BERLIN Automatic midnight blue silver / Heritage 20 black

Two dark tones, one watch. The BERLIN Automatik in midnight blue on black leather is about as quiet as a watch gets before it stops being interesting.

The line is Sternglas's tribute to the 1846 rail link between Hamburg and Berlin. Its caseback engraving shows the Berliner Bahnhof, the Hamburg terminus that served that route from 1857 until 1903 — the only real ornament on a watch otherwise drawn to Bauhaus rules of reduction and contrast.

In this configuration the midnight blue dial is held in a 316L stainless steel case of 38 mm, with silver-tone hands, a date display and an automatic movement. Double-domed sapphire with anti-reflective coating on both faces sits above the dial; 5 bar of water resistance sits behind it. The black Heritage strap is 4 mm cowhide with alligator embossing, 20 mm at the lugs, on a quick-change fitting.

Read it as a business watch that does not want to be looked at too closely, which is usually the highest compliment.

Perfect for: understated business watches, black strap automatics, 38 mm watches for slim wrists.