Our Production

We believe that your watch doesn't belong in the safe, but on your wrist. What is important to us? That it gives you pleasure for a long time. That's why we place great emphasis on quality at STERNGLAS - both in the design and in the choice of suitable materials. STERNGLAS is not a luxury brand; we don't want to be. Good design and quality that gives pleasure - at a fair price. That is STERNGLAS.

The creation of our timepieces actually begins on paper. Inspired by the philosophy, lines, language of form and timelessness of the Bauhaus movement of the 20th century, the ideas of each individual member of our small but experienced development team flow into the creation of a new model. Many, many sketches are created. We experiment with a wide range of materials, textures, colours and combinations and are getting closer and closer to the timepiece that meets our standards of aesthetics, quality and technical sophistication.

On the way to a new model, we experiment with a variety of materials, textures, colours and combinations. Thus, the development of a timepiece can take many months, if not years. It is not uncommon for us to go the extra mile and exceed industry standards until every component meets our standards. Where do we produce? Depending on the model, our individual parts come from the most renowned manufacturers in Germany, Switzerland, China or Japan. We choose our suppliers carefully and responsibly. What counts for us are technical expertise, a harmonious understanding of values and a long-term, partnership-based cooperation. We are pleased to have found partners throughout the world who share these values and work with us on the future of STERNGLAS.

For this reason, we regularly sit down with our local suppliers to chat about the latest developments, the state of materials research and production technologies. And we do this both with our master watchmakers from the assembly and development departments in Germany and with our parts suppliers from all over the world. This also includes our long-standing partner in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, in the Pearl River Delta near Hong Kong. Since the beginning of STERNGLAS, we have had a close, now friendly relationship. We grow and develop together and follow a similar understanding of values, for which we are very grateful. Social and environmental standards, for example, play a major role for both sides. In recent years, we have already been able to achieve some great successes. In addition to a TÜV Süd certified quality management system, our manufacturer in Asia is certified according to the world's leading social certification system SA8000. This guarantees safe and healthy working conditions, compliance with workers' rights and fair wages. We are also constantly working to reduce our ecological footprint. For example, we have developed custom-made trays made of biodegradable sugar cane waste for transport instead of using environmentally harmful polystyrene. Also, our product packaging is now plastic-free and the textile parts are made of 100% organic cotton. A great success.

As you can see, we take our responsibility seriously. Because good design is only good design if it is well designed - from the first idea to the finished timepiece on your wrist.

Would you like to learn more about your watch? We'd love to. To give you an idea of the components that make up our timepieces, here is a brief overview. Of course, this is only a general picture. Some timepieces are more complex, some more puristic. If you want to know more about your favourite model, you will find most of the information on the respective product page. Otherwise, you can contact us at any time. Our service team is in close contact with the developers and will be happy to provide you with technical support.

At the core: the watches' movement.

The movement is of elementary importance for the functionality, the design and any complications (the additional functions) of every STERNGLAS timepiece. We currently leave the development and assembly of the movements to two of the world's most renowned movement manufacturers, both of whom can boast decades of experience.

The heart of our quartz watches - our battery-powered timepieces - is a movement from the Swiss company Ronda. The traditional manufacturer stands for excellent and fair work as well as for particularly refined movements with the highest precision.

In our automatic watches - our mechanical watches that are driven solely by kinetic forces - on the other hand, movements from the Japanese manufacturer Miyota beat. In terms of precision and reliability, they are also considered to be on a par with Swiss movements and have an excellent international reputation. In addition, when choosing movements, we make sure that they are particularly low-maintenance. It can be nerve-racking and, above all, expensive to have your automatic watch serviced every few years. It is not uncommon for this to cost several hundred euros for well-known luxury manufacturers. We want to avoid that. However, if something should happen to your timepiece, we offer our own uncomplicated repair service.

Robust and valuable: our cases

Depending on the model, our cases consist of two or three basic parts: the base, the middle part of the case and the bezel. They all have one thing in common: they are made of stainless steel - to be precise, of high-quality 316L stainless steel in medical grade. To turn a block of steel into a resistant and attractive watch case, it undergoes a multi-step punching, milling and polishing process. Precision is particularly important here. Ultimately, the gaps should be as small as possible in order to meet our demands for water resistance. Since our timepieces are waterproof up to 20 ATM (equivalent to the pressure of 200m diving depth), we also install a large number of seals - on the crown, glass, pusher or back. After all, your timepiece should give you pleasure for a long time. 

