The New Sternglas Zirkel X Proves The Circle’s Significance

It’s impressive to realize that Sternglas has been around for a decade. I first reviewed a Sternglas watch seven years ago, so I have followed the company for most of those years. Putting aside the realization that I am getting older fast, it’s been fun to see how the Hamburg-based brand has used Bauhaus design principles to create modern watches. To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Sternglas now releases the Zirkel X. This watch celebrates the circle as the brand’s core design element. It was also developed by taking the opinions of 5,000 Sternglas community members, or the “inner circle,” to heart. The result is a watch that looks very much like a Sternglas creation. A closer look, however, reveals some surprises that make the Zirkel X a fun release to celebrate the brand’s decade of success.

Besides Zirkel meaning “circle,” the word also means “drafting compass” in German. That context immediately gets us closer to the Bauhaus design fundamentals on which Sternglas was founded. One of those fundamentals is using circular shapes. In watchmaking, that is far from revolutionary, but the persistent use of round cases shows the brand’s dedication to that principle. It could have been easy and tempting to explore different shapes, but Sternglas’s steadfastness shows strong character. For the new Zirkel X, as with many previous releases, the recipe is straightforward yet purposeful. It takes the clean looks, functional properties, and balanced proportions that have defined Sternglas since its early days and proves they remain just as effective.

The details of the Sternglas Zirkel X

If you follow Sternglas, you’ll know this isn’t the first watch in the 10th-anniversary X series. I reviewed the Naos Automatik Edition Bauhaus X series back in June, which celebrated the brand’s first big hit. With the Zirkel X, the Sternglas decided to do something new.

As we learned, an active community of 5,000 members got to participate in the design process. Therefore, the Zirkel X is as much about celebrating the inner circle as it is about honoring the shape that played such a pivotal role in Sternglas’s success.

The new Sternglas Zirkel X has a 38mm stainless steel case with a 42mm lug-to-lug and a 10.5mm total thickness, making it look fairly modest. Despite that, the round case has plenty of wrist presence thanks to its polished finish. It also has a 20mm lug spacing and offers water resistance to 5 atm. Inside the case a domed silver dial featuring a vertically brushed finish. The texture adds nice detail to the composition and contrasts well with the polished case.

The dial of the Zirkel X is full of details

The dial features a black minute track with longer markers for every five minutes that also connect to the Arabic hour numerals. As a result, the larger indexes mark both hours and minutes. Located at 12 and 6 o’clock, you will find two sub-dials. The one at 12 o’clock displays the date, while the other one at 6 o’clock serves as a 24-hour indicator.

The two registers are slightly recessed into the dial, but they have the same vertically brushed finish as the rest. I love the horizontal branding between the 9- and 3-o’clock markers. It naturally fits the layout and creates a nice visual balance. The font for the text and numerals is the familiar Bauhaus style we know from Sternglas. Hovering over the dial are the lume-filled pencil-style hands, and the small hands in the registers follow a similar style.

Hiding behind the four-screw 10th-anniversary case back lies the Miyota 6P23 caliber. Offering a pointer date and 24-hour display, it runs within ±20 seconds per month and has a three-year battery life.

Wearing the Sternglas Zirkel X

The Zirkel X feels nicely familiar on the wrist. The 8mm-thin case sits comfortably there, with the double-domed sapphire crystal adding the rest of the thickness. Thanks to the slim bezel and large dial, the watch has a strong presence. I especially liked the texture, which sets the Zirkel X apart from Sternglas’s more common white-dial models. The two recessed registers also add nice depth. Kudos to Sternglas for making the watch look slightly more detailed and different from the usual releases.

Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy the waxed dark brown bridle leather strap with its light brown stitching and calfskin lining. It wasn’t as much about the stitching as the leather’s quality. It is a little too sturdy for my liking, so it requires substantial break-in time. Then again, you could always swap straps to give the watch a different look while making it more comfortable to wear.

Operating the caliber is easy. If you pull the crown out to the first position, you can adjust the date by turning it counterclockwise. If you pull it out to the second position, you can adjust the central hands, and both the date and the 24-hour indicator will move with them.

Final thoughts on the Sternglas Zirkel X

Overall, this new Sternglas Zirkel X is a fun quartz watch for people looking for an affordable daily wearer. The first 1,000 pieces of the Zirkel X will include a commemorative case back featuring each watch’s unique limited-edition number. After the first 1,000 units sell out, the watch will join the regular collection. The Sternglas Zirkel X is available now on the brand’s official website for €299 / US$399 / £279.

Given how popular Sternglas has become over the past decade, I don’t doubt that all 1,000 limited-edition pieces will find homes quickly. After that, the new Zirkel could easily become a staple of the Sternglas collection. It presents a different aesthetic and functionality than the successful Naos and Hamburg series. On top of that, it shows, in a broader context, that minimalism offers plenty of options for another successful decade of Sternglas watches.

This is a partnership post. Learn more.