Sternglas is a relatively new brand on the horological scene and is quickly becoming one to watch. The brand was founded in Hamburg in 2016 by Dustin Fontaine. Fontaine started working in the watch industry at a young age and quickly became fascinated by the intricate movements that powered timepieces. This fascination has fuelled the passion and attention that gets built into every Sternglas watch that is made. We have put together a guide to Sternglas watches to introduce newcomers to the brand and explore its history and products.
A Brief History of Sternglas Watches
It is important to start a guide to Sternglas watches with a brief history of the brand. The founder of Sternglas, Dustin Fontaine, began his horological journey working at a small watch manufactory at age sixteen during his student years. Fontaine was tasked with mainly menial tasks, but did get some opportunities to work with the watches. He became fascinated by the movements and elegant designs. During his time working for this watch company, Fontaine noticed a lack of affordable designer watches available on the market. This sparked a passion for what he would spend the rest of his life doing.
At age twenty-one, Fontaine started his own watch brand that focused on the minimalism and Bauhaus designs that he had always admired in timepieces. Unfortunately, this attempt at starting the brand failed due to Fontaine having set himself unreasonably high expectations. He moved into a career as a web designer, but was unsatisfied with this role. In 2016, Fontaine opened a Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds to have another go at starting a watch brand. The philosophy was to create one movement with one design in order to keep things simple and manageable.
This attempt was a huge success as Fontaine had learned a great deal from previous mistakes. However, it quickly became apparent that the glass that was used in early Sternglas watches was unsuitable as it was too weak. The brand promptly replaced in with sapphire glass, giving the brand the ‘glas’ portion of its name. The brand’s name was workshopped for several months before a name was settled upon. Fontaine wanted his brand to have a strong German name to honour the German watchmaking tradition.
Sternglas Today
The Sternglas brand has grown from strength to strength despite being relatively new on the scene. Since its founding, Sternglas has produced a range of watches with the first automatic model being launched in 2018. The brand now has a team of around 21 people working on creating, building and marketing the watches. The team stay in close contact with the brand’s customer base using things like surveys to gauge what the customers may want in the next launch of Sternglas watches. The brand have recently begun to work with retailers to allow the customer to be able to view and try on the watch before making a purchase. Sternglas have launched nine new models in the past year along and continue to grow and progress with time. The brand continues to aim to make good design accessible to everyone.
Sternglas Watch Models
STERNGLAS Men’s Taiga GMT | Two-Tone Nato Strap | Anthracite Grey Textured Dial S01-TA11-NA02
The Sternglas Taiga GMT was the brand’s first GMT model, making it a key piece of the brand’s history. The watch exhibits a classic field watch design to ensure for a clear and easy to read dial. The anthracite grey dial is detailed with both Arabic and baton indices and silver hour, minute and second hands. The GMT hand is highlighted in a bold yellow shade to ensure that it is easy to track around the dial. The dial is protected by sapphire glass and surrounded by a stainless steel case. This case houses the quartz movement that powers the watch. This watch is finished with a two tone NATO style strap in neutral shades of brown and beige. This timepiece is water resistant up to 100 metres.
STERNGLAS Men’s Taiga GMT | Vintage Brown Leather Strap | Anthracite Grey Textured Dial S01-TA11-VI18
This Men’s Taiga GMT model is secured on the wrist using a vintage style brown leather strap. This style of strap is incredibly timeless and will not be going out of fashion any time soon. Brown leather will pair perfectly will a huge range of accessories and outfits to create an elegant and cohesive look. The watch features an anthracite grey dial with a bold yellow GMT hand that can be used to display a second time zone. The stainless steel case measures 42mm in diameter and houses the quartz movement that powers the watch. A date aperture is positioned at 6 o’clock to ensure that the wearer always keeps perfect time. This timepiece has a classic sense of style that will fit seamlessly into any watch collection.
What did you think of a guide to Sternglas watches? Would you consider adding a Sternglas watch to your collection? Let us know in the comments!
