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STERNGLAS is a watch brand that aims to bring Bauhaus style to the masses at an affordable price. Their new model, the STERNGLAS NAOS is named after the main star of the ancient Egyptian constellation “Stars of the water”, which is located about 1100 light years away.
Introducing the STERNGLAS NAOS
The STERNGLAS NAOS is a quartz dress watch in the Bauhaus style. The Bauhaus concept is about making good and useful designs for everyone. STERNGLAS’s goal is to create a harmonious and affordable watch for everyone. The first STERNGLAS timepiece was financed by crowd-funding on Kickstarter back in October 2016. They have now introduced a new watch – the STERNGLAS NAOS – and they sent one to WRUK for us to take a look.
The packaging is basic, but of good quality. Its minimalist nature suits the style of the watch, and there is everything you need, but nothing extraneous. The watch itself is protected by some plastic film and to get it running you simply remove the plastic guard from the crown, set the time and date and off you go. It’s powered by a Swiss Ronda 714 quartz movement, so you know it will be accurate and trouble-free, with a 5-year battery life.
Case
The case is 38mm and made of 316L stainless steel. The crown is small, but for a quartz, this is not a problem as you rarely use it. The watch is very slim at 8mm thick, and that makes it comfortable to wear and it fits under a shirt sleeve easily. At this size, it would be suitable for either gender. Unusually for a quartz watch, the case back is secured by four screws. This is one of those nice touches of quality that distinguishes a throwaway watch from a timepiece that is intended to last.
We were particularly taken by the way the case and lugs gently curve, instead of being totally straight. It’s a neat visual touch that gives the watch presence without adding bulk. To finish everything off is a gently-domed sapphire crystal – we found ourselves wishing for antireflective coating on the crystal to counter some of the reflections.
Dial and Hands
The dial is a flat, printed type with simple white markings. The date at 3 is a useful feature, although we’d have preferred it to have been in black to match the dial. The text on the dial includes the brand name, the word ZEITMESSER (That’s German for chronometer) and then the words 38mm and BAUHAUS. We weren’t sure why the case size is written on the dial but all the text is clear, legible and unintrusive – it certainly exudes that “functional” look.
The hands are in plain steel, which matches the case, but as they are so thin it can make legibility difficult in low light. We expect that a white-dialled model would be easier to read. As there are only two hands, there is no quartz “tick” to give away the battery-powered movement.
Strap and Buckle
The strap – so often a point of criticism in microbrand watches – is really nice on the STERNGLAS NAOS. It’s made of a soft and supple black leather and has a quick-release pin system. This is something we are starting to see more and more often and it makes strap changes simple, without risking gouging out the lugs and damaging the edges of the strap whenever you change it. Full marks, although we would probably stick with the supplied strap – it’s that good. The buckle is a functional tang buckle engraved with the brand name.
Buy a STERNGLAS NAOS
If the STERNGLAS NAOS sounds like the watch for you – and we think it’s a lot of watch for the money (just check out the price of Bauhaus watches on eBay!) – you can buy one from Sternglas.com for €189.
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