Immersing Myself in Fine Arts, with the Moritz Grossmann Art Edition Max Frintrop

Plenty of people consider mechanical watches an art, and to an extent, I consider myself one of them. I do hold the conviction that, in the end, a watch is a tool to tell time, but every so often, I can appreciate when a watch pairs its time-telling capabilities with something expressive. And when the press details about Moritz Grossmann’s latest watch came in, I was pleasantly surprised by the dials. Partnering with rising star artist Max Frintrop, Moritz Grossmann presented its first Art Edition with 16 unique dials set in steel or rose gold cases. Ok, 17 if you include the one selected by Frintrop for his personal watch. But when I saw them in person and had a chance to talk to the artist himself, I quickly fell in love with at least one of the dials!

It doesn’t hurt that I have a soft spot for Moritz Grossmann to begin with. They can’t do much wrong in my eyes, although the soccer-themed watches from a couple of years back didn’t do much for me, politely put. Nevertheless, we’re talking about genuine Haute Horlogerie here, as it is watchmaking at the very finest level. Everything is done with an almost obsessive attention to detail, and to illustrate, a set of three hands can take up to a full day to make.

Now, I have to confess something before going into detail about my encounter with Max Frintrop and his collaboration with Moritz Grossmann: I am by no means an art expert! I enjoy dipping my toes in the world of fine art every now and then, and I can tell you whether I like something or not and why, but don’t ask me to judge an artwork based on what I see and put a value on it. It does interest me, though, if I can find a connection with something or someone, or even a passion, and this was very much the case here. And as I had the chance to talk to Max in person, I discovered that this project is actually the result of a meeting with one of his clients, who noticed the 1982 Rolex GMT Master on his wrist. That started a conversation, which led to ideas on a watch collaboration, which in turn ended up being Moritz Grossmann! So that little detail about how things started makes this a rather interesting full-circle project and not just one for the sake of collaborating with an artist.

His love for watches and his perception of the passing of time have now come together in the Art Edition Max Frintrop. And while we already explained the details in our initial write-up, I felt it deserved a follow-up as I learnt a lot from my conversation. The whole concept is to use something that is often overlooked in an artist’s atelier and present it in a new and meaningful way. Max’s art is quite expressive and vibrant, and his paintings are created while lying horizontal. Naturally, the paints, ink and other pigments he uses splash and drop on the floor. Built up over about a decade working in his previous atelier, the progression of his craft is what’s now found inside these 16 unique watches. Each one shows a different mix of colours, with vibrant blues, greens and even yellows highlighted in these little canvases. Max perceives it as a distillation of his own time, captured over a period of ten years, now used to tell time. It’s quite poetic, and with a captivating result, I might add!

The fragments on the floor are cut out using a sonic saw, similar to how they cut casts from people’s arms and legs when a break has healed. Each section is then examined to find the perfect bit to be transformed into a dial. This process is quite delicate, as it’s just dried and solidified paint and ink, so it’s very fragile. A specialist from Moritz Grossmann then sands it down very carefully to a height of only 0.5mm before stabilising it through a process the brand is keeping close to its chest for now (it might be patentable, hence why). Per the client’s wishes, it can then be installed in the rose gold or stainless steel case and enjoyed as a watch.

To me, though, that enjoyment goes beyond the simple fact of having a nice dial on your watch. It transcends into something more meaningful, something that was once walked on without thought, now being elevated into a canvas of its own. Only two dials were encased at the time of the presentation last week, and I was particularly taken aback by the one in the rose gold case. Upon close inspection, you can discover a whole world of details, with small changes in its relief hiding or revealing imperfections under changing light. The mix of blue and green colours reminds me of a tropical lagoon, an undiscovered archipelago, or even visions of some exotic planet. Call me a romantic, but I can picture myself daydreaming whenever I consult the time…

To conclude, with the inescapable trivial details such as pricing and limitation, it’s obvious that each one will be unique. They are originally presented in two runs of eight, depending on the case material, but if a client wants to change from steel to gold, that’s possible, of course. All are powered by the exquisitely finished in-house calibre 100.1, signed by Max Frintrop on the sapphire crystal caseback. The prices are EUR 39,500 in stainless steel or EUR 55,400 in rose gold, and I was told that close to half are already spoken for.

For more information, please consult our previous article or visit Grossmann-Uhren.de.