BY DHANANJAY PATHAK
Moritz Grossmann might not be a very popular name in the luxury watch market, but, surprisingly, it does have both history and technical prowess that make it a capable contender amidst its peers. Last year the German brand introduced, the Hamatic, a classic looking watch driven by a new self-winding movement that uses an unconventional and unique hammer mechanism to power the watch. For 2020, the Hamatic family is being expanded with a new member, the Moritz Grossmann Hamatic Vintage. This new watch features a shiny black dial that uses the brands vintage logo to pay a tribute to historic Moritz Grossmann references.
The dial on the new Hamatic Vintage has been presented in an inky black color that provides the perfect backdrop for the high contrast white Roman numerals. To create this deep shade of black, the dial surface is first painted in a black-anthracite color. The mirror-polished background is then treated with a finish called ‘black or’ to create a shiny black surface. The minutes have been rendered using a railroad-style track on the outer periphery, whereas the running seconds have been displayed using a large sub-dial at 6. The sub-dial once again features a white printed track and has also been recessed to give the dial a nice sense of depth. Positioned underneath twelve is a vintage Moritz Grossmann logo that was used on the brand’s pocket watches from the past. Reading time on this watch is made possible using the lovely polished steel Lance shaped hands, a signature design element seen on all Moritz Grossmann watches.
While the face of the Hamatic vintage is clean and legible, the view from the sapphire exhibition case back at the rear is, simply put fascinating. Right off the bat, you can tell that the fully in-house Caliber 106.0, does not look like anything else out there, which is mainly due to the automatic-hammer mechanism. While a normal rotor rotates a complete 360 degree, obstructing some parts of the movement, the open-worked hammer assembly makes smaller oscillation whilst allowing the wearer to enjoy an expansive view of the movement. The hammer-style pendulum assembly swings in both directions and can power up the mainspring for almost 72 hours of usage. In addition to the automatic winding mechanism, the movement can also be wound by hand. The movement has been tastefully decorated using horizontal Glashütte ribbing, double-band snailing on the mainspring barrel, gold chatons, and purple screws to name a few.
The case on the Hamatic Vintage is crafted from solid white gold and measures a modest 41mm in diameter and has a thickness of around 11.35. As the dimensions suggest the watch should be able to sit comfortably on a wide variety of wrists and slide easily under the cuffs, which is an important trait of a dress watch.
The Moritz Grossmann Hamatic Vintage is limited to just 25 pieces and comes attached to a black alligator strap. The price of the watch has not been revealed yet, so, we will update this space once we have the relevant information.
Visit Moritz Grossmann here.
