M端hle-Glash端tte BRAND MESSAGES
Mühle DNA: The Key to Our Brand DNA contains the genes of a living thing and
thus forming the key to how it is understood.
therefore forms a basis for its development,
Our genes, or our brand values, form the basis
growth and actions.
for the development of our new watches and our corporate activities.
Nautische Instrumente Mühle-Glashütte is just like a living thing, with its DNA providing the
The following keywords perfectly sum up the
framework in which the brand develops and
Mühle brand in a nutshell:
Family company
» Based in the German town of Glashütte over 5 generations » The only watch manufacturer in Glashütte that is still owned by a long-established family from the town itself » A unique feature of the town of Glashütte
Instruments
» Manufacturing instruments since 1869 » Precise measurement and the best possible readability » Mühle watches are time measuring instruments
Glashütte
» A brand from the centre of German watchmaking » Glashütte is not just the company’s production location, but also the seat and home town of the Mühle family » Made in Germany
Authentic
» Reestablishment of the family business in 1994: Production starts with marine chronometers, nautical instruments and ship’s timepieces » Truly anchored in the nautical world: time measurement systems for seafaring occupations rather than regatta sponsorships » Designed for use: watches for maritime rescue workers and navy rescue pilots
Nautical virtues
» Precision, robustness and excellent readability » Practice and user-oriented » Active, sporty and masculine » Functional technical design combined with timelessly classic elements » Wearers must be able to read the time at a glance
Understatement
» Our own technical developments help us to achieve robustness and precision » A lot of watch for your money: avoiding complex advertising and events that have to be funded by using money that could go towards our watches
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Mühle Watches Are Time Measuring Instruments Mühle watches are time measuring instruments with a clearly defined character that is the legacy of our company’s over 140 years of tradition in manufacturing precise measuring devices. The M 29 Classic is the literal representation of this tradition. The design used for its face is based on that of a historical Robert Mühle dial gauge and is a clear sign of the values that have been guiding Mühle-Glashütte since 1869: precision and precise measurement.
As functional time measuring instruments, Mühle watches not only need to precisely measure the time but also to enable wearers to tell the time at a glance. This also applies to the brand‘s classical timepieces, for example the Teutonia.
Mühle additionally places special value on the robustness of its watches. The S.A.R. Rescue-Timer is an excellent example of this focus and has been playing a key role, for over 10 years, in the hard work carried out by the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service (DGzRS) as it rescues sailors in distress in all kinds of wind and weather.
Images from top to bottom:
The S.A.R. Flieger-Chronograph is one of our most famous and eye-catching Mühle watches alongside the Teutonia II Chronograph and the S.A.R. RescueTimer.
The M 29 Classic with its dial gauge design The Teutonia II Chronograph: even our elegant business watches need to precisely measure the time and enable wearers to read the time at a glance The S.A.R. Rescue-Timer, the robust watch designed for use by maritime rescue workers 03
Precise Measurement as a Family Tradition The history of Mühle-Glashütte began in the year 1869, when Robert Mühle founded his very own company in the German town of Glashütte with the aim of manufacturing precise measuring devices for the local watchmaking industry and the town’s watchmaking school.
The excellent reputation of the company’s dial gauges enabled Robert Mühle & Sohn to tap into another product area and from the 1920s onwards, it also manufactured speedometers, rev counters and on-board clocks for the automotive industry in the German Land of Saxony.
By choosing to manufacture measuring devices and onboard clocks, Robert Mühle laid the foundations for the values that have shaped the history of the Mühle family and its products right up to the present day: maximum precision and the best possible readability.
Images from top to bottom: Robert Mühle (front row) and his family A dial gauge and speedometer design plan for the car manufacturer Auto Union Hans-Jürgen and Thilo Mühle at the Hansa Sail maritime festival in 2005
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The Reunification of Germany and the Nautical Transformation Mühle-Glashütte is the only watch manufacturer in the German town of Glashütte owned by a long-established local family. The company has been based in Glashütte over five generations. The fact that Mühle is still run as an independent family company is not a matter of course, but instead the achievement of its courageous founders, who are also willing to explore the new and unknown.
In 1972, Hans-Jürgen Mühle was forced to accept the incorporation of the family company into the publicly owned East German company VEB Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe (Glashütte Watchmaking Plants). He initially worked as the Plant Manager of his expropriated company and over the years, he worked his way up to the position of Sales Manager, in which he was responsible for marine chronometers and ship‘s timepieces.
After the reunification of Germany, Hans-Jürgen Mühle made the most of his regained freedom and re-established the family company. In doing so, he applied the knowledge that he had acquired when manufacturing tools and instruments to the production of marine chronometers and ship’s timepieces, thus initiating the ‘nautical transformation’ in the company’s history.
Images from top to bottom: The company‘s current production building in Glashütte The nautical transformation: Mühle-Glashütte began to manufacture nautical instruments and ship’s timepieces after the reunification of Germany Hans-Jürgen Mühle assembles a ship’s timepiece in his re-established family company 05
Cooperations: Watches Designed for Nautical Use Mühle
Glashütte
began
to
manufacture
marine
chronometers and ship’s timepieces in 1994 and two years later, it also launched its first wristwatch. The company’s close connections with the nautical world led to cooperations with maritime rescue workers, rescue pilots and the marine protection forces of the future German Navy Sea Battalion.
Watches designed for nautical use, for example the S.A.R. Rescue-Timer, have been bearing witness to the outstanding functionality and robustness of Mühle watches for over 10 years. These models enabled Mühle to attract the attention of the rescue pilots from the German Navy, who work in cooperation with maritime rescue workers on a regular basis and were looking for a watch that they could use when on duty and that was also suitable for the calculation of air speeds. These requirements led to the creation of the S.A.R. Flieger-Chronograph in 2010.
