SteinhartMicrobrand

Steinhart was founded in 2001 by Günter Steinhart, an engineer and watch enthusiast, and is based in Stadtbergen near Augsburg, Bavaria. From the start the company sold directly to customers rather than through retailers, a model that let it fit Swiss automatic movements, most often from ETA or Sellita and more recently Soprod, into watches positioned well below the established Swiss brands. It remains an owner-run business.

The catalogue draws openly on historical sport and tool watch designs. The Ocean One diver, the brand's best-known watch, follows the layout of the classic Submariner-style diver, and the Ocean series has since grown to include GMT and vintage-styled variants. The Nav B-Uhr line reproduces the proportions of the 55 mm observation watches worn by German aircrew in the 1940s, scaled down to 44 and 47 mm, while the Marine and Aviation ranges cover deck-watch and pilot's chronograph forms. Steinhart is usually described as a homage maker, and it does not claim otherwise.