition of this new Flieger Vintage series, the one with the ETA/Unitas caliber 6498-1. The brand has used this caliber earlier as well, in the Stowa Flieger Olympic for instance.

In that model, the caliber was named Stowa caliber M as they adjusted the Unitas a bit. In this Flieger Vintage 6498, it is “untouched”.

The history of Unitas

Anyway, the caliber is originally from Unitas. Thus, a short history of Unitas. In 1918 a Swiss company called La Trame SA was renamed into Unitas Watch Co. SA. Then, in 1926 that company was acquired by Manufacture d’Horlogerie A. Reymond SA (ARSA). In the 1930s, Unitas was split from ARSA and merged into Ebauches SA, but still making Unitas movements.

In 1983 Ebauches SA became ETA SA, as part of the Swatch Group, also formed in 1983. Already in the 1950s, the Unitas caliber 6497 and 6498 were introduced. The main difference between these two is the position of the small seconds. With the 6497 they are at the 9 o’clock position, with the 6498 at 6 o’clock.

The Stowa Flieger Vintage 6498 has a power reserve of 46 hours

When ETA took over the Unitas remains, they renamed the caliber to ETA 6498-1 and later, after some updates, to ETA 6498-2. However, it is cooler to name it Unitas 6498, with or without -1 or -2, to give it some vintage appeal. And some watch brands name it the ETA/Unitas caliber 6498. After all, it’s just a name, right? The 6498-1 beats at 18,800 vph, the 6498-2 at 21,600 vph. And the latter is COSC certified. This Stowa Flieger Vintage 6498 runs on the 6498-1, with a power reserve of 46 hours.

The Flieger Vintage 6498 comes on a black or brown leather aviator strap or a Milanese bracelet. But there are more options. You can get it with or without the logo, and if you want, you can also leave out the small seconds. So that it has the original Baumuster A design. However, not the original functioning of the Unitas caliber. The price is around 1.5 to 2k.