The colour blue is one that is close to our hearts, with its use throughout art and literature lending it a special appeal. And now, limited watch editions from Moritz Grossmann shine a light on the pure beauty of blue: this coveted shade plays a key role on the dials of two exceptional pieces, namely the TOURBILLON Tremblage Royal Blue in rose gold and white gold. And blue is also the central focal point on the PRIMAVERA Classic Blue, which is limited to ten pieces. These special models are being released to mark the tenth anniversary of SwissPrimeBrands in Taipei, a Moritz Grossmann partner.
A radiant sky, deep water and fragrant flowers – the colour blue has many nuances and can take on various forms of expression. It is always associated with something particularly beautiful and impressive, which is how it got its name: ‘blue’ is derived from the Old High German world ‘blao’, meaning shimmering and lustrous.
The unique radiance of blue is what drew artists and scholars to take a special interest in this colour. Leonardo da Vinci described it as ‘immaterial’, not a colour of the air, but a blend of sunlight with the ‘blackness of space’. To people in the Middle Ages, blue was the colour of the sky, God and angels. And in the late Romantic era, the German poet Eduard Mörike wrote the oft-quoted line, the ‘blue ribbon’ of spring.
These are the inspirations that are brought to mind by anyone who catches a glimpse of the new watches by Moritz Grossmann. You can lose yourself in the blue of the dials, trace the soft shimmer of the surface and marvel at the subtle texture of the hand engraving.
Royal blue for the TOURBILLON Tremblage Royal Blue
‘Royal Blue’ is the shade that Moritz Grossmann opted to combine with one of the most sophisticated of complications, the Tourbillon. The TOURBILLON Tremblage Royal Blue is available in two unique variants, a case in either rose gold or white gold. It celebrates the tenth anniversary of SwissPrimeBrands in Taipei. The corporate colour of this Moritz Grossmann partner is blue, thus making this colour the perfect inspiration.
TOURBILLON Tremblage in Rose gold & White gold
On these fine timepieces, the fascinating mechanical complication of the Tourbillon competes with the brilliance of the dial’s surface, which is finished by hand and revives a historical technique in the form of the tremblage. This is engraved by hand using a variety of burins: the tools are moved across the metal in a trembling motion, which is also where the name comes from, with the French ‘tremblant’ meaning ‘to tremble’ in English.
The challenge lies in achieving an even look, creating an effect which is both rough and matt alike. And it has been mastered to stunning perfection on the inner dial of the TOURBILLON Tremblage Royal Blue model: the tremblage surface dampens the incident light and is framed by the matt blue outer ring of the dial. The colour is created in the final galvanisation of the dial, just one of numerous such steps in the work process. After all, working on a dial involves several days’ work, from the engraving and finish to the printing.
The presentation of time
At the heart of the TOURBILLON Tremblage Royal Blue is the tourbillon, which is flanked by the off-centre hour display at 3 o’clock and a second display at 9 o’clock. On the rose gold variant, the hands are handcrafted from 750/000 gold and on the white gold variant, they are made from polished steel. Their shapes hint at their function: the small second hand is more delicate, while the hour hand is stouter in design. This guarantees reliable time reading.
The fine tip of the minute hand sweeps past the minute scale around the dial’s outer perimeter. As the minute display is interrupted by the aperture for the tourbillon in the lower half of the dial, the minute hand has been extended beyond the centre. This counterpart now precisely presents minutes 25 to 35 on a scale. This twofold minute display is likewise a special Moritz Grossmann feature and is patented.
With its Arabic numerals in white and the very delicately tapered hands crafted at the company’s own manufactory, the TOURBILLON Tremblage Royal Blue showcases the clear aesthetics of the Glashütte precision measuring instruments of the 19th century.
TOURBILLON Tremblage Royal Blue with the hand-wound calibre 103.0
Such details are also reflected in the movement of the TOURBILLON Tremblage Royal Blue, namely the hand-wound calibre 103.0. It bears the distinctive signature of Moritz Grossmann and captivates because of the unusually large flying tourbillon. Whereas traditional tourbillons generally turn on their axis once a minute, the Moritz Grossmann construction takes a full three minutes to perform a rotation. Other features include the filigree cage top resting on just two pillars and the characteristic V-shaped balance bridge, which is protected as a registered design.
The cage’s elaborate design with two triangular pillars is the prerequisite for another special construction feature. According to the Grossmann watchmakers’ understanding, the precise mechanics of a tourbillon first call for exact time setting. To halt the balance uninterrupted, this stop device needs to avoid the frame pillars. An elastic brush made of human hair can easily glide past the triangular pillar and gently slow the balance down at the rim perimeter. The patented stop solution rounds out the ingenious mechanism in keeping with a Grossmann precision timepiece.
The pinnacle of ‘schönstes deutsches Handwerk’: PRIMAVERA Classic Blue
The watch line PRIMAVERA is the very epitome of craftsmanship, not to mention a timeless masterpiece of understated elegance. The sleek dial reflects this, focusing as it does on the pure aesthetics of the time display and the effect of the colour. Moritz Grossmann has also managed to achieve a new nuance here – a shimmering blue that sometimes looks lighter or darker depending on the incident light. It was given the name ‘Classic Blue’ and was created to mark the anniversary of SwissPrimeBrands. The effect of the surface is emphasised by the angled small second at 6 o’clock. Finely chamfered indices underscore the pure brilliance of the colour and surface, complemented by the handcrafted, polished steel hands that Moritz Grossmann is known for. PRIMAVERA Classic Blue has a stainless steel case and is available in a limited edition of ten pieces.
Craftsmanship from the manufactory: the aesthetics of the mechanism
The limited special editions for SwissPrimeBrands captivate, and not just thanks to the dial. The mechanism that can be seen through the case back also has a fascinating aesthetic. This is finished by hand in the best Glashütte tradition, including carefully applied ribbing and hand engraving on the balance cock.
PRIMAVERA Classic Blue with hand-wound calibre 100.1
The inside of the PRIMAVERA Classic Blue is home to the calibre 100.1, a pillar movement with well-proportioned components made from untreated German silver in a high-quality finish. The 2/3 plate with broad, horizontal ribbing that is so typical of Moritz Grossman has been signed by a hand engraving. The distinctive Grossmann balance is visible in the curved plate cut-out and is borne by the stepped, hand-engraved balance cock with the typical fine micrometer screw.
The clever design of the Grossmann balance allows the moment of inertia to be optimally adjusted during its handcrafted manufacture and achieves high kinetic energy combined with minimised air resistance and the smallest possible mass.
Another special feature of the manufactory movement is the perfected hand setting mechanism, which eliminates two potential problem areas: avoiding the ingress of foreign particles during the adjustment process and altering the hands unintentionally when pushing the crown back into place.
With a short pull on the winding crown, the mechanism switches to hand setting and stops the movement at the same time. The crown immediately returns to its original position, where the hands can now be precisely adjusted. The movement is then restarted using a pusher situated below the winding crown. This simultaneously resets the mechanism to its winding function.
Unique pieces and a limited edition to mark the anniversary
To mark ten years of SwissPrimeBrands in Taipei, Moritz Grossmann presents the unique TOURBILLON Tremblage Royal Blue with rose gold case, blue dial and polished gold hands. The TOURBILLON Tremblage Royal Blue with a white gold case, blue dial and polished steel hands is also just as unique.
The PRIMAVERA Classic Blue, released in a limited edition of ten pieces to mark the anniversary, has a stainless steel case.
