Laco Scorpion Mojave 42 DLC Review

We literally cover dozens of new watch releases every week, but from time to time a new watch release really catches our interest. Recently German watch brand Laco sent out a press release for their upcoming Scorpion DLC sports watch range and I knew that right away that I'd love to see one in the metal.

Before getting into why the new Scorpion DLC range caught my attention, first lets briefly go over the history of Laco. Laco was originally founded by Frieda Lacher and Ludwig Hummel in Pforzheim Germany in 1925 as Lacher & Co. Laco is best known for their pilot's watches and were one of the small handful of watch brands that produced the iconic B-Uhren watches during World War II.



A large portion of Pforzheim was destroyed during the war, especially its factories including Laco's, but by the end of the 1940s, Laco and sister company Durowe were fully back in business. Laco's history has been full and ups and downs, but in 2010 the company saw its current owners take over the company and with hard work and focus mold the company into what you see today. Laco now releases new models every year that while modern pay tribute to the brand's rich tradition.

With their history, when you think about Laco your mind naturally goes to pilot's watches, so the release of the new DLC coated Scorpion collection was so unexpected I knew I had to get my hands on one of them. The Scorpion collection is a range of sports watches that come in either 39 or 42 mm and are built to take on just about anything you can throw at them. The stainless steel cases are now offered with DLC coating and the majority of the models have a nice splash of color that really make the watches pop.



The collection is broken down into four distinct models each paying homage to an iconic area with their own colored highlight. The Himalaya is the most buttoned down variant with a mostly black appearance, while the Atlantik uses blue highlights to honor the ocean and the Amazonas uses green to represent the rainforest. Finally there is the Mojave that uses orange to conjure up thoughts of the great desert.

Orange has always been my favorite color, so seeing the 42 mm "Mojave" variant full of orange accents instantly struck a chord with me. The global release of the Scorpion DLC collection was set for October 18th, 2024, but Laco was nice enough to send us a pre-release Scorpion Mojave 42 DLC so that we could have the review ready day one of the release.



When the Scorpion Mojave first arrived the thing that instantly grabbed my attention was just how bright the orange markings on the dial and bezel were. With the jet black coloration of the dial and bezel, the neon orange just screams. The look really took me by surprise, since I haven't seen an orange that bright ever on a watch. Every time I look at the watch, I just love the look, especially the tick marks for the first 15 minutes on the dive bezel.

The next thing that I took note of was the DLC coated stainless steel case. The finish of the case really looks more of a matte black ceramic to me. The case of the Scorpion Mojave actually looks a lot like the ceramic cases of the IWC Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar Top Gun and Flyback Chronograph Top Gun I own. The matte look of the DLC coated case is also slightly broken up by the polished scorpion on the case back.



The final thing that I really liked from my initial time with the Scorpion collection was the ceramic bezel. Laco was able to exactly match the color and finish of the ceramic of the bezel to the DLC coated stainless steel case. The bezel has an amazing bezel action to it and the clicks sound fantastic. The bezel is also scalloped extremely aggressive, meaning you'll never be at a loss for grip even with dive gloves on.

Now that we've gone over my initial impressions with the Laco Scorpion 42 Mojave, let's move on to the technical specs of the watch. The watch measures 42 mm in case diameter and has a lug to lug length of 50.5 mm. The Scorpion Mojave is 13.6 mm thick and weighs in at 114 grams on the rubber strap.



The Scorpion Mojave comes with a slightly domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating on the inside of the crystal. This is a great solution to dealing with glare without allowing the crystal to easily scratch. My Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar Top Gun has AR coating on the outside of the crystal which now has a decent amount of scratches on it and is actually being replaced by IWC right now during a repair it's undergoing.

