If you know nothing about the Bauhaus style and interwar Germany, then you have in your hands just a good universal German three-pointer. And if you know, then this is a whole world of references and associations.
The spirit of the German 20s. Zeppelin, Iron Annie, bauhaus (and Junkers)
You hardly know the German watch company POINTtec, but you have probably heard the names of the brands that belong to it: Zeppelin, Iron Annie and bauhaus. Once upon a time, POINTtec also made Junkers watches, but then, they say, this brand returned to the Junkers family.
All these stamps refer to the German 1920s and 1930s and are full of historical associations.
Junkers (which is no longer POINTtec) is not only the bombers of the Luftwaffe of World War II, but also the airlines of the interwar years, and even the Lufthansa airline.
Iron Annie is the nickname of the Junkers Ju-52, a legendary passenger and transport aircraft. If they wanted to dedicate some Junkers watch model to an aircraft, they usually chose the Ju-52: a well-known, but not infamous fellow bombers. In the list of brands POINTtec Iron Annie just came to replace Junkers, becoming a kind of allegory.
Zeppelin is about metal airships that flew a lot in the interwar years, including across the Atlantic.
bauhaus is the name of a design school that operated in Germany from 1919 to 1933.
POINTtec also has the Point Connect smartwatch brand and the Kicker football watch. But they are not sold in Russia (IMHO, we lost a little).
Bauhaus. Style history
Bauhaus is a legendary German school of architecture and industrial design, as well as a creative association. The basic principles of architecture of the XNUMXth century and the ideological center of functionalism were formed there. The school operated in the Weimar Republic and was closed when the Nazis came to power. Its students and teachers, having left Germany, founded architecture and design centers around the world.
The Bauhaus is a combination of simplicity, conciseness, elegance and convenience: “convenient cannot be ugly”. A house, sofa, clock or doorknob designed in the Bauhaus style will be minimalistic and functional. The designs made by the representatives of the school laid the foundation for industrial models for many years to come.
In the 20s, the Bauhaus also came to watches. Well-read minimalist dials with Arabic markings, laconic cases, simple hands contrasted with the decorations of the then fashionable Art Deco. And in the 60s, designer Max Bill, who studied at the Bauhaus school in his youth, gave the style new popularity in collaboration with the Junghans watch company. His handwriting - a clean dial with a markup of simple dashes and hands reaching them - is also visible in modern models.
Here I must say that the German watch companies Bauhaus remember and love. Braun, Nomos, Stowa, Meistersinger, Junghans have such watches. And something similar - in many, many companies from different parts of the world: from Orient and Tissot to A. Lange & Sohne and Patek Philippe.
In the general series, bauhaus is “Bauhaus for cheap”, sorry for the tautology. The model from the review is one of the flagships of the brand, but it is three times cheaper than not the most expensive Junghans, and even more so Nomos. At the same time, the watch is normally made and has an interesting pedigree.
bauhaus. Watch pedigree
POINTtec is an independent family company founded in the mid 80s. She designs the watches herself, and purchases components from "reliable suppliers who also work with manufacturers of expensive luxury watches" (an inner voice suggests that these suppliers are somewhere in the east). POINTtec watches are assembled in Germany, at a factory in Rula.
Clocks have been made in the city since the 1890s. After World War II, the watch factory ended up on the territory of the GDR and returned to life under the name Ruhla (on the cover of our watches, too, Uhrenwerke Ruhla is written). Its history had its own movements and watches made from Soviet parts, one of the most popular calibers in the world and automatic assembly technologies half a century before the Swatch Sistem51…
But this was not enough, and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Ruhla also disbanded. POINTtec assembled Zeppelin and Iron Annie at the former Ruhla facilities. Well, the bauhaus brand was launched in 2019, when POINTtec bought the building of the Ruhla watch factory, built in, guess what style? - That's right, Bauhaus.
Finishing and execution: no frills, but neat
Finally moving on to bauhaus 21604! From a distance, the watch looks good - of course, with a green dial and a brown strap. If you look a little closer, it’s also good: the convex glass continues the lines of the barrel-shaped case, so that the watch looks like a single large lens from the side. It looks interesting and adds depth to the dial.
The rounded case, combined with thin, prominent lugs, creates a vintage feel, inspired by the Bauhaus icons Nomos and Junghans Max Bill. It is fully polished, without complex edges and alternating finishes. But the ears are drilled, so it is very convenient to change the straps.
The dial is harmonious. It is made in three colors: dark green (background), white (minute hand, markings and inscriptions), copper (hour and second hands). The logo rhymes with them with a yellow metallic triangle and thin white-silver wing lines. The power reserve indicator is combined with the rest of the hands: the base is copper, like the hour and second, and the hand itself is white.
There are no overhead elements on the dial, only printed ones. But they are printed without errors (at least not visible in a double magnifying glass). The white hands are neatly painted, the metal hands are roughly but evenly processed. And the date is on a dark disk, in tone with the dial.
