Bauhaus Style Watches – Five Plus One

Five Plus One is our weekly series of buyer’s guides. We pick a specific category and dig up five great options along with one that’s a little outside the norm.


Bauhaus styles watches are all the rage at the moment. They follow the influence of the Bauhaus school of design in Germany in the 1920s, which means watches that are minimalist in design with angular lugs to gives them a strong wrist presence. What does that mean for you? The appearance of a large watch with the comfort of a smaller one, and the ability to easily dress this style up or down. We’ll explore a wide range of Bauhaus-inspired watches, from high end automatics to entry level quartz.

1) Timex: Fairfield Chronograph in Black

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Timex is one of the most suggested entry-level watch brands, and for good reason. Their products are made very well for the price, and they produce a large range of different styles, and they offer that catalog in just about every colorway you can image. Their Fairfield Chronograph takes a classic, minimalist Bauhaus design and adds chronograph complications. While this juxtaposition might not appeal to everyone, it definitely makes a great statement piece to be worn occasionally (or, if you think like me, a bold accessory for everyday wear).

Available for $99 from Timex.

2) Nomos: Tangente Neomatik Silvercut

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Nomos isn’t the original manufacturer of Bauhaus watches, but they played a significant part in the recent Bauhaus resurgence. Their Tangente Neomatik Silvercut is one of their most memorable reinterpretations, complete with a brushed Rhodium dial, tempered blue hands, sapphire crystals on both the front and back, and a black shell cordovan watch strap. These watches don’t come cheap—due in part to the in-house Nomos DUW 3001 automatic movement—but you get a lot of watch for your money. And once you get a watch of this caliber (no pun intended) on wrist, you won’t regret your purchase.

Available for $3,880 from Nomos.

3) Skagen: Signatur Slim Titanium Quart

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Skagen is known for their sleek, minimalist design, so it comes as no surprise that they make a great Bauhaus style watch. Their Signatur Slim Titanium model is ridiculously thin at just 5mm, which, in conjunction with the the titanium case, make this watch incredibly lightweight and comfortable to wear. It features a quartz movement, and while many of us might prefer an automatic movement, one of those would drastically increase the thickness of this piece overall.

Available for $155 from Skagen.

4) Tisell: 38mm Bauhaus

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We’ve talked about Tisell before, but they bear mentioning again. Their 38mm Bauhaus features just about everything you could hope for at the price point:  a Miyota 9015 automatic movement, an anti-reflection inner coated sapphire crystal, and heat tempered blue hands. The design is simplistic, as one would expect, and features a versatile white dial with the date at 6-o’clock. While the 38mm size might be a bit smaller than you are used to, the shape of the lugs on this style will make it appear bigger on the wrist than most other 38mm watches.

Available for $195 from Tisell.

5) Junghans: Max Bill Chronoscope Black Dial

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Junghans produces some of the most unique and attractive Bauhaus watches out there, such as their Max Bill Chronoscope Black Dial. It features a modified ETA 7750 automatic movement—very much in line with this watch’s price—but the real selling point is the great design. It has a very large dial-to-case size ratio, which gives this watch a very futuristic appearance, and it also has high-quality lume on both the hands and the tiny pips at placed at 3, 6, 9, and 12 o’clock. While sapphire crystals are king, this mode features a plexiglass crystal with SICRALAN coating. This might not appeal to everyone, but there is a very substantial aesthetic different between these two types of crystals:  the style chosen for this model is much shinier and similar to its vintage brethren.

Available for $1,810 from Junghans.

Plus One – NEDSS: Bauhaus Automatic with Tritium

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NEDSS is a bit of an unknown entity, but their watch designs look great and the components used are of great quality for the price. The Bauhaus Automatic features a Miyota 9015 movement with a sapphire crystal, and while both those things are great, the true star of this watch are the tritium tubes. Rather than using luminescent material in this model, NEDSS has opted to use tubes filled with a smaller amount of tritium—a radioactive hydrogen isotope that emits light as it decays. Tritium’s half-life is well over ten years, but that isn’t indicative of how long these tubes will actually emit a substantial amount of light (as the amount of Tritium in each tube can vary). That said, this is a very unique piece that would make a great addition to most any collection.

Available for $259 from NEDSS.