My Watch: the Enduring Simplicity of the Stowa Antea KS, and Why I Won’t Flip Mine Anytime Soon

When I first got into collecting watches, I was initially drawn to the sportier sort—primarily rugged tool divers and chronographs (one of my first big purchases was a Sinn 756, which I wrote about here). It wasn’t until much later that I began to appreciate simpler, dressier options. When I did, I realized rather quickly that finding a contemporary dress watch (I didn’t have the courage to take the plunge into vintage just yet) that ticked all my boxes—and on a budget, no less—was a surprisingly difficult task.

For me, there’s very little leeway when it comes to a dress watch. All the individual elements of the design have to be just right for the whole thing to work, because even the smallest off-putting detail can throw the entire design out of whack. And what I came across was mostly that—watches that were almost there, but ultimately ruined by an extra couple of millimeters or a misplaced date window.Enter the Stowa Antea Kleine Sekunde. When I first learned of this watch, I was already a fan of Stowa. From what I read on numerous forums, it was a beloved brand that punched well above its weight class. And as a fan of pilot’s watches, I had my eye on several of the Flieger models, but I never really looked much past that collection. With my hunt for a dress watch, I landed on the Antea range.

First, let’s get some background on the Antea. The Bauhaus design of the line dates back to the ‘30s and is, in fact, not unique to Stowa (fans of the Nomos Tangente series can attest to that). In 1937, A. Lange & Söhne (then called Lange Glashütte s/a) issued an early variant of the design. Lange’s dials were manufactured by Pforzheim’s Weber & Baral, which sold to numerous other brands, among them Stowa. According to Stowa’s history, they produced a similar watch in 1937. Records from the era show that Lange and Stowa were the first and third, respectively, to buy these dials from Weber & Baral, and an early prototype exists today in Stowa’s museum. In 2004, Jörg Schauer tapped into the brand’s history to bring us the Antea reissue. Though available in numerous setups, my favorite is without a doubt the Antea KS, or small seconds, a watch that in my mind transcends all trends.

This is a watch I reviewed for worn&wound way back in 2013. The piece in question is from my personal collection, where it remains today. Being that I already did an extensive break down of the watch, I won’t get into any of the real nitty gritty here. No point in rehashing the same thoughts. What I will do, however, is discuss my ownership experience and why this watch won’t be leaving my collection anytime soon.

This past year I came into possession of a Nomos Orion, a watch that I had been lusting after for quite some time now. It saw a lot of wrist time in 2016, partly due to the fact that I was still enjoying the honeymoon phase of owning a new watch, but more so because it’s just such an easy watch to wear. As I’ve become less manic in my collecting, I have noticed that my tastes have refined toward a preference for simplicity. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my collection of Sinn chronographs and Seiko divers, but I find myself wearing smaller, thinner dress watches more often nowadays. Why? Because they’re unassuming and rarely draw attention. They’re easy to wear and slide right under a shirt cuff (an overused point of praise, I know, but one that’s very true). And frankly, there’s just a level of elegance offered by a nice dress watch that cannot be matched by its sportier brethren. What do I do when I plan on doing something physical? My Casio G-Shock is always ready to report for duty.

With the Orion planted on my wrist, I began considering flipping the Antea KS. The collection had once again ballooned quite a bit, and here I was with a new watch, and one that was not all too dissimilar from the Antea. I’ll tell you this; I came very close to selling it. But here’s why I didn’t.

The Antea is not like the Orion, despite what I wrote above. It has a harder quality—one that ties the watch directly to its early-20^th century Bauhaus roots—whereas the Orion feels more like a modern creation. From the typography to the cylindrical case and angular lugs, the Antea also boasts an aesthetic that few other watches (and brands) can authentically claim today. The best comparison that I can offer is what dive-watch collectors fixate on when it comes to the nuances of different Submariner references. To the layperson, they’re all largely the same, but the devil is in the details for those in the know. For myself, the Orion complements the Antea; it doesn’t replace it.

Now, the question I get asked most is, “how does the Antea compare to the Nomos Tangente?” It’s an unavoidable question with the two watches sharing an obvious and common heritage. That said, I do feel the intent underlying that question is one that attempts to reconcile the notion that the Antea may somehow be a compromise of sorts. In essence, “is the Antea a lesser watch?” Here’s my answer: Not to me, but it all depends on your priorities.

If an in-house movement is critical to your selection process, then the choice is clear. For me, however, the Peseux 7001 is a solid movement and paying more to get a Tangente with an Alpha caliber simply doesn’t add up, especially if you’re working within a budget. Plus, the Alpha movement, though undeniably great, is based largely on the architecture of the 7001. You’re not breaking new ground here.

Furthermore, when you compare the overall quality of the two watches, it’s almost impossible to say that one feels more substantial or better finished than the other. Both have high-quality printed dials, and both watches have rather simple cases in terms of construction and finishing, so there’s no real point of differentiation there. All that aside, I do prefer the dial design of the Antea KS with its uninterrupted Arabic hours index, whereas the Tangente’s dial design alternates between numbers and hash marks.

I’ve flipped a lot of watches since I began collecting, but the Antea has been one of the few constants in my watch box. In fact, it’s sitting on my wrist as I write this, and when I’m not wearing it, it’s often on the wrist of my better half (yeah, she steals a lot of my watches). I’m going to enjoy wearing this one for years to come.