As you all know I was on a trip to Hamburg to see Sternglas launch their new collection of watches and finally, they all arrived in for a review and I can start writing about them. So in the next months, you will see a lot of blog posts about Sternglas. The first review I wanted to write was about Zirkel that you see here. The Zirkel is a Bauhaus/dressy design watch, 40mm in diameter and with automatic movement. Overall the watch sounds good, right? So let’s take a closer look at it!

The Sternglas finally has been boxing their watches in identical boxes, previously they had different boxes for each watch and it was a bit confusing. I really like how they box their watches, very simple design, but great unboxing experience. Inside the box, you will find instructions, warranty an, of course, the watch. As I’ve seen the watch before this in Hamburg, I will say that the only thing that surprised me was how big the watch looks despite the pretty small 40mm diameter, the watch really looks like a 42mm.

The case of the Zirkel is made of 316L stainless steel. The machine work is one very good, even better than previous models that they released. Every line and angle is sharp. The diameter is 40mm, the thickness is 13mm and from lug to lug it measures at 48,5mm. The watch is pretty thick for 40mm size and that is what makes it look big on the wrist. Also, the illusion of it being bigger than it is are the sharp case lines. But it wears pretty comfortably. The whole case is finished in a satin brushed finishing. On the right side of the case, you will find a push/pull crown with the polished side. The crown is pretty small for how big the case is, but it is pretty easy to grab it and set time, date and wind up the movement. The exhibition case back is held on with 6 small screws. On the case back you will find some specifications. The crystal that is on the back is a sapphire glass, on the front, you will find a domed sapphire glass with a decent AR coating.

The dial on mine Zirkel is in white, they also come in black dial colour. Mine favourite is probably the white dial as it looks better in my opinion. The dial is very simple with Arabic numerals for hour markers. At 12 o’clock we have a Sternglas logo and at 6 o’clock we have some specifications of the watch. The only thing that I don’t like is the date, it is my personal preference, some like it, but I don’t. It just makes the time setting process longer for me at least as I have 40 watches in my collection an I try to wear a new watch every day.

The movement that is inside the Zirkel is Miyota Caliber 821A. It has 21 jewels, it beats at 21,600 BPH and the power reserve is 42hours. The movement is automatic, but you can also wind it with the crown. The rotor is customized, when I was in Hamburg, Dustin (founder of the company) told me how they do it. They basically get all the movement from Japan, take them to a guy who grinds off the top layer of the rotor so there is no writing and then engraved the Sternglas logo and other info on the rotor. And he said that it was very problematic to do as Miyota doesn’t send out movements with clean rotors, they all come with Miyota engraving. The movement is pretty precise, my example runs at +8 to +9 seconds a day which is pretty good.

The strap as always is really good. As I said in the past, Sternglas has probably the best straps from any microbrand that come with the watch from the store. I chose the Vintage Natogreen suede strap and I think it looks excellent. The Zirkel comes also with other colour straps so there is something for everyone to choose from. The lug width is 20mm so if you don’t like any strap Sternglas offers you can easily find a strap you like from other stores. Of course, all Sternglas straps come with built-in quick release spring bars which as you all know is one of my favourite things, as it makes strap change 10x faster than usual.

Overall the watch is really good. I really like where Sternglas is going with their designs and want to see what’s coming next! Zirkel, in my opinion, is perfect 40mm dress watch with automatic movement. Yes, it looks bigger than it is and they could’ve made it a bit slimmer, but I don’t see it as a big throw off to not buy it. I think it looks good! When I was wearing Zirkel actually some of my watch friends thought I was wearing some new model from Nomos or Junghans, but on close inspection, they realised it isn’t the case. After I told them how much it costs they were really surprised as they said the quality is super good and it more looks like a watch that costs over 1000€ not lower.

Price: 299€ @ sternglas.com

Diameter: 40 mm stainless steel
Height: 10 mm
Movement: MIYOTA Caliber 821A
Power reserve: max. 42 hours
Vibration frequency: 21,600
Jewels: 21 pcs
Guarantee: 24-month
Glass: Domed sapphire glass
Case back: sapphire glass
Lug width: 20 mm
Water resistance: 5 ATM