1973 – Digital Automatic

We are in the age of the quartz crisis, which lasted from about 1970 to the mid-1980s and had led to the almost complete displacement of mechanical watches, by then novel electronic watches with quartz technology. Around 1970, mechanical "digital watches" were developed in response to electronic digital watches. This development is also reflected in the design of the STOWA Digital Automatic, which was created around 1973. Since the mechanical watches were very high and costly, among other things, because of the "digital design", they could not prevail. Disc watches were fully in vogue, preferably in combination with the largest possible case.

1950s - Parat Pointer Date

The 1950s - a decade that produced many beautiful watches. The "German watch cooperation Parat" was an association of the companies STOWA, Osco, Arctos, Para and Berg and was founded in 1949. Under this cooperation, the model was created in a period between 1949 - 1953. It is in a chrome case and bears hands covered with luminous material. Inside ticks a handwound movement cal. Osco 42 (CLD) with 15 jewels. The original retail price was 52 DM at that time.

1965 – Chrono

The 1960s. Simple classics. A chronograph (ancient Greek literally for "time recorder") is an analog wristwatch with the additional functionality of a stopwatch. In the sixties, the dials were very reduced. This was implemented not only in normal three-hand watches, but of course also in the chronographs of the time.

1940s – Flieger Baumuster „A“

In the history of watch development, it turned out that the elegant gesture of pulling the watch out of the pocket was not practical in every situation. For example, when flying an airplane, it was necessary to be able to use both hands and look at the watch at the same time. The first pilot's watch was born. Its popularity has to do with its distinctive design and this, in turn, with its eventful history. The focus was on minimalistic design through simple but very legible typography on the dial and best legibility, even in low light conditions. STOWA was one of the few pilot watch manufacturers to build these watches. Thanks to their enormous recognition value, they still enjoy great popularity today.

1940s – Sport

A characteristic military-inspired timepiece.
The military seal of approval was a guarantee of quality and precision. These were used for timing troop movements. Although they had the required precision, they first had to be converted from pocket watches to wristwatches so that soldiers could read them quickly and easily.

1973 – Table Clock Digital

The 1970s had a lot to offer: A few beautiful watch models were produced as well.

Right: Table Clock Digital
In the beginning, table clocks were only common in monasteries to indicate prayers or were used by the doorman to strike the bells at the exact time. Later, they were often used on desks in offices. The diagonally arranged dial served for better readability.

Left: Memo-Time Parking Watch
The rise of new technologies was intended to make life easier and more convenient. Convenience was the order of the day, even when it came to watches. The 60-minute timer was advertised as useful for a variety of situations, even beyond feeding the parking meter on time. It could be used for appointments, conferences, and for all kinds of timekeeping in the home. It entered the watch market in 1959.

1968 – Big Eye Chronograph

The pandal look chronograph from the late 60s, early 70s - a rare beauty!
At 39 mm x 45 mm, the case is larger than usual at the time.
Included: Valjoux 7733 movement (which was introduced in 1969) with sliding block start, stop and zero functions. With matte black dial and the red "Regatta" markers on the chronograph, minute sub-dial and tritium indexes and white oversized or "Big Eyes" dials.

1930s – Pocket Watch

Watches were relatively large at the time and for this reason were often kept on chains in the vest pocket. They were also far from having reached the masses of the population, but adorned aristocrats as costly luxury items. In the 15th century, the balance wheel and, above all, the hairspring were finally created, enabling the construction of more precise and, above all, smaller watches.
Blued steel hands turn in front of the emphatically businesslike dial with railroad minute track. The 16½-ligne hand-wound movement with a height of 4.5 millimeters was made by the Swiss manufacturer Unitas. It bears the caliber designation 285.

1920–1930

1920-1930. Art deco typography. The first metal dials are created. Luminous color.
In the 1920s, the beginning of metal dials at Weber & Baral, many dials with curved numbers are designed and produced. These playful numbers are often covered with luminous paint. At that time, the components of the luminous material were still radioactive, but this was not enough to pose a health hazard for a single dial or even for hands (at least today!). At the beginning of the 90's, with the beginning of the watch boom and the beginning of a large collecting passion of watch lovers, this phenomenon is discussed and examined again and again.
A first large dial order to the company Weber & Baral were dials for the so-called children's watches. Until then, these watches had a printed paper dial and were sold as toys (for children to learn the time). One day, the company received a large order from a foreign customer. However, he wanted real hands to turn on the clock. This made the children's watches more realistic. To meet this requirement, metal dials were then developed and produced by Weber & Baral for the first time.

1940–1950

1940-1950. precision. Dials for military watches. Technical and functional.
The requirements for functional wrist and pocket watches for the military determine the production of Weber & Baral from about 1940. Dials for service watches, as well as the well-known large pilot watches are produced for all renowned watch brands: Lange & Söhne, Wempe, IWC, Laco and STOWA.
After the war, there are hardly any machines left and in order to be able to produce anything at all, one makes a virtue out of necessity. With the know-how from the dial design, one develops a series of jewelry pendants made of silver, which one can sell very successfully and in large numbers. The desire of customers for something "decorative" is great after the war. Many lost everything during the war. The beginning of a functioning production is made again, many employees can continue to earn their living at Weber & Baral. At the beginning, wages were paid in two ways, one in cash (which could not be used to buy many daily necessities due to lack of availability) and the other in commodities, which was an important reason for many to work for the company. Good contacts and personal commitment made it possible for Arthur Weber to organize natural goods as part of the wages again and again.
At the end of the 1940s, the company produced, among other things, a series of
STOWA watches, the so-called Armee Francaise, about 2000 dials.
The watches from this are a reparation payment to France.

1960–1970

1960-1970. Diamondizing. Simple and plain dials with lines.
A second era of simplicity or simple design begins. While in the 1930s there were straight-line numbers and scales (in the so-called Bauhaus style), now, from a design point of view, it is reduced even further. Many dials now have only a few lines to divide the time. Diamondizing comes into fashion. A diamond tool is used to diamond a line or fantasy pattern into the metal dial. Technical explanation: If you polish the diamond cutting edge of a tool (e.g. an engraver's graver or lathe chisel), this tool, if used correctly, will make a highly polished cut. The resulting gloss level can hardly be produced by any other method and diamond cut surfaces do not require any further polishing - they are absolutely perfect!
Even today, people still like to use this method, especially for curved dials. Exactly at the curve of the dial the diamond cut is made, thus it has optically a depth and width. If the basic material of the dial is galvanically refined beforehand, you get a two-tone dial as a result.

1980–1990

1980-1990. Replaceable. Nothing new.
The 1980s are characterized by electronic (quartz) watches. The watch industry - especially the mechanical sector - has problems. The dial industry in Pforzheim makes many inexpensive dials for local watch companies, but also still for worldwide export. A lot of it comes down to price. There are still no brands that think about, execute and protect individual and independent designs.
Goldstadt Pforzheim continues to successfully produce gold cases and gold bracelets and sells them worldwide. The dials that are used are generated from all possible epochs. It is more or less recycled from the fund of the last decades.
Meanwhile, embossed dials with e.g. guilloche or fabric patterns are technically perfected and one tries to imitate very high quality dials (a real guilloche dial can cost up to several thousand Euros). The steel engraver as a profession is the true artist in dial making at this time. For days at a time, he engraves these patterns into the Pfaff - which is the positive mold of a press tool. Then this Pfaff is stamped into the die - negative form of the pressing tool. After that, it is possible to emboss large numbers of pieces very quickly and affordably, which have a finished surface.