Loading...So here is the celebration of “Schönstes deutsches Handwerk”, in translation I would say “the most beautiful German handwork”. And that is what these watches are about.
Moritz Grossmann is a known name among watchenthusiasts. A famous German watchmaker who was born in Dresden in 1826 and is known to have collaborated with A. Lange later on. His pocketwatches are rare, extremely beautiful and finished to the highest level. As he passed away early at the age of 59, his heritage was not passed on and his watchmanufacture was liquidated. It took a long time to find someone to continue the heritage which was done by Christine Hutter.
To mark Moritz Grossman’s tenth anniversary the independent watchmaker from Glashütte presents its fifth special model, the TEFNUT Pure High Art from the TEFNUT line. TEFNUT Pure High Art is a one-off piece that combines a chic contrasting canary yellow dial with a blackened stainless steel case.
I only started to pay real attention to Moritz Grossmann in 2017 when I attended an event in London although I had seen the watches a few times during Baselworld. The time was always very short during the Baselfair and also you have little time to really soak in the watches you see and touch. Generally, you have time to shoot a few photos and that is it, then it is time to move on to the next brand. Overall, Basel is cool, but stressful and you get home with a complete information overflow in your head about the watches you saw. So the London event at the Watchmakersclub was the first time where I spent a full evening talking with the UK agent about the brand, about the watches. I had plenty of time to put the watches on my wrist and try them out. Get a feel for them. Something any watchlover knows is the key to “success” meaning to fall for a watch. It was a time when the watches would not part from my head any more. So, I just attended the continuation of this event in 2018 and got to meet more people from Grossmann. So now let’s see where this may lead to…
Anyhow, let’s talk about the watch in “question”: In addition to its striking colour combination, the watch has an individual sporty character underlined by the artistically, hand-finished calibre 102.1 set in a steel case. The dominance of the bright yellow dial contrasts with the blackened case and the black leather wristband. On the dial, the Rhodium plated indexes and hands are polished for a high-gloss finish.
The TEFNUT model line is characterised by its particularly slim, flat case. Inside, the hand finished movement, polished gold chatons, wide Glashütte stripes, wheel train with polished bevels and hand-tempered screws in brown-violet can be admired through the crystal glass back of the watch. When combined, all these elements provide the calibre 102.1 its exquisite appearance.
So during the last event, I tried on the Tefnut in steel. With a grey two tone dial. And to my surprised, the watch sits so well on my wrist. I was really positively surprised. Back to the watch in “question”:
The Moritz Grossmann brand manufactures timepieces to the highest standard of craftsmanship under the tagline “Schönstes deutsches Handwerk” – “The most beautiful German craftsmanship.” The TEFNUT Pure High Art is offered with the calibre 102.1 in high artistic hand finish as a single edition 1 of 1. And this piece is the larger timepiece with 39mm in size. There is also a 36mm model as part of the TEFNUT line. For a lady, the 36mm watch is perfect. For a guy, I would prefer the 39mm watch.
Moritz Grossman is working on something very special. Details regarding purchase options for the TEFNUT Pure High Art will be published in the next month.
Technical data
Movement Manufacture calibre 102.1, manually wound, adjusted in five positions
No. of parts 188
No. of jewels 22, of which 3 in screwed gold chatons
Escapement Lever escapement
Oscillator Shock-resistant Grossmann balance with 4 inertia and 2 poising screws, Nivarox 1 balance spring
Balance Diameter: 10.0 mm, Frequency: 21,600 semi-oscillations per hour
Power reserve 48 hours when fully wound
Functions Hours and minutes
Operating elements Crown for winding the watch and setting the time
Case dimensions Diameter: 39.0 mm, height: 8.5 mm Movement dimensions Diameter: 26.0 mm, height: 3.5 mm
Case Three-part, in stainless steel black
Dial Brass, lacquered, hour markers stainless steel, rhodiumed
Hands Manually crafted, steel annealed to a brown-violet hue
Crystal and back Sapphire crystal, antireflective coating on one side
Strap Alligator strap with prong buckle in stainless steel black
Special features Shock-resistant balance with inertia and posing screws, impulse pin integrated in rim; flat balance spring; balance staff with integrated safety roller; index adjuster with Grossmann micrometer screw; plate movement with 3/5 plate, frame pillars and separately removable clutch winding mechanism; frame parts in untreated German silver; raised gold chatons with pan-head screw; remodified Glashütte stopwork with backlash; mainspring barrel with bilateral jewel bearings for optimized power management; ARCAP train wheels; proprietary escapement with 18-tooth escape wheel
Moritz Grossmann Uhren: Moritz Grossmann, born in Dresden in 1826, was deemed a visionary among Germany’s great horologists. In 1854, his friend Ferdinand Adolph Lange persuaded the young, highly talented watchmaker to establish his own mechanical workshop in Glashütte. Apart from building a respected watchmaking business, Grossmann was committed to political and social causes. He established the German School of Watchmaking in 1878. Moritz Grossmann passed away unexpectedly in 1885, after which his manufacture was liquidated.
The spirit of Moritz Grossmann’s horological traditions sprang back to life in 2008 when trained watchmaker Christine Hutter discovered the venerable Glashütte brand and had it re-registered. She developed concepts and was inspired by the vision of reviving Grossmann’s legacy more than 120 years later with a particularly exquisite wristwatch. And she convinced private watch enthusiasts to support her in making this dream come true. On 11 November 2008, she incorporated Grossmann Uhren GmbH in Glashütte.
At Grossmann, gifted watchmakers are preserving traditions without copying historic timepieces. With innovation, superb craftsmanship, a combination of traditional and contemporary manufacturing methods as well as precious materials, they celebrate “Schönstes deutsches Handwerk” with their watches.