NAOS Automatic black-red silver / Premium 20 brown

Brown leather against a black dial is a quieter contrast than black on black, and a more interesting one. The strap admits it is a separate object.

Sternglas is a Hamburg design house founded in 2016, and the NAOS is the model that made it. The line is the purest version of the brand's Bauhaus-inspired approach: geometric discipline, unadorned sans-serif type, a dial cleared of anything decorative. The Automatik adds a self-winding movement to that formula without adding ornament.

The dial here is black with a red accent, set in a 38 mm 316L stainless steel case with a silver-tone finish, riding on the Premium leather strap in brown at 20 mm lug width. Power comes from a Miyota 8215 automatic beating at 21,600 vibrations per hour, good for 42 hours off the wrist, with hand-winding, hacking seconds and a date. The exhibition caseback is secured by six screws; the crystal is double-domed sapphire with double anti-reflective coating. Rated to 5 bar.

It works with denim as readily as with a jacket, which is more than most black dials manage.

Perfect for: brown strap and black dial combinations, casual automatic watches, mechanical watch gifts.