Thoughts on the German Watch Aesthetic ?

German design isn't just Bauhaus.

As sophmoric  as it might seem I'll engage the discussion with examples of non bauhaus German designs.

Yes I agree, which is why I put the last part in my post. But the question is "it's there a particular German aesthetic". 

What does it mean when someone says "that watch looks German"

It is not at all sophomoric @foghorn .  I also had issues with the premise of the questions. I am glad that you jumped in first.

Yes, I like the German design aesthetic.  I like it in watches.  I like it in cars. I like it in coffee grinders.

But it isn't Bauhaus.  Bauhaus was played out by the late Sixties.  A fifty year run for an organizing idea is a good run. Once Arabic numerals started appearing again on watch dials it was over.  To the extent any of it is Bauhaus today it is more of a homage. It is backward looking.  Walter Gropius would probably be amused.

I am a believer in the classical idea of Platonic forms of beauty.  Palladio believed this. German watch designers have found something true and beautiful no matter what you call it. Buy as much as you can. (Now if I could only get my German watch to run.)

Right! The numerals on the meister driver (left) aren't quite the sans serif of bauhaus, but the watch still "looks German" to me, and I can't quite put my finger on it. 

If Paul Klee had designed watches and household goods and Max Bill had painted the answer may have been different.

It is stylized restraint.

There’s something that really pulls me in with German watch design (Bauhaus and otherwise), although I’ve yet to find one that really suits me. A Lange is still at the top of my “probably never gonna happen” grail list, but even most of their references have something “wrong” with them for my tastes.

I would love to own a Nomos, but they similarly don’t make the watch that’s Just Right. At least not yet…

I would highly recommend checking out Junghans. Quintessential German design language, short lugs (looking at you nomos😅)  and very attainable price point.

I'm not too bothered by the ETA movements since it's a design-first watch.

I'll get my ALS fix with watchfinder videos 😂

I’ve almost pulled the trigger on a Max Bill a few times now. Do you read/follow Rescapement? His vintage Max Bill is something else

I think German watch design is, and always will be classic. To me at least, the German "aesthetic" is simple functionality. 

For a historic example look at the flieger watches of WWII, and for a modern example, look at Sinn and Damasko. In their less extreme state the Junghans, Nomos, and ALS watches all follow the same basic idea. Simple indexes, with simple hands, simply well executed. 

Just found a pic, that font is out of this world 😍

Well said, beauty in simplicity, form follows function. Even the elaborations are restrained 👍. 

I really enjoy German watches and appreciate the Bauhaus designs - I am an architect so maybe it’s a thing, haha. I think one of the more unfortunate issues with “Bauhaus watches” is that they can be victims of the original principles driving their design. In having form follow function and breaking elements down into their most basic forms, you are left with is a dial design that is very minimalist AND also one that can be easily (even if poorly) imitated.

The Max Bill is unquestionably the watch we point to when we think of what a “Bauhaus watch” should look like, but there is room for different interpretations of the design principles. Nomos for example has some wonderful inspired pieces which look at other aspects like typography and color theory that are/were equally important and feel much more modern/fresh that what Junghans has been doing.

Funny thing is the original authors of the movement were always looking forward, and placed a huge importance on technology and its ability to enable design... so if they were designing a watch today I suspect it might be closer to an Apple Watch than anything else. If not that, perhaps something closer to one of those oil-filled Ressence watches 😂 just my 2 cents of course.

I typically think of German watches in a few distinct categories. There are the high-end ones like A. Lange & Sohne and Glashutte Original. Then there are the Bahuas like Nomos and Junghans. Then there are the Fliegers like Laco and Stowa

Of course, there are tons of other German watch brands, all producing different designs. But you're right, Max, there's something that makes most of them distinctly German. Maybe it's fonts? Maybe it's that the designs play heavily with contrasts, whether that contrast is slim markings on an expansive dial or pops of contrasting colors or combining contrasting shapes. Interesting discussion! 