Two years later, the soldiers of the Sea Battalion of the German Navy needed a robust tactical watch displaying two time zones and decided to contact Mühle after the company was recommended by the navy pilots. Mühle then worked in cooperation with the Sea Battalion to develop the Seebataillon GMT, which was launched at the Baselworld 2013 watch and jewellery show.
Images from top to bottom: A rescue cruiser in operation: rough seas form part of the everyday working life of maritime rescue teams A Sea King helicopter used by the navy rescue pilots Sea Battalion soldiers protect the ships and facilities of the German Navy both in Germany and abroad
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Do It Yourself: Design, Planning and Production 140 years of experience in building measuring instruments means that Mühle has precise ideas and expectations when it comes to the design, look and feel of such tools. The management of the watch manufacturer therefore places top priority on the design of its watch faces and the development of their cases. The faces of Mühle watches, for example, are designed by Thilo Mühle and two of the company’s employees at its headquarters in Glashütte. A multitude of individual procedures are completed in order to give each Mühle watch its characteristic instrument design.
Mühle designs and manufactures a large number of components that are important for the precision of a Mühle movement itself at its company headquarters. One of these components, for example, is the manufacturer’s patented woodpecker neck regulation, which is particularly shockproof. The company’s watch components are manufactured using its own CNC machining centres, which are able to precisely produce the parts designed by Mühle with an accuracy of one thousandth of a millimetre.
As a small independent family business, Mühle adheres to the stringent criteria involved in high-quality manufacturing, meaning that processes like the finishing and assembly of the company’s watch movements are only carried out by hand. Every Mühle watch is regulated in 6 positions in order to cover every position in which a watch may have to function when worn on the wrist. By using this approach, Mühle ensures that it maintains its high standards when it comes to the precision of its time measuring instruments.
Images from top to bottom: One of the first design sketches for the Marinus Chronograph The production of Mühle components using high-precision CNC machining centres The assembly and regulation of Mühle movements in Glashütte
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Independent Watch Movements and Technology On the same price level, Mühle watches contain many unique and special Mühle constructions that make them even more individual. One of these unique features, for example, is the woodpecker neck regulation, which enables Mühle movements to be recognised at a glance. Mühle uses three different watch movement categories when manufacturing its watches: Self-constructed movements, for example the MU 9412: This hand-wound movement is the first movement to be fully constructed by Mühle itself. It is used exclusively in the company’s Teutonia III Handaufzug model.
Watch movements with their own calibre designation, for example the MU 9408: This chronograph movement is based on an ETA 7750 but the modifications made were so extensive that it needed to be given its very own calibre designation. The movement features a woodpecker neck regulation with a balance cock, a Mühle rotor with an automatic bridge, blued screws and Glashütte grainings. It also boasts the company’s traditional three-quarter plate with a Glashütte click, removable escape wheel bridge and a number of other attachments.
Modified basic movements, for example the Mühle version of the SW 200: This movement is fitted with a woodpecker neck regulation with a balance cock, a Mühle rotor and blued screws. Components constructed by Mühle itself and parts of the basic movement are finished with Glashütte grainings.
Images from top to bottom: Constructed by Mühle itself: the MU 9412 hand-wound movement On the cusp of high-quality manufacturing calibre: the MU 9408 chronograph movement in the Teutonia II Chronograph The Mühle version of the SW 200: a precise and field-tested movement for Mühle‘s three-hand watches
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Mühle Movement Components: Made in Glashütte The components used in a Mühle watch movement are precisely manufactured to an accuracy of one thousandth of a millimetre and are then carefully finished, namely given their characteristic finishes (grainings and polishings), by hand.
The Mühle rotor is the crowning glory of a Mühle automatic movement and is a prime example of just how many individual procedures are involved in the production of just one individual component, as the following overview shows: » The first stage involves producing the middle segment of the rotor from a brass blank in the parts manufacture process. » The middle segment is then deburred by hand and finished with Glashütte solarisation. » The finished middle segment is subsequently rhodanised and given a protective coating that is so fine that it does not conceal the grainings. » Four gold-plated rivets are then used to connect the middle segment to the rotor‘s rotating weight. » The rotor is fitted with a ball bearing in order to ensure an efficient winding response. » Once all of these stages have been completed, the rotor can finally be fitted to the watch movement.
Images from top to bottom: Mühle finishes (clockwise): an automatic bridge with Glashütte solarisation, balance cock with perlage, cam jumper with straight grinding, escape wheel bridge with circular grinding and polished and blued screws A finished Mühle rotor ready for assembly The stages of processing of the middle segment of a Mühle rotor 09
Mühle Movement Components: Re-interpreting Glashütte Tradition The patented woodpecker neck regulation is a further development of the swan neck fine regulation that is particularly shockproof as a result of its special shape. The woodpecker neck regulation therefore not only facilitates the particularly sensitive adjustment of Mühle watches, but also makes them extremely robust.
The three-quarter plate is a typical characteristic of highquality Glashütte watches. It gets its name from the fact that it covers approximately three quarters of the watch movement. In line with the Glashütte tradition, the plate developed by Mühle is also fitted with the classic Glashütte click and a removable escape wheel bridge.
Images from top to bottom: Unique: Mühle-Glashütte’s patented woodpecker neck regulation, which was developed in 2003 Traditional: Mühle developed a new version of its Glashütte three-quarter plate for its chronograph movements in 2008
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