Learning from mistakes: sapphire glass instead of mineral glass

At the beginning of STERNGLAS, we still equipped our timepieces with mineral glass - as is usual in our price category. However, feedback from the community quickly showed us that it did not meet our quality standards. The mineral glass quickly scratched or even broke. We reacted and have now been using sapphire crystal exclusively for several years - the third hardest transparent material in the world (after diamond and moissanite). As a watch glass, it is particularly characterised by its scratch resistance. It is made - as the name suggests - from a synthetic sapphire, which is produced from molten aluminium oxide. In the process, a small piece of sapphire is melted in a chamber at temperatures of up to 2050 degrees, so that it grows into a crystal bulb of approx. 30 to 40 mm in diameter and approx. 11 to 14 cm in length. This sapphire crystal is then cut into slices using diamond cutting discs. These small slices then go through a lengthy grinding and polishing process until finally transparent sapphire crystal slices with a shiny surface are created.

For a perfect view of the dial, we have gone one step further and established the complex construction of a double curvature as the trademark of our timepieces. Why? Well, for one thing, it looks good. For another, it minimises the optical distortion of the dial (magnifying glass effect) and makes it more resistant to pressure. In addition, we have provided each glass with a double anti-reflective coating. This ensures that reflections caused by the environment are significantly reduced. 

The character of a watch: the dial

The dial and hands are the face of a watch and are the first things that attract attention. Their interaction reflects the character of a brand and is an expression of the wearer's individuality. True to the Bauhaus style, STERNGLAS focuses on a minimalist dial design. The focus is on timekeeping, the essential function of a watch. The dials are made of high-quality brass, which is characterised by durability and strength. To create a finished dial from brass, we follow a method that has been tried and tested for decades. The base plate is first punched out of a sheet of brass. The surface is then primed and prepared for "printing". This is done using the tampon technique. The tampon is a soft, rounded cylinder. It is highly flexible and perfect for printing the fine indices, ornaments and inscriptions on uneven primers. It picks up the ink from the engraved depressions of the so-called "cliché" (a kind of stamp form) and transfers it with high precision to the dial surface. Finally, the dial is provided with small feet on the back, which serve to anchor it in the movement.

Setting the time: the hands

For our hands we work with brass or aluminium strip 0.1 to 0.15 mm thick. The hands are punched out with precision and a punching tool that is made for each hand shape. In a further step, a hole is "pulled" into the centre of the head of the hour and minute hands by a process called deep drawing. The metal is stretched so that a guide tube - the so-called lining - is created, which later serves to hold the hand on the movement. This is worked in such a way that the hands run exactly parallel to the dial. Depending on the material, the same is done for the second hand, or a bushing is riveted on and fastened as the uppermost support. The hands are then ready for finishing. Here, too, extreme precision is necessary. The lacquer must be applied and the retaining holes cleared in such a way that tolerances in the range of tenths of a millimetre are maintained. To ensure that this is possible, checks are carried out during the entire process and after each work step. Only when each pointer meets the specifications is it cut out by hand, sanded down and prepared for assembly.

Our leather straps

The majority of our leather bracelets come from German manufactories in the Bavarian Forest. These are family businesses that are among the last of their kind. The necessary calf and cow leather comes from carefully selected German and Italian farms. In order to preserve the natural feel, we work primarily with tanned rather than varnished tapes. These are given the desired colour through a complex tanning process with various influencing factors such as water hardness and outside temperature. The guarantee for the consistently high quality is due to the high level of expertise and years of experience - in some cases over thirty years - of the manufacture's employees. Each bracelet is unique, which is what tanning entails.  You will notice that we only use the best quality here, too, so that your STERNGLAS timepiece feels good on your wrist. 

The quick-change system for more individuality

Our team at STERNGLAS likes something special. That's why we have equipped our watches with a quick-change system that allows you to change the strap of your timepiece in just a few seconds - without time-consuming visits to the watchmaker. Thanks to our large selection of different straps, you can adapt your watch to your chosen look at any time. 

Quality control down to the last detail

After a long process, the case parts have been assembled and the bracelets have been produced in numerous colours. Both are now packed and sent to STERNGLAS in Hamburg, from where they find their way to you. Here, we assemble the case and bracelet for you to create a fully-fledged STERNGLAS timepiece. During this process, each watch undergoes the last and final quality check. We check whether the case is perfectly finished, the sapphire crystals are flawless and the bracelet meets our quality standards. Only when we can tick off all these points with a clear conscience do we carefully pack your timepiece and send it on its way to you.