Hands-on with the Moritz Grossmann Tefnut (live photos, specs & price)

When it comes to German Watchmaking, you probably have two main ideas in mind. The first one is military watches. The second one is something we love more here at Monochrome-Watches: classical high-end watches. Germany has a long tradition of creating timing instruments, especially in the city of Glashütte, with names like A. Lange & Sohne, Nomos or Glashütte Original. A fourth manufacture exists though – and not the worst one to be true. Here is their latest creation, the Moritz Grossmann Tefnut.

It seems that German watchmakers have something with the discreet elegance of an underrated timepiece that hides a superbly finished movement in its case. Whether it’s a Lange 1 or a Senator Chronometer, watches produced in the small village of Glashütte are sharing first a unique sense of design but also a love for the beautiful mechanics. Another manufacture is also part of the gang, Moritz Grossmann. Their watches all have a sleek, discreet elegance with a very traditional movements cased inside. Their new creation partially (but not fully) renewed the concept of the brand with a smaller and thinner design.

Other watches from Moritz Grossmann are clearly inspired by precision instruments and marine chronometers, meaning that the cases are angular and the diameters / heights imposing, with a deliberate focus on the elementary purpose of the watch: measuring time. Without losing its roots, Moritz Grossmann slightly changes the concept with the Tefnut by proposing a rounder and slimmer watch. When the other watches from Grossmann are intentionally rigid, this Tefnut plays on the classical codes of dress watches. The gold case (available in 18k rose gold or in 18k white gold) indeed measures a reasonable 39mm in diameter and a slim 8.5mm. Considering the rounded shape, the tapered lugs and the slightly cambered sapphire-crystal, the profile of the Moritz Grossmann Tefnut is extremely discreet: a watch that can easily be worn with a suit and hidden under cuffs.

The dial also follows this same idea, with a sleek design and only the essential features: hours and minutes. This is not a boring dial though, with a two-step construction, cambered and tapered applied gold indexes matching the case. Two large Arabic numerals can be found at 12 and 6, with an original font. This solid silver dial is different on each edition of the Tefnut. The rose gold edition comes with a finely grained silvery tone dial while the white gold edition has a charcoal coloured dial with pinstripes on the central part, giving two distinct identities to a same watch. The hands are also a pleasure to look at. Manually crafted from stainless steel, they are then fully polished. Their shape is also highly elegant and thin.

While the case, dial and hands are coming with a subtle (not to say very classical and discreet) design, the movement is much more impressive, even if typical from the German school of watchmaking. Technically speaking, the Calibre 102.0 is a rather small (26mm diameter) and thin movement, with only 4mm height. It features a large mainspring barrel suspended between bearings on both sides (reducing the frictions and improving the rate accuracy). It boasts 48 hours of power reserve. Moritz Grossmann also features in this new movement its own escapement and balance wheel. The escapement wheel features 18 teeth – something inspired by the researches of Moritz Grossmann during the 19th century. The balance wheel has a distinct shape and 4 inertia and 2 poising screws (to fine-tune the frequency). Finally, it comes with the usual index adjuster of the brand that allows to quickly correct the daily rate without jeopardizing the integrity of the balance.

Apart from being technically impressive, this movement also features a superb design and finishes. Everything starts from its classic pillar construction, meaning that the 3/5 bridge on the top and the main plate are flat and that the technical elements are hold in the middle by screws and bearings and not inserted in recessed parts (like in actual movements). The two plates are linked together by several large pillars. Both plates are made in untreated German silver (with this typical warm colour). The 3/5 plate is adorned with large Glashütte stripes and chamfered. It also features 3 massive screwed and raised chatons. Finally, the balance bridge, the escapement bridge and the second wheel bridge are engraved in the traditional German style. The raw frosted finish of the main plate is deliberately in contrast with the rest of the movement.

The Moritz Grossmann Tefnut is a visually discreet and elegant watch that needs to be observed by trained and passionate eyes. Nothing from its case or dial is made to show off, however the movement is a superb piece of classical watchmaking. We have here a very egoistic watch, as only the wearer knows what hidden behind the dial.

The Moritz Grossmann Tefnut is priced at 22.400 Euros in rose gold and 24.400 Euros in white gold. More details on www.grossmann-uhren.com.