Mühle Glashütte – a Five-Generation Family Tradition

The turbulent saga of Mühle Glashütte started in 1886, in the small, idyllic town Glashütte in the Ore Mountains, which also happened to be the home of German watchmaking. The story of the Mühle family reads like a script with many turning points . Through setbacks, this watchmaking family demonstrated great strength and resilience. This set them to the path of extraordinary accomplishments in creating complicated nautical instruments as well as high-precision watches, bearing the seal of “Made in Germany”. “Enjoy being different” is the current slogan of the Brand.

Robert Mühle founded his company in 1886 under the name “Robert Mühle & Söhne”. Initially, he produced precision tools for the Glashütte watch industry. The Founder was a skilled toolmaker, who was trained at a watch manufacturer. Under the leadership of his sons, Paul, Alfred and Max Mühle, the Brand was renamed as “R. Mühle & Son”. The company also expanded its product range.

In the course of the Second World War and the subsequent Communist Regime, the Company was expropriated and the Mühle family has lost their ownership in the Company. It wasn’t until the Reunification of Germany, the Company was returned to the hands of the Mühle Family. Hans Jürgen Mühle, the great grandson of the Founder, became Managing Director of the new entity. In 1994, it became the “Mühle-Glashütte GmbH” we come to know nowadays. Today, Thilo Mühle manages the business for the 5th generation in the Family. Under his stewardship, Mühle Glashütte developed the Brand’s first hand-wound movement – the MU 9411, which can be found in the Teutonia III Handaufzug.

The Collections

Teutonia

This collection is diverse with its variety of chronometer, chronograph and hand-wound models. The Teutonia Collection comprises of versatile timepieces that are fit for both the office and leisure. Apart from that, there is also a petite line from the Teutonia Collection for the slender wrists from the female clientele, making this family of watches a good fit for both men and women.

Teutonia II

Elegance with a sporty twist, this line of the Teutonia Collection with automatic movements looks modern. It is a watch for both day and night. The self-winding Teutonia Quadrant Chronograph is probably the most prominent model, a single square timepiece in a stunningly elegant design. The Brand’s characteristic nautical elements are present with the presence of the precision regulator and the 10-bar waterproof case.

Teutonia III

The watches of the Teutonia III line are hand-wound and better still, powered by the in-house movement the Mühle MU 9411. They are the most elegant pieces in this Collection and are particularly suitable for special occasions.

Teutonia Sport

As the name suggests, this line stands for the sportiest variant in the Teutonia family, making it the ideal choice for speed lovers, car racing enthusiasts and alpine mountain bikers.

SAR

This collection, which was developed in cooperation with the rescue pilots of the German Navy, is athletic and on-point.

SAR Rescue Timer: This watch is designed to meet the needs of the Captains from the the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service. The SAR Rescue Timer has been tested on over 50 sea rescue vessels in a variety of scenarios. Fast date correction, stop-seconds, water resistant up to 100 bar, all these are protected by a stainless steel watchcase and a 4 mm thick sapphire crystal. This watch is great on the wrist and for missions on the high seas.

SAR Pilot: Mühle Glashütte’s Pilot Chronograph withstands the most adverse conditions. In addition to its qualitative excellence, it also delights aesthetically, making the SAR Pilot a watch for real adventurers, watch enthusiasts, and the likes.

Seabataillon

The legendary and popular Seabataillon was originally developed as a combat watch for the German Navy. Equipped with a GMT function, 300 Mwater resistance and its unmistakable design, it is not surprising that the Seabatallion is one of the fans’favourites. The famed quality of German watchmaking is housed in a quiet looking design with captivating character.

Terrasport

The pilot watch collection Terrasport commemorates the first wrist watches produced in Glashütte in the 1930’s. True to its roots,Mühle placed emphasis on the legibility: high-contrast colors, inblack and whiteluminous hands and large numbers are the design traits that define this line. An extraordinary visual highlight is presented in the “Terrasport Beobachter”, which has a large circle for the hour indication and a smaller inner circle for the seconds.

29er

This collection for men and women is another homage to the sea. The clean design and the combination of dark and light blue, white and red colors in the date indicator, the Mühle Glashütte 29er meet all the requirements for the next sailing trip. No wonder then that the name of the collection comes from a small sailing dinghy, the 29er, which is considered extremely fast and agile. The 29er Family also offers a chronographas as well as a dress watch variation, the 29er Big.

