Reply With QuoteI really like the Stowa Antea. Available in a few different sizes and variations. This is probably my favourite (from Stowa’s website)...
I seem to have developed a hankering for something with a Bauhaus aesthetic in recent days, i've looked briefly at the obvious contenders - Junghans Max Bill (maybe wears a bit on the small side for me) and I like the look of the Nomos Tangente, but what else would I be considering trying on?
Ideas welcome.
Cheers
Ash
I really like the Stowa Antea. Available in a few different sizes and variations. This is probably my favourite (from Stowa’s website)...
Anything by Alain Silberstein perhaps? Sadly no longer made but I've always liked the quirky styling.
Look at Junkers if you want something cheaper.
In my opinion though once you try on a Nomos you’ll find it hard to choose anything else. I own a Tangente and it’s fantastic. Try the Metro too.
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Nomos is probably the most Bauhaus influenced design. My partner has a Nomos Tangente, and after three years she still loves it. Of course, you have to enjoy minimalism.......
What size wrist are you ?
I have a junghans max bill and my wrist is 7.5" I find it wears bigger than you'd think
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In terms of pedigree I think the Max Bill series for Junghans has the best claim of direct lineage to the Bauhaus. Bill was a student at the Bauhaus and later produced a clock for Junghans if I remember correctly. The customised font and look of those clocks have been translated into a series of wristwatches today. My favourite is the manual wind black dial with luminescent green numerals. https://www.junghans.de/en/junghans-...el/detail.html
This leads me to one of my pet hates in WIS-dom though, if others will allow me. I am not trying to be (too) inflammatory but the term 'Bauhaus' gets bandied about far too much in a way that is unspecific. The Bauhaus was a college of art, design, construction, crafts and other associated disciplines in the early 20th century. What marked it out from other institutions at the time was not necessarily the art or objects produced by its teachers and students. These were avant-garde creations but reflected a certain time and place, the context being early to middle stage Modernism in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s, and as such differed not so much from peers originating from a similar platform.
The distinct thought of the Bauhaus was the integration of artists, craftspeople and industrialists to make serially produced, functional and beautiful objects. This was not revolutionary but evolutionary from the prior Arts and Crafts movement, said to be birthed in England, and the Deustcher Werkbund, which Nomos sometimes claims spiritual descendance over the Bauhaus. Having said this, the integration of art, craft and industrial production seems a very apt way to describe contemporary watchmaking today. In this sense, is the present-day luxury watchmaking industry a child of the Bauhaus?
I think perhaps yes and certainly more so than some of the watches today that get called 'Bauhaus'. This applies more to the design-orientated quartz watches from companies attempting to 'disrupt' the industry rather than to many of the watches typically considered on this forum. But sometimes it does infiltrate into our own discussions. It is at its most hazardous when appraising a watch with a clean, form-follows-function appearance. We can say it is clean, we can say that its form follows its function, we can even say that it evokes Modernist design if we like. But we are using mental shortcuts if we say that it is Bauhaus.
The Bauhaus fed into an already existing design paradigm that was interested in eschewing unnecessary ornament and expressing a new age of living where machine and humans made functional, practical objects. Designs originating from this time are therefore not necessarily Bauhaus in my opinion but can be part of the wider design movement already burgeoning. I cannot idealise this period of history at face value though, the principles that guided this design also guided some of the worst terrors of the 20th century. 20th century Modernist rationality and industry produced some beautiful objects, but untempered by human compassion it also led to catastrophically destructive actions. Sector dials therefore are not just pleasing whimsicals, but relics of a time that is now behind us.
After this rant - if people can rail zealously over date windows, can I do so about Bauhaus terminology? - what will my next watch be? Probably either the Max Bill I linked to above, or a Nomos Tangente. Both are as 'Bauhaus' as you like.
Last edited by Kallang; 13th January 2018 at 23:52.
'Bauhaus 'is these days used as shorthand for a certain type of clean, minimalist design. And the meaning of a term is caught in how it is actually used . Lectures in the history of design are beside the point, and frankly, a touch patronising .
I found it well written and interesting, someone with my poor education could never write such an article.
But I can read,digest and understand,I didn’t find it in anyway a rant anyway I could just skip by if I didn’t want to read it.
When I was in the museums in Munich I was troubled by my liking of certain art that seemed to be the fore runner of later NAZI imagery and thinking.
I found it very interesting and a useful reminder of some of the things I studied in my music degree (albeit many years ago now). I was thinking that contributions like that 'lecture' are what make this forum such a great place. Thanks for taking the time to share those insights into the Bauhaus movement and their resonances with and influences on watch design.Originally Posted by paskinner
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Did you study Bauhaus or Bauhaus band for your music degree?
Ha - I must admit that when I see the word Bauhaus I start humming "Bela Lugosi's Dead". Must be my age, Bauhaus were one of the first bands I ever saw. Musical digressions aside, I'm seriously liking Nomos and might have bought a Bucherer blue edition one at New Year in Munich if the shop had actually been open.
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Thank you for a most informative post! I appreciate such interesting contributions.
Yes, a good informative post by Kallang which contributes considerably to the thread. Thanks.
Dieter Rams is probably the most Bauhaus influenced designer around today ...............................
http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...igital-watches
The Bauhaus movement! I'm not sure that the band was well known amongst UEA professors.
Kallang,thank you for your considered and measured post.
Much appreciated.
I would look at Nomos.
There is the draw,to me,of the movements but I struggle with the faces;guess I'm not yet ready for Bauhaus/minimalism? But never say never.
I have had both Nomos and Stowa and given we are taking minimalist design, clean design I can recommend both. Stowa especially are excellent value for money, albeit inside is an ETA, that said they decorated them very nicely.
I guess Braun and Mondaine would also fall into the same category, aesthetically speaking.
Dunega chrono is a nice watch in the style you are chasing , not silly money and a good size
Thanks for that and not patronising at all. It stands as yet another reminder that I haven't done the trip to Dessau that I've been talking about for at least five years.
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
This isn't a style that I thought appealed to me...
Until I stumbled across Stowas Antea KS (love the blue steel hands and case design).
I just hope I can find one pre owned at a reasonable price one day.
I have had both Nomos and Stowa and given we are taking minimalist design, clean design I can recommend both. Stowa especially are excellent value for money, albeit inside is an ETA, that said they decorated them very nicely.
And, at least the Walter Storz (Sto-Wa) Antea design does genuinely stem from the 1930s — and therefore the aesthetic which also influenced the Staatliches Bauhaus.
Just try before you buy. The Nomos Tangente has looong lugs.
Thanks all for your suggestions, I will check them out.
Cheers
Wow, I've never seen this model before - in fact, I've seen more Max Bill chronographs than three-handers, and they didn't feel right somehow. This one is definitely the best looking so far, really smooth and modern, sort of transcending that future-retro chic by just being really beautiful. Also, many thanks for your write-up about Bauhaus.
Just FYI - Jura have 15% off Junghans watches at the moment
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