Hamatic Vintage Cream, White Gold

The Hamatic Vintage Cream was made in just 25 examples in 2022. The Hamatic line was Dr Christine Hutter’s vision for a contemporary hammer winding system, an ode to pocket watch era automatic movement technology previously left behind in favor of the rotor winding mechanism. The calibre is born of pure enthusiasm for horological history, highlighted by traditional German finishing throughout its 312 component calibre 106.0. It features pocketwatch aesthetics on its off-white cream dial, including ‘M. Grossman’ logo from 1875 printed in a purple tone to match violet tone heat annealed hands. Its 41mm white gold case provides balance, vintage aesthetics with modern proportions.

Moritz Grossmann, both the man and the company, have remained at the center of Glashütte watchmaking. While they produce a much smaller volume than A. Lange & Söhne (around 500 watches per year) the modern brand led by Christine Hutter has been pivotal in maintaining the German watchmaking style that its namesake helped to develop. The Hamatic line debuted in 2019, cased in either white or pink gold. While prototypes emerged the year prior with dial cutouts to emphasize its calibre 106.0, production variants featured a solid dial. The self winding hammer style movement was inspired by pocket watch era pendulum style automatics by Breguet and Sarton. This style of movement was practical for pocket watches given their consistent orientation within a pocket, but rotor style movements gained traction due to the higher winding efficiency when worn on the wrist, along with the lack of shock input to the movement from the pendulum hitting hard stops and the end of its range of motion. 

This modern calibre addresses those limitations through clever design and engineering, an effort which spanned multiple years and resulted in a calibre with 312 components and a 72 hour power reserve. The ‘hammer’ of this system is a large offset oval pendulum, the small gold weight buried at its extremity allows it to swing through small variations in position, increasing winding efficiency. Motion is stopped by two shock absorbers integrated into the oval hammer to slow the hammer gradually before contact with a slender metal blade at the centre of the winding mechanism. A clever dual winding wheel solution means that the hammer winds the mainspring in both directions of swing, not unlike IWC’s Pellaton. This is all offset by beautiful traditional German finishing standards with tight anglage gold chatons, violet heat annealed screws, clear jewels, and a hand-engraved silver balance-cock. 

The Hamatic Vintage Cream is a limited edition of just 25 examples with off-white solid silver dial and white gold case released in 2022. It is the successor to the Vintage Black Or from 2 years prior. The Vintage name refers to its pocket watch era aesthetic, fitting for the hammer style calibre 106.0, with printed ‘M. Grossmann’ logo from 1875, railroad track minute scale, and roman numerals. The Vintage Cream is distinguished by its subtle cream dial tone with purple dial text. Its hands have been heat annealed to a beautiful and difficult to attain violet color that stands out beautifully against the dial tone. The case is a 3 piece design with curved lugs allowing its 41mm size to wear exceptionally well.

The Hamatic line with its calibre 106.0 mitigates the limitations of pendulum style, pocket watch-era, automatic movement designs through brilliant engineering. It leverages modern design and engineering to allow pocket watch technology to become practical again within a modern wristwatch. Moritz Grossmann sought to honor these early and progressive movement designs, in this effort they have been immensely successful. The Vintage Cream combines pocketwatch era aesthetics with a cream tone that feels almost as if it could be from natural patina– a watch that honors horological history through both its aesthetics and technology.

This Hamatic Vintage Cream presents in great overall condition. The dial and hands show no signs of damage or patina. Some light scratching is present throughout the case, caseback, and lugs. One small mark exists at the 9. o'clock of the case side. Its calibre 106.0 is running well within spec. on our timing equipment. The watch comes with its full set.

This example is modelled on an average-sized 7-inch wrist.