Hanhart Brings Back the 415 ES Chronograph (incl. Video Review)

German watchmaking brand Hanhart has etched a commendable place in watchmaking history for itself, primarily through its very good stopwatches and chronograph watches. While most attention goes to the 417 ES, the vintage-inspired pilot’s chronograph with its red-marked fluted bezel, red pusher and bicompax dial layout, there’s plenty more to the brand than just that. Now a long-lost family member is added to the brand’s portfolio, in a rather faithful manner. Here’s our rundown of the all-new Hanhart 415 ES Chronograph.

The brand’s history goes back to 1882 when Johann Adolf Hanhart founded his eponymous watchmaking company. The brand is legendary for its stopwatches, which run through the brand’s past and present like a thin red line. With the 415 ES, Hanhart honours this rich heritage once more in the form of a faithful revival of a chronograph from the mid-1960s that bore the same name.

It starts with a stainless steel case measuring 39mm in diameter and 13.50mm in height. That makes it a bit of a thick watch overall, but the short lug-to-lug dimension of 46mm keeps things in check on the wrist. The bidirectional rotating bezel is fitted with a scratch-proof matte black ceramic insert, and on the right, the knurled crown has a pair of classic pump-style pushers for neighbours.

Moving to the face of the 415 ES is where things get even more fun. The matte black base dial is finished with a mix of colours: yellow for the hour markers, white for the tachymeter and sub-dial scales, and red for the 100-unit scale. This unit scale was a practical feature in industrial factories, for instance, and could be used to calculate and manage productivity. The sword-shaped hour and minute hands have a lovely golden finish and Super-LumiNova inserts. A very nice touch is the bent tips for both the central minutes hand and the chronograph seconds hand, adding character and depth to the 415 ES. The finishing touch is the return of the winged Hanhart logo.

Now, on to the movement. This is where Hanhart relies on modern mechanics. Where the original 415 ES was fitted with a manually wound Lemania movement, the re-edition comes with a modern, reliable Sellita SW510. This, too, is wound by hand, uses 23 jewels and beats at a frequency of 28,800vph.

Where Sellita’s SW-200 series movement often fails in terms of power reserve, topping out at 38 or 41 hours, this one provides a generous running time of at least 58 hours! It indicates the running time through the central hours and minutes, the small seconds at 9’, and elapsed time in the 30-minute chronograph counter at 3 o’clock and central chronograph hand. A solid caseback with the winged logo keeps the movement safe from prying eyes and ensures the 100m water-resistance.

Hanhart puts the 415 ES Chronograph on a choice of leather straps, varying in length and colour. We had the light brown on hand, but there’s also a black or dark brown alternative. The watch retails for EUR 2,390, including VAT, which sounds like quite a fair deal for a historically relevant, well-executed and handsome retro-styled chronograph!

For more information, please visit Hanhart.com.