Under the crystal is a jet matte black dial that actually reminds me of a Vantablack or absolute back with how dark it is. This dial color works perfectly with the bright white and orange markings on the dial. The 12, 3, 6, and 9 hour markers are stick markers with 12 and 6 being coated in bright orange Superluminova and 3 and 9 being more traditionally colored Superluminova. The other hour markers are comprised of white Arabic numerals and a lumed marker.



At 12 o'clock you find the Laco logo and at 6 you have "Automatic 30ATM" text along with "Made in Germany". At 3 o'clock you also have a black backed date window that really goes well with the dial layout. Finally you have a white minute track going around the outside of the dial with Arabic numerals for each 5 minute interval.

The sword hour and minute hands are both covered with Superluminova, with the minute hand being done in orange and the hour hand being off white. The center seconds hand is white and has a ball of orange lume near the end of the hand. I just love seeing the traditional orange dive minute hand on dive capable watches and the Scorpion Mojave does not disappoint.



Moving on we get to the black ceramic bezel that we have already touched upon. The 60 click uni-directional dive bezel has its main index triangle pointer along with each minute to 15 done in brilliant orange Superluminova. After that, each ten minute interval is marked with a white lumed Arabic numeral and each five minute interval marked with a white lumed stick index.

A decent amount of force is needed to turn the bezel which results in a nice loud click. There is absolutely zero back play in the bezel, which is more than you can say about my Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 500 Fathoms which has about half a minutes worth of back play once set. You can tell the Scorpion Mojave is not a dedicated dive watch since the bezel is rather slim, not really resembling a chunky dive bezel. The cutouts along the bezel are sharp and deep, providing some of the best bezel grip I've felt. The dive bezel doesn't need to be used purely for diving, since aligning the bezel with the current position of the minute hand will also let you time up to 60 minutes, helpful for such activities as cooking.



Looking at the top and sides of the watch, the Scorpion Mojave has a completely matte finish to the DLC coated stainless steel. The stainless steel case of the watch has been fully coated with DLC or Diamond-Like Carbon. This extremely hard layer is applied to the case to increase both durability and scratch resistance. The process is achieved through Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) where vaporized carbon atoms are bonded with the surface of the stainless steel in a vacuum chamber. The result of this process is the jet black matte finish you see on the Scorpion Mojave's case. While not 100% scratch and chip resistant like a ceramic case, the DLC coating does offer vastly superior durability then stainless steel, gold or even titanium.

On the right hand side of the watch you find the screw in crown completed with a Laco "L" logo. The crown has very aggressive scalloping and provides great grip like that of the bezel. Once unscrewed, the resting position provides manual winding. Pulling the crown out to position one allows you to set the date and then fully pulling the crown out to position two stops the seconds hand and allows you to set the time. Pushing the crown back in also results in no jump of the minute hand allowing precise time setting. Finally screwing the crown back in is a snap and requires no extra care in aligning the crown or back turning it until it drops into position. After having to repair the crown on my Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Montoya, I'm extremely aware of how a crown screws in and the Scorpion Mojave seems like a vastly more rugged and foolproof design.



Flipping the watch over shows off the solid DLC coated stainless steel screw in case back. The case back also has most of the important information engraved on it, such as its 300 meters of water resistance. Also the back of the watch shows off the polished scorpion design, which is a nice difference in finishing from the rest of the matte finished case. This case back would give my wife nightmares since she's deathly afraid of scorpions having found more than a few in our house this year. The scorpion was picked for the watch since under UV lighting scorpions naturally glow like the lume found on the watch, something once again we're really familiar with this year.

Beneath the case back beats the Laco 200 (Sellita SW200) automatic Swiss made movement. The movement has around 40 hours of power reserve and beats away at 28,800 bph (4Hz) and offers bi-direction winding. On our timegrapher the Laco Scorpion Mojave showed an accuracy of + 5 seconds per day. While not the most accurate SW200 based movement we've tested, plus 5 seconds a day is still deadly accurate and within chronometer specifications.



