Our Take

In recent years, Moritz Grossmann has been on a roll. From the Benu Heritage Tremblage to the HAMATIC Vintage to the BACKPAGE Green, the Glashütte-based brand has found a way to fuse classical German watchmaking to distinctly modern aesthetics. Now, Moritz Grossmann adds to its momentum by bringing a high complication to its hallmark finishing in the all-new Tourbillon Tremblage.

Limited to 8 timepieces in each rose gold and white gold versions, the Tourbillon Tremblage represents everything great about Moritz Grossmann. The dial brings the brand’s focus on fine handmade finishing to the forefront while the tourbillon showcases the extent of the manufacture’s in-house, technical capabilities. The dial 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 is to achieve an even look, creating an effect which is both rough and matt. In the case of the inner dial of the Tourbillon Tremblage model, this has been achieved to captivating perfection, as the tremblage surface softens the incident light, making it appear wonderfully matt. The other parts of the dial are matt opaline. All the dial parts are subsequently galvanized in ‘black-or’ – an expressive anthracite color. The processing of the dial, from the engraving to the finishing, requires several days to complete.

With the tourbillon placed front and center at 6 o’clock, this timepiece features a novel indication of time to counteract the interruption of the minute track by the tourbillon aperture. The minute hand has been extended beyond the center, and 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.

While Moritz Grossmann first debuted a tourbillon over a decade ago, the Tourbillon Tremblage shows the brand’s evolution in the time since. What was created here was a generously sized oscillator which, influenced by Alfred Helwig, is only mounted on one side. The tourbillon is therefore visually impressive, especially with its unusually large diameter of 16 millimeters and its reduced aesthetics. It additionally boasts a longer cycle time: whereas traditional tourbillons generally turn on their axis once a minute, the Moritz Grossmann construction takes a full three minutes to perform a rotation. For a complication that increases timekeeping precision, the tourbillon, Moritz Grossmann has added a stop-second function to ensure equal time-setting precision.

With 245 components, 30 jewels, and dimensions of 44.5mm in diameter and 13.9mm in height, the Tourbillon Tremblage is another welcome addition to Moritz Grossmann’s catalog.

The Details

Moritz Grossmann Tourbillon Tremblage

Movement: Manufactory calibre 103.0, manual winding, regulated in five positions.

No. of parts Jewels: 245 (movement 186/cage 59) 30 jewels, of which 4 in screwed gold chatons (movement 17, cage 13)

Cage diameter: 16.0 mm

Jewels: 24 jewels, 11 gold chatons, of which 7 in screwed chatons

Oscillator: Shock-absorbed Grossmann balance with 4 inertia screws and 2 poising screws, Nivarox 1 balance spring with No. 80 Breguet terminal curve, Gustav Gerstenberger geometry

Balance Diameter: 14.2 mm, frequency: 18,000 semioscillations/hour

Power reserve: 42 hours when fully wound

Functions: Hours, minutes and subsidiary seconds with stop second, Grossmann manual winder with pusher

Operating elements: Crowns in precious metal to wind the watch and set the time, pusher in precious metal to start the movement

Case dimensions: Diameter: 41.0 mm, height: 11.35 mm

Movement dimensions: Diameter: 36.4 mm, height: 5.0 mm

Case: Three-part, precious metal

Dial: Solid silver, hour markers in precious metal

Hands: Manually crafted from steel, annealed to a brown-violet hue

Crystal/display back: Sapphire crystal, antireflective coating on one side

Strap: Hand-stitched alligator leather with prong buckle in precious metal

Special features: Balance staff with integrated safety roller, location of the impulse pin in the balance (Glashütte style); index adjuster with Grossmann micrometer screw; plate movement with 3/4 plate on dial side, frame pillars and separately removable clutch winding mechanism; visible hand setting train on the back side of the movement; frame parts in untreated German silver; raised gold chatons with pan-head screws; ratchet wheel with stopwork on the modified spring barrel bearing with a gold chaton in the ratchet wheel; dial train wheels spoked and bevelled, beneath polished bridge.

Movement: Manufactory calibre 103.0, manual winding, regulated in five positions

No. of parts: 245 (movement 186/cage 59) Jewels 30 jewels, of which 4 in screwed gold chatons (movement 17, cage 13)

Escapement: Lever escapement

Oscillator: Grossmann flying three-minute tourbillon with a stop-second function; shock-absorbed Grossmann balance with 4 inertia screws and 2 poising screws, suspended Nivarox 1 balance spring with No. 80 terminal curve, Gustav Gerstenberger geometry

Cage diameter: 16.0 mm

Cage rotation 1 rotation in three minutes, anti-clockwise on the dial side

Balance: Diameter: 14.2 mm, frequency: 18,000 semi-oscillations per hour

Power reserve: 72 hours when fully wound

Functions: Hours and minutes, small seconds with stop-second function, Grossmann manual winder with pusher

Operating elements: Crown in 750/000 gold to wind the watch and set the time, pusher in 750/000 gold to start the watch

Case dimensions: Diameter: 44.5 mm, height: 13.9 mm

Movement dimensions: Diameter: 38.4 mm, height: 7.1 mm

Case: Three-part, in 750/000 gold

Dial: Multi-part in German silver, galvanised in ‘black-or’, tremblage inner dial, Arabic numerals printed white

Hands: Handcrafted in 750/000 gold/polished steel

Crystal/display back: Sapphire crystal, antireflective coating on one side

Strap: Hand-stitched alligator leather with solid butterfly clasp in 750/000 gold

Special features: Flying three-minute tourbillon with screw-secured driving wheel and V-shaped balance bridge (protected as a registered design); central minute display, off-centre display for hours and seconds with stop-second function, bridging of the scale gap in the minute dial from 25–35 minutes via a hand extension with separate scale (patented); stop-second function on balance rim with intervention by a hair brush (patented); asymmetric-arm lever escapement with counterweight and lever banking pin; Grossmann balance with a suspended balance spring and regulation via poising screws in the balance rim; newly developed jewel bearing for the barrel; brake ring on the second arbor made of very hard, oily lignum vitae; movement wheels made of ARCAP; Grossmann manual winder with pusher to override hand setting and to start movement; modified Glashütte recoil click; pillar movement with plate and frame pillars made of untreated German silver; plate and tourbillon cock hand-engraved; broad horizontal Glashütte ribbing; 3-band snailing on the ratchet wheel; raised gold chatons with pan-head screws; white sapphires as jewels; separately removable yoke winding mechanism.