The Type B dial is an information diagram
By Sam Okafor, London ยท
I like the Type B layout more than most pilot's dials because it's honest about hierarchy. The minutes go round the outside in big numerals, because in a cockpit minutes were what mattered. The hours are tucked into a small inner ring. It's a diagram first and a watch face second, and you read it like a timetable.
On the Augsburg it's set in a clean, slightly condensed typeface on a black dial, with plain sword hands and a fat triangle at twelve. At 39 mm that's a lot of numerals in a small space, and the inner hour ring gets cramped. Glance at it quickly and you'll read the minute numeral as the hour, especially around four and five. Everyone who owns one does it at least once.
11 mm thick, 20 mm lugs on a riveted leather strap, sapphire, closed back, 50 m, a Miyota-based automatic with 40 hours. 450 to 500 dollars from a company that actually made these for the Luftwaffe era is good value, though the history is complicated and I'd rather not wear it as a costume. Buy it for the layout. If you want instant legibility, the Type A version is easier to live with.