The crown without the logo looks ambivalent. On the one hand, without it the impression spoils. On the other hand, extra embellishments. But here Nomos and Stowa, for example, with a logo, and Junghans Max Bill - without ... Ah, the Germans know better!
The suede-nice 20mm wide strap does not need to be broken in and fits comfortably right out of the box, but does not look durable. The vertical inscription, it would seem, should look foreign on a dress watch. But on the modern bauhaus, which keeps the spirit of interwar artistic experiments, it is surprisingly appropriate.
The overall impression of the watch is no frills, but neat. And in this case, this is not a synonym for the condescending “poor, but clean”, but admiration for a well-seasoned style.
By the way, pay attention to two historical references:
- The Bauhaus logo is written with a lowercase letter and not with a capital letter - because since 1925 the participants in the Bauhaus movement did not use capital letters in printed works. Herbert Baier, designer and author of the Universal font, considered two types of letters in one alphabet to be an unnecessary complication and convinced his colleagues of this. It's funny that on its website, the watch manufacturer is confused: on some pages it says bauhaus, on others - Bauhaus.
- The vertical inscription bauhaus on the strap is a beautiful reference to the building of the Bauhaus school in Dessau, Germany, built in 1928. See for yourself.
Caliber: Premium Miyota
The bauhaus 21604 is equipped with Miyota 9134, which the Japanese manufacturer refers to the Premium Automatic series. This caliber was created in the 2000s, on 26 stones, with a frequency of 28800 vibrations per hour. Power reserve - standard 40 hours, accuracy - from -10 to +30 seconds per day. Auto winding is unidirectional, but quite effective. In the second position of the crown, the date is translated, in the third position, the time. Of course, there is a stop second.
Many micro-brands use this workhorse caliber that meets the Swiss ETA 2824-2 and Sellita SW200 in every specification except accuracy. But in fact, my bauhaus in office mode fit into +6 seconds a day, and this is already the accuracy of a chronometer. I think that in passport assessments, the Japanese, as usual, are very reinsured.
Interestingly, Miyota 9134 is covered with a pattern like "Geneva stripes". If you look closely, it does not look like sanding, but like factory embossing, but from a distance it looks pretty. True, against the background of the pattern, the stock rotor looks strange, on which even the watch brand is not applied.
Bauhaus is convenience
The accent in the design of the dial is made on the white minute hand, which stands out against a dark background. In width and shape, it does not differ from the clock, but the color does not get confused, and the time readings are read in any conditions. Sometimes you have to look at the hour hand. But as for me, everything is right: it is more important to see the minutes, because the hour is usually clear anyway. In the dusk, a watch without a drop of lume is also not lost: if there is at least a dim light, the hands are visible against the background of the dial. So there is no resentment for being deprived of lum.
The medium-sized watch is 41 mm, but looks larger due to the missing bezel. From ear to ear there is already 50 mm, but on my 16,5 cm wrist bauhaus sits normally. The thickness is rather big - 12,8 mm, but thanks to the smooth contours, the watch easily fits under the sleeve. Wear them comfortably. Water resistance - suit 50 m: enough to wash your hands or walk in the rain.
The most vulnerable part of the watch is a beautiful convex glass that will take care of all the scratches. If it were a domed sapphire, there would be no problem, but here is a budget alternative: K1 tempered mineral glass. It should be more resistant to scratches than ordinary mineral, because it is one and a half to two times harder than it. However, it is just as much inferior in hardness to sapphire, and a suit watch is still scratched more often than it beats.
The polished case is theoretically also vulnerable: scratches are more noticeable on polishing than on satin. But this particular watch can be easily polished: the case is smooth, rounded, without complex sharp edges, which means there is no risk of breaking its geometry.
For me, the bauhaus 21604 is the first watch with a power reserve indicator. When the arrow barely crosses halfway during the day in the office, it’s frustrating: you can immediately see how inactive I am. On the other hand, walking home fills the scale - almost to the end, and me - with enthusiasm. Well, working remotely, you can wind up your watch on time.
Summary
Did I like the watch? Distracted - yes. I love the historical references, the timeless style, the design and the comfort of the watch. However, this is a matter of taste: the Bauhaus is still not mine.
What would I wear them with? With a shirt, cardigan, polo, maybe even a suit. The watch is suitable for both casual and business style. But for sports - definitely not.
To whom would I recommend them? On the one hand, the Bauhaus is a specific style. On the other hand, it was invented not for the sake of abstract fashion, but for real life. Readable and concise, the bauhaus 21604 could very well be the main or only watch (although I would go for something with a sapphire and a WR100 in this case). And if you purposefully want a relatively affordable German Bauhaus with historical roots, then bauhaus 21604 is definitely worth a closer look.