The Scorpion Mojave has a lug width of 20 mm and came on a bright orange rubber strap. Laco also supplied a black rubber strap than tones down the appearance of the Mojave a bit. I do tend to like louder watches, so the Mojava stayed on the orange rubber strap while I had it. The rubber strap is extremely supple and needed no break in to be comfortable. The design of the strap reminds me of a mixture between a Tropic strap and a classic Seiko diver's strap. On my 7.25 inch wrist I required the second to smallest hole to fit my wrist. I'm not sure if Laco shipped an XL strap with the watch, but that is something you might need to inquire about with Laco if you are looking to pick up this watch and have a smaller wrist. There is some taper to the strap as well, being 18 mm at the black pin buckle. The buckle also has a slight matte finish and features the Laco logo on it as well.



Laco also sent us the full retail packaging along with the Scorpion Mojave, which we would also like to highlight. The last Laco timepiece we had in for review was packaged in a very nice flat aluminum case with every piece of the lining foam being precisely cut out for each included item. The Scorpion Mojave comes packed in a water and dust resistant dark grey hard shell case which reminds me a lot of the Pelican cases Blancpain Fifty Fathoms come packaged in. The front of the box includes a handle and also a purge value. For the price of the Scorpion Mojave this is extremely nice packaging.

During my time with the Laco Scorpion Mojave the weather in Austin had still been in the 90s with a decent level of humidity. The rubber strap has proved amazing in the heat and never become a pain on wrist, even on the hottest days. While the watch has a decent amount of weight to it being 42 mm and crafted out of stainless steel, the strap kept the watch nice and centered on the wrist and it never felt top heavy. The lug to lug of 50.5 mm is right in my preferred measurement of just over 50 mm in length and covered my wrist nicely.



While I didn't get a chance to take the Scorpion Mojave into the water, the watch is setup to be a great Go Anywhere Do Anything (GADA) watch. The 300 meters of water resistance is enough to even scuba dive with. The extreme contrast between the jet black dial and bright orange and white markers along with the uni-directional dive bezel means the Scorpion Mojave would be an ideal dive companion. Out of the water, the hard DLC coating means the watch can take a beating and look just fine the next day. With a lug width of 20 mm the Scorpion Mojave has an unlimited amount of aftermarket strap options available for it, along with rubber, canvas and bracelet options available directly from Laco. There is just a ton of versatility built into this watch.

While wearing the Laco Scorpion Mojave out running errands and to dinner and drinks, the watch attracted a lot of attention. It's not really that big of a surprise since it is a large black watch on a bright rubber strap with bright orange markers on the dial. A few people did ask me about the watch and one was even familiar with Laco. The new people I showed the watch to along with acquaintances I let handle the watch really loved the black and orange look of the watch more than anything. Also most were shocked by the low retail price of the watch versus how good it felt in hand and looked.



Getting to the retail price, the Laco Scorpion Mojave 42 DLC retails for $1,195 on the rubber strap. For that price you are certainly getting a lot of value for the money. You're getting a 300 meter water resistant watch with a ceramic dive bezel and a stainless steel case fully coated with DLC. The Sellita SW200 is a super reliable movement that can be worked on by any local watchmaker as well. Then finally you also have the long heritage of the Laco brand. At this time I do think we should take a look at a few other options in the same price range as the Scorpion Mojave.

First up let's take a look at the recently released Christopher Ward C60 Trident Lumiere. This watch is a bit smaller than the Scorpion Mojave at 41 mm and comes in titanium instead of DLC coated stainless steel. The Lumiere will be a bit lighter than the Scorpion but won't handle scratches as well. The Lumiere does offer the same 300 meters of water resistance as the Scorpion and comes with the longer lasting Sellita SW300-1 automatic movement. The Lumiere also comes at a bit of a premium over the Scorpion Mojave with a retail price of $1,975.

