In 1935, the square in front of a newly built fire station in Glashütte was renamed Moritz-Grossmann-Platz. That's how the city's officials decided to commemorate one of the clockmakers who put the Saxon city on the map in what is now Germany's watchmaking hub. A. Lange & Söhne, Glashütte Original and Nomos Glashütte are all located in and around this area.
In 2008, a Glashütte-based firm was named after Moritz Grossmann (1826-1885). The first Benu watch model was introduced two years later. In 2013, all the Moritz Grossmann workshops were brought under one roof. The company has since unveiled a whole range of models with an interesting new take on historic watch mechanics.
The caliber 106.0 housed in the Hamatic Vintage models is one such example. Instead of the rotor we're familiar with today, this movement uses a pendulum-style swinging hammer reminiscent of Abraham-Louis Breguet's Perpétuelle self-winding system, which was an improved version of the first self-winding mechanism invented by Abraham-Louis Perrelet.
The watchmakers at Moritz Grossmann preserved the hammer shape but improved the movement's architecture, transforming the construction into a piece which straddles the line between a historical recreation and an ultramodern movement.
Like other premium movements from Glashütte, it’s worth highlighting the finishing this pillar movement was given, which features a 2/3 Grossmann plate with six Glashütte stripes. It has a 72-hour power reserve and is equipped with a stop-seconds system to ensure accurate time-setting.
The dial's finishing makes the new limited eight-piece series stand out from previous Hamatic versions. It's another tribute paid to glorious traditions. The first step to create the dial is to clean the blank thoroughly.
After that, it's engraved with Roman numerals and a minute track, which are filled with black lacquer and baked in a kiln, and only then does the magic begin.
The blank dial surface is rubbed with a paste mixture comprised of silver powder, salt and potassium bitartrate, or cream of tartar. This is done by hand to ensure the surface remains granular.
M. Grossmann is inscribed under the super-thin poiré-shaped hands in the historic font dating back to 1875, while the actual dial design has been borrowed from the pocket watches made by Grossmann. The Hamatic Vintage model comes in two versions — one in rose gold and a second in white gold.