Moritz Grossmann Unveils Two Special Backpage Tremblage Editions

Moritz Grossmann celebrates the 200^th anniversary of its founder, a pivotal figure in Glashütte’s proud watchmaking tradition. Revived in 2008 by watchmaker Christine Hutter, the brand has been steered down the path of high-end, technically serious Saxon watchmaking with in-house calibres and a dedication to Schönstes deutsches Handwerk – the “most beautiful German craftsmanship”. Feted with a series of special editions, Moritz Grossmann releases a fourth anniversary gift with two colour variants of the Backpage Tremblage, eloquent representatives of the brand’s past and present. The large cut-out area on the dial reveals many of the components of the inverted in-house calibre 107.0, with violet or blue elements decorated with exquisite tremblage engraving.

While skeletonised watches are no longer considered front-page news, when a brand like Moritz Grossmann, renowned for its exceptional movement finishes, decides to reveal the mechanics hiding below, collectors’ ears prick up. The brand’s Backpage model, first released in 2018, exposed hallmark features – usually found on the reverse side of the movement – front and centre on the dial. The Backpage has appeared in an all-nude Transparent model and others with differing degrees of exposure, like the Backpage Green. Instead of a skeletonised dial or a skeletonised movement, the appropriately named Backpage reveals an almost unrestricted view of its calibre 107.0, thanks to its reverse-engineered movement.

The partially covered areas of the two anniversary editions, represented by the chapter ring encircling the movement from 11 to 5 o’clock and the recessed small seconds ring at 6 o’clock, are highlighted in two new colours: violet or blue. While the blue model sticks to a refined, more classic navy blue tone, the violet is bold, contemporary and makes a statement.

In line with the brand’s refined hand finishes, the chapter ring with its applied gold markers and numeral 12 is decorated with tremblage engraving. The art of tremblage, which comes from the French word tremblant for shaking or trembling, is a historical decorative technique that requires years of training and is practised by very few artisans. Using a German silver base, a master engraver uses a range of burins to create small incisions on the surface. The difficulty lies in the fact that the incisions have to be homogeneous. To achieve a uniform texture, the pressure applied has to be consistent throughout. If the incision is too deep, the dial is scrapped.

Usually ensconced on the reverse side, mechanical highlights like the Grossmann balance sit alongside decorative flourishes like the large hand-engraved balance cock at 11 o’clock with a special 1826 engraving, the three-band snailing on the ratchet, the gold-plated gear wheels, the handmade heat-annealed hands, the raised gold chatons with white sapphire jewels and the crisp polished bevels of the bridges.

As mentioned, the manual-winding calibre 107.0 is essentially a reversed or mirror-image of the calibre 100.1 corrected so that the wheels and hands rotate in the right direction. Although most of the hallmark elements are displayed dial-side, the reverse, with its large German silver plate decorated with Glashütte ribbing, offers a full-on view of Grossmann’s innovative winder-and-pusher mechanism that prevents dust and other unwanted elements from entering the case. Calibre 107.0 beats a sedate pace of 18,000vph and has an autonomy of 42 hours for the hours, minutes and hacking seconds.

Both anniversary editions come in fully polished 41mm platinum cases with a height of 11.35mm. The blue model is paired with an elegant alligator leather strap; the violet comes with a more relaxed purple kudu leather strap, both with a platinum prong buckle. Retailing for EUR 71,000 (excl. tax), each colourway is limited to 12 pieces. More information at grossmann-uhren.com.