Next up we have the Squale T-183 Forged Carbon which is crafted out of carbon fiber and is also 42 mm like the Laco. Carbon fiber will weigh much less than the DLC coated Stainless Steel of the Scorpion Mojave, but once again it is not as durable. The Squale is a dedicated diver and as such has double the water resistance at 600 meters, but realistically nothing any human would ever be able to take advantage of. The Squale also uses the same Sellita SW200-1 movement found in the Laco. As with the Christopher Ward, the Squale is also much more expensive than the Laco at $1,810.



Moving on we have the Formex Reef in stainless steel also at 42 mm. The Reef uses untreated stainless steel so it won't have the durability of the Scorpion Mojave's DLC coating. The Reef is a dedicated dive watch but only offers the same 300 meters of water resistance as the Laco. Like the Christopher Ward the Formex Reef also comes with the Sellita SW300-1 with a longer power reserve than the Scorpion Mojave. Finally the Formex Reef also comes in costing a lot more than the Laco Scorpion at $1,935 on a rubber strap.

Finally we have the Norqain Adventure Sport measuring the same 42 mm and also coming in a DLC coated stainless steel case. The Adventure Sport only offers half of the water resistance of the Scorpion Mojave at 100 M and doesn't come with a well marked dive bezel. The NORQAIN also comes with the same Sellita SW200-1 as the Laco but costs pretty much twice as much as the Scorpion Mojave at $2,690.

As you can see the Laco Scorpion Mojave 42 DLC offers a ton when compared to the other watches listed above. None of those watches can come near its price and most don't offer much more for retail prices hundreds more than the Laco. I'm not really sure how Laco was able to produce such a well rounded watch at such a low asking price.



In the end, is the Laco Scorpion Mojave 42 DLC for me? For the most part the watch is for me and that's saying a lot since I'm super picky. If I could change one thing about the watch, it would be to have the case crafted out of DLC coated titanium or ceramic to keep the weight down. With that being said, ceramic can shatter and the watch really isn't that heavy, I'm just super used to ceramic, titanium and carbon watches. Also if Laco was to use DLC coated titanium or ceramic on the Scorpion, the price would be quite a bit higher.

Besides that, I just love the look of the bright orange markers on the jet black dial and bezel. The 50.5 mm lug to lug measurement is just perfect for me as well. Having a reliable movement that can be serviced by any watchmaker in the Sellita SW-200 is a huge plus since I'm currently going through a very expensive repair on an in-house IWC movement. The Scorpion Mojave also being outside of the traditional pilot's watch from Laco is something I find super interesting. The watch overall is just executed well and is a very handsome watch. Originally I thought I'd like it most on the orange rubber strap, but the more time I spend with it, I think it would also look amazing on a black or orange fabric strap. Since this was a pre-release watch from Laco, they were very eager to get it back to display at upcoming watch shows. That meant I didn't really get to spend much time with the watch which is too bad. This will be one watch I'm super sad to see go!



I guess it's obvious that I would strongly recommend the Laco Scorpion Mojave 42 DLC to anyone looking for a watch that can truly do anything and look good and not break the bank at the same time. As I mentioned above, there really isn't anything the Scorpion doesn’t do well and isn't much I'd change. I don't see anything that would give a buyer pause when picking up this watch and would be shocked if anyone had buyer's remorse with this purchase.

I'd really like to thank Laco for sending us this Scorpion Mojave 42 DLC, it has been a real treat to review. As always I can't wait to see what Laco will send us next!

For more information about the Scorpion Mojave 42 DLC please visit : Laco

Technical Specifications

Reference Number: 862109.RB

Retail Price: $1,195

Case Size: 42 mm

Lug to Lug: 50.5 mm

Thickness: 13.6 mm

Weight: 114 Grams

Case Material: DLC Coated Stainless Steel

Bezel: Ceramic

Strap: Black Rubber Strap with Pin Buckle

Movement: Laco 200 (Sellita SW200) Swiss Made Automatic Movement

Functions: Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Date

Power Reserve: Around 40 Hours

Water Resistance: 300 Meters