Very interesting historical perspective on the intent of the bauhaus movement. Bauhaus has been so butchered by companies like Daniel Wellington that often it's become cliche.

 I like how you described nomos, they definitely use exciting colors. I'm gonna have to learn more about color theory to figure out why their combos are so pleasing to the eye without being garish.

You architects are so stereotypical ( jk I probably would've been an architect in a parallel universe 😁)

I agree that there are different types of German watch design. There is the very traditional one, if you think about ALS or Glashütte, with for example the Glashütte PanoMaticLunar taking a very playful attitude towards that type of design. (Which I personally find attractive.) Then you have the whole subcategory of Flieger watches. I further agree that Bauhaus no longer exists in its original form, but that minimalist watch design is still very prevalent in many German brands.

That being said, I think that a minimalist design is hard to do right. The watch looks generic if you overdo it, and has no clean design principle if you don’t push it far enough. Nomos watches for example are right at the border for me, with me responding differently to the same watch depending on the day of the week. 

I do believe that it is a challenge to convey this sense of austerity as a chosen design attribute to a lot of potential buyers.
 

My favorite watches are the loud, bright, and bold styles from the 70s such as the Seiko Pogue. The more reserved style elements found in most German Watches never appealed to me. Having said that there are a few German creations that have earned spots on my "watches to keep an eye out for" list. Primarily, Hanhart Chronographs and Flieger Type Bs. 

Being German, I love German watches and their design.  When I was looking for my first German piece in the collection, Junghans seemed to be a great entry point offering great value on the secondary.  I settled on one I liked, bought from a reputable seller, and then added my own touches - custom leather strap and a Damascus steel handmade and etched buckle to complete the look I was after.   Someday I will go GO or ALS, but for now I am very pleased with this one. 

When I think of something being German, I think of precision, over-engineered (in the best way), durable and well made. 

I really like the design of that watch, Max, but I did a double take when I saw the mess on the minute hand. For an over-$1000 watch I'm not sure I could accept that.

This was extremely informative. Thanks for taking time and providing this info :)

And like the Flieger with a function first design, you have Mühle.  Definitely German, and with this model very much a tool watch. 

I have two German watches, love them both.

Laco Silber - from the "Classics" line.  From the way it was presented on Long Island Watch, this was a 1 of 40 dial prototype Laco opted to not produce.  They sold the entire run to LIW. Movement: Miyota 9015

Stowa Partitio Gray - 1 of 100 LE.  Standard Partitio with a gray dial and display caseback. Movement: ETA 2824-2

I don't wear the Laco much, as it's a dressier piece and I'm pretty casual, but I love the look.

I wore the Stowa contstantly until I dropped it onto my tile counter top, which dinged the lugs.  I've considered sending it back to Stowa to have them recase it, but am not sure if it's worth the cost or hassle.

I'd love a Glashutte Original Sea Q, but that's a long-term goal.  

I'll add a slightly different way of looking at the issue.  I think there is a very distinct 'glashutte' look that flows through pretty much every glashutte brand (bar one massive exception).

I've wondered if this is a result of much of that area of watch making being shut off from a lot of style/fashion trends in the west for almost half a century.
 

The big exception to the glashutte look is Nomos - yes the watches are built in glashutte but they are really a berlin company and all the design is done there.

In general I think the German look is one of my favourites, they tend towards the no nonsense , functional tool watch style which I love for most things being a simple kind of man. So for me that is what it means tohave the German look , maybe slightly clinical even.

My German Beauty , a Dugena Premium.  Super thin and classy.

German design is great. It goes from ultimate utilitarian (think Sinn) to high end and dressy (A Lange & Sohne).

When I think of the best German watches, it's a distinct feeling for clean, specific and well thought out design, often minimal. It's a little bit like art, don't overwork it. I'm a sucker for the minimalist style German watches. 

I bought a Junghans because they’re so underrated. Glad there’s an AD in Guam