Horologically Happy

To ardent lovers of watches, the quaint German town of Glashütte is as much a synonym for exceptional ticking objects, as Switzerland’s Geneva or the Vallee de Joux is. From the most distinguished luxury makers such as A. Lange & Sohne or Glashutte Original, to plucky younger brands like Nomos, German luxury watchmaking has a passion and character all its own from its southern neighbor, and nearly all…are from Glashütte. The roots run deep, back to the 1840s, when the government of Saxony granted Ferdinand A. Lange a loan to establish a robust watch and clock making industry within the town, which hitherto had been best known as a center for the mining of silver. The rest was a steady progress of history, with illustrious names such as Julius Assmann, Alfred Hellwig (inventor of the so-called “flying” or cantilevered tourbillon), Gustav Rohde, and Ludwig Strasse defining the quality output that would put Glashütte on the map–and into its present state of glory.

As founder and director of the Glashütte School of Watchmaking during the 19th century, Carl Moritz Grossman was another of the great horological minds who helped create the dynasty we now take as granted, and the watches carrying his name today are some of the finest you’ll see. With production at well under five hundred pieces per year, it’s safe to say that these watches will remain a genuine rarity, yet a look at the Moritz Grossmann online catalogue–or even better, a few of their exceptional watches in person–is well worth it! One will definitely see all the things we’ve come to love from the great German manufacturers, with the absolute passion for attention to detail in finishing and mechanical brilliance that sets the very finest watches apart from well, everything else. Think A. Lange & Sohne in terms of passion and execution, but with a different aesthetic and concept, and an even more limited level of production.

The catalog is impressively diverse, and exploring the website can keep one occupied for some time. (In a very welcome touch, the company is extremely forthright about the technical aspects of their watches, and the details behind their movement engineering, as well as the artistry in finishing them.) Probably the single product line which speaks most to me, and really captures the brand’s winning combination of innovation and art is the Hamatic series, which presents a beautiful and very unusual implementation of the automatic winding mechanism. Unlike the typical centrally mounted rotor, or somewhat less common micro-rotor, both of which spin in a circular fashion to wind the watch either unidirectionally or bidirectionally, the Grossmann Hamatic’s 106.0 Caliber brings to bear a pendulum style winding weight which pivots to and fro to harness the energy imparted by wrist movement. Not only is this mechanism efficient and low in unnecessary friction due to the way is mounted and transmits energy, it results in an excitingly clear, three-dimensional view of the movement in which the automatic system becomes an exciting part of the underlying mechanics it powers, rather than a visual impediment. The movement is Teutonic in the extreme, excitingly so: bridges exude antique charm in the warmly hued alloy of German silver, jewel settings gleam with screwed gold chatons, and flawlessly beveled and polished steel components, along with hand-executed engravings of brand and jewel count hint to just how much individual attention each watch gets from the dedicated team at Moritz Grossmann. As with all calibers manufactured by Grossmann, each is assembled twice–first to test the functions before decoration and finishing is completed, and then a second time after this process, at which point in a time a thirty day test of precision is carried out on the assembled watch.

Speaking of the dedicated artistry behind such watches, its worth taking a moment to reflect on the dials of the Grossmann watches, which are really a joy of their own–and really, isn’t it the dial of the watch that we look at most of the time? (Well, ok…some of us probably really do spend more time looking through exhibition casebacks.) Still, a watch has to charm us in the way it tells the time, and the team at Moritz Grossmann clearly understand that. Wrought from solid silver, or given complex finishing such as the so called friction plating technique whereby a paste of silver powder is meticulously rubbed into the dial base to create a delicate frosted texture, austerity and dignified beauty is the impression. But the shapely, almost unbelievably thin waisted hands are the real star of the show, being crafted from steel or gold according to the aesthetics of the watch in question, and faceted and chamfered with the utmost precision; a special, and exacting treatment by flame takes many of the steel variants not to the more expected cornflower blue color, but a rich brown or violet-brown hue that is unique to the already exquisite Grossmann handsets, as well as the various screws in each movement the company makes, as seen in the photo just above. Typical Glashütte character in the best way, and a real delight!