Review: Laco Frankfurt GMT Grau

In the pitch black of a remote cabin, nestled in the mountains of Virginia, fours hours since it last saw light, the Laco Frankfurt GMT glowed, showing me the time as my son woke me up in the middle of the night. Flying across the waves of the Currituck Sound at 56 mph, occasionally slamming into the wakes of passing boats, the Laco Frankfurt GMT didn’t miss a beat. With the sweltering sun beating upon the sand of the Outer Banks, as I rode waves on an admittedly undersized boogie board, the Laco Frankfurt GMT stayed resolvedly on my wrist. More so than any watch I’ve ever reviewed, the Laco Frankfurt GMT was put to the test. And it succeeded at every turn.

Better known for its classically-styled flieger watches, the German Laco goes toe-to-toe its Teutonic compatriot Stowa. To be sure, both brands deliver historically accurate fliegers, but they also both have marine lines and sportier, contemporary watches. It’s those modern designs that intrigued me and led me to choosing the Frankfurt GMT travel watch for review.

The orange-on-grey colorway, the nested dual crowns, and the warmth of the sandblasted case are all immediate highlights, but there’s a lot more to the watch that awaits its wearer.

The Case

The case of the Laco Frankfurt GMT is sandblasted throughout, with the end result looking like titanium, with the weight of the steel that it actually is. Usually, sandblasted tool watches have chunky designs that reinforce their utility and durability. Laco instead relies on the finishing to communicate the watch’s ruggedness, while softening the aesthetic with the rest of the watch’s case design. The screwdown crowns are deeply nestled into the crown guards, but the crowns’ style, while consistent with fliegers, feature an almost elegant silhouette. On top of that, they feature some of the best action I’ve ever encountered: the winding crown is delivers almost ASMR-levels of satisfaction, while the GMT crown at 2 o’clock adjusts the inner bezel with a very satisfying 60 (bidirectional) clicks.

On the wrist, the Frankfurt GMT wears surprisingly well given its wider case size. This is for two main reasons. The evenly matte finish case creates an illusion of it wearing smaller which is furthered when the watch is on its grey nylon strap, The other factor is the lugs, which belie the tool specs of the watch with their shortness and their decidedly untoolish styling. Even on a NATO, the watch managed to wear well, a testament to its wrist-friendly design.

The Dial

Turn back now if you’re looking for some trendy colorful dial. Laco is one of the few brands yet to cash in on the trend of rainbows of dial options, and I applaud them for the restraint. Instead, the dial features a combination of grey (damn near perfectly matched to the case), black, and orange, with yellow-green printed lume dial markings. Its on the more sterile side, but I think it works for the watch overall and for the Laco brand, which skews spartan. If you do want to get wild, Laco also offers the watch in a black dial.

The handset is curious, mostly because the hour and minute feature bluing that I found to be at odds with the rest of the watch. I know it’s common with fliegers (maybe?), but the Frankfurt GMT is so modern, and toolish that the blued hands seems out of place. The GMT hand, though, is well-sized and legible, and the stepped date window is a nice touch.

The lume is even and shines brightly, and I appreciate the orange accents and the inner bezel being fully lumed.

The Rest

The caseback, which features the same sandblasted finish as the rest of the case, is engraved with a jet swooping across the sky, with Europe visible in the center; its fitting imagery for a travel watch, though I can’t say how many people are traveling by single- or even double-seater jet. I don’t usually spend much time on movements, but this features the latest GMT from Sellita, the SW330-2 (which comes standard as -/+7 seconds per day elaboré grade, but can be upgrade to -/+ 4 seconds per day top grade for an additional $150). It’s the same as the 330-1, with an updated GMT mechanism and an extended 56-hour power reserve. Laco for some reason says its the Laco 330, but immediately below that says its based on the Sellita—I’m not clear on the purpose of this kind of rebranding. The brand doesn’t indicate any modifications of the base caliber, so why call it anything than what it is?

The watch comes in an aluminum mini attaché-style case with a foam insert where you’ll find two straps: a color-matched two-piece nylon strap and a black water-resistant leather strap. I found the leather strap just fine, but heavily favored the nylon. Despite its initial stiff feel, the black strap actually bends around the wrist quite nicely. The nylon strap goes exceptionally well with the watch and after just a brief period of break in, was extremely comfortable on the wrist. As mentioned up top, I had a chance to wear this watch quite a bit in the ocean, and when I did, I’d often have to tighten it up one notch after a the strap got wet. This is typical of my experience with nylon straps, so I didn’t find it to be an issue.

I don’t think I’ve ever field tested a watch as extensively as I have the Laco Frankfurt GMT. Nor have I found in field testing other watches another model that rises to so many occasions with such ease. The style of the watch isn’t exactly to my personal liking; there are other GMTs I’d go for first. But the Frankfurt GMT is a helluva watch, and I wouldn’t hesitate for a second to recommend it to someone looking for a sporty GMT a bit different from the rest of the field.

You can learn more about and buy the Frankfurt GMT directly from Laco.