I’ve reviewed all of Second Hour’s watches, so I thought I knew what to expect from them: diver’s style; exaggerated markers at 12, 4, and 8; and an ornate, textured dial. Then they went and whipped up the Sattleberg field watch, which maintains the brand’s identity while taking its design in a decidedly different direction.
The Sattleberg’s case measures 40mm wide, 47mm long, and just 10mm thick thanks, in part, to the slim Miyota 9015 inside (28.8k bph, 24 jewels, you all know the drill). Water resistance is 100m with a screw-down crown for security. That may be short of full-on diving specs, but it is precisely what you need for the potentially wet and messy outdoors.
Second Hour also equipped the watch with an AR-coated sapphire crystal and a surface hardened to 1200hv. That extra scratch resistance will come in handy if you use the watch in its element, or even if you just knock about the like I do. They offer the Sattleberg in blue, gray, and black dials as well as the white and PVD black “Beacon” model I borrowed for the review. All look great, but it’s hard to resist the siren song of a full lume dial.
The brand says they modeled the case after the Mandala, yet the Sattleberg appears less complex in comparison. Relatively simple it may be, but it is not unrefined. Polished chamfers on the upper and lower edges contrast with the brushed surfaces, making the watch appear even thinner than it is. Its signed, screw-down crown is appropriately prominent but not in the least oversized. A gentle arc from lug tip to lug tip makes it that much more comfortable to wear.
It certainly worked well for me. That low profile disappeared under buttoned shirt cuffs, and the compact dimensions fit neatly within the confines of my 6.75″ wrist.
Flipping the watch over, you’ll find information about the battle of Sattleberg, a key victory for Australian forces in World War Two. Aside from the 24-hour index, this is, arguably, the most overtly military aspect of the watch. While the Sattleberg’s overall design is undeniably that of a field watch, it is a very modern and, dare I say, far more stylish take on the genre.
It does not have the guillioché or multiple layers of the Mandala, but the Sattleberg is hardly lacking in detail. At first glance, you will see a familiar field watch layout with subtle additions like the crosshair and a pilot’s watch’s umlauted triangle at 12 o’clock. The remaining markers are a combination of narrow triangles and Arabic numbers backed by blocks. Upon closer inspection or just the right angle to your light source, you will be treated with the shadows and reflections produced by the Sattleberg’s impressively tall applied markers and its glossy, diamond-cut, black triangles and hands. A 6 o’clock date with a beveled frame helps maintain symmetry and gives the dial one additional dimension.
My press sample was full lume white with black markers, which, given its extreme contrast, produces a most dramatic effect. I would be curious to see how the light plays across the brushed blue, gray, and black dials. Second Hour always highlights the 12, 4, and 8 o’clock markers. Here, they accomplish this with a small pop of red.
I particularly like the Sattleberg’s handset. The large head, slim stem, and clipped tip combination is refreshing. I’d also note that the hands are lumed. That may seem like overkill on a lumed dial, and it might have looked cool had they been semi-skeletonized, but that would have required cutting an entirely different hand design for the lume than for the other color variants.
Speaking of lume…
Boom! That’s a whole plateful of Swiss BGW9 SuperLuminova coming at you. It performs exactly as I’d hoped. Full-lume dials can sometimes suffer from an uneven application, which becomes glaringly apparent when the lights go off. As you can see, that was not a problem here.
Second Hour provides two 20mm straps, and I am pleased that neither are nylon pass-throughs. Instead, they supply one in quality lightly padded and leather-lined canvas, and another in elastic fabric. Both are two-piece designs with quick-release pins. I like the way the red accents in the straps tie to those on the dial. I dislike that only the canvas strap has black hardware to match the case.
The Second Hour Sattleberg is a clean, solid design with styling details that creep up on you. I suspect it will appeal to those who may have found the brand’s previous watches too busy.
The watch is not yet available for order, but it will be on or about February 17, 2023, for $675 AU or $470 US at current exchange rates. For more information and to sign up for notices, visit secondhour.com.au.