Pro Mare

This Collection is particularly suitable for the sea as the name “Pro Mare” suggests. Its creation was inspired by water sports.

Rasmus 2000

This classic dive watch is known for its high-pressure resistance and named after the patron saint of seafarers. It is water resistant up to 200 bar, which is the equivalent of 2000 M, making it the perfect watch for professional divers and enthusiasts. The dial is available in blue or black and measured at 45 mm.

Lunova

The new collection with the fully polished stainless-steel case can be described as the elegant line of Mühle Glashütte. The three festive models with either a date or day-date or chronograph come with dark dials, crocodile leather strap with white numerals. The name of the line refers to the particularly polished case and was derived from the Latin words “lumen” shine and “novus” new.

M 29 Classic

This line is a tribute to the Company’s Founder Robert Mühle and his instruments. The M 29 collection includes watches that guarantee instant legibility at the very first glance. The tradition of nautical gauges combined with modern time measurement results in rugged, waterproof cases with screw-down crowns and flank protection. Already at the end of the 19th century, Robert Mühle manfucatured gauges which could accurately show measurements down to a hundredth or a thousandth of a millimeter. Those measurements were indicated by a coarse pointer and a fine pointer, which today are reinterpreted in the “M 29 Classic Kleine Sekunde”.

Terranaut

The sporty trend continues. The Terranaut is geared towards mountain biking or other mountain sports. The “Terranaut Trail” has the appearance of a pilot’s watch, but it is also waterproof and very robust ,making it suitable for the outdoor. Large digits and night readability are other signature characteristics of this Collection.

Why should I buy a Mühle Glashütte watch?

Quality and precision from Glashütte and , a modern interpretation of the Brand’s nautical roots is what you get from a Mühle Glashütte watch. Mühle Glashütte produces timeless watches, which will stand the test in the change of fashion. They are superbly equipped with a variety of sporty functions that are fit for hiking and deep sea diving. The resilience and drive for innovation has helped the Company to success despite its turbulent history. Whether the Mühle Family business navigated expropriation or near insolvency – their course was set on the future.

Mühle Glashütte in numbers

10

10 years is for how long the S.A.R. rescue timer has been in service on the sea rescue vessels of the German rescue society for the shipwrecked (DGzRS).

2008

2008 is the year when Mühle Glashütte launched their first in house movement 9408 MU and MU 9411.

700

700 years is how long the family Mühle has resided in the Ore Mountains.

1/1000

To a thousandth of a millimeter was the accuracy achieved with the dial gauges by Robert Mühle.

20

20% of the Mühle machinery and production equipment remained in Glashütte after the expropriation.

5

The company Mühle Glashütte remains an independent family business in the 5th generation, led by Thilo Mühle.

Mühle Glashütte: A Chronology

1868: Robert Mühle founded the company Robert Mühle & Sohn.

1920: Mühle merged with two other manufacturers to form the “Vereinigte Glashütter Rechenmaschinenfabriken” (United calculator manufacturers of Glashütte), Speedometer and precision mechanics Arthur Burkhardt & Cie. “Saxonia” Schumann & Cie.-Robert Mühle & Sohn.

1945: After the turmoil and the expropriation of the Second World War, Hans Mühle, the founder’s grandson, rebuilds the company and names it “Ing. Hans Mühle”.

1972: The family owned business is forcibly nationalized with the transfer of all remaining private companies in East Germany and thus expropriated for the second time.

1980: Ing. Hans Mühle is absorbed into the “VEB Feinmechanik (precision engineering) Glashütte” and loses its independence.

1990: German reunification causes a structural change in the Glashütte watch industry. The VEB Glashütte watch manufacturers become an LLC.

1994: Hans-Jürgen Mühle reestablishes the company with two employees under the name “Mühle – Glashütte GmbH Nautische Instrumente und Feinmechanik” (nautical instruments and precision engineering).

1996: Automatic, robust watches are made to order for shipyards as part of ship equipment.

2000: Thilo Mühle joins the company and initiates the 5th generation of the family.

2005: Legal dispute with NOMOS Glashütte about the value added to watch movements manufactured in Glashütte. Through an insolvency plan and agreement with NOMOS Glashütte all value-added requirements had been met and the operation continues.

2007: Thilo Mühle becomes the sole Managing Director.

2008: Introduction of the Mühle three-quarter plate.

2011: The first hand-wound movement is built in-house.

2020: Mühle Glashütte presents new watches from the Terrasport IV BRONZE line for the occasion of Inhorgenta, a popular German watch fair.