jamie weiss
Today, watches are manufactured all over the world, but there are a few cities that are especially famous for their watchmaking. For example, Besançon is the historic capital of French watchmaking, and Swiss towns such as Le Locle, Schaffhausen, Geneva and Neuchâtel are world-famous for their watches. Germany also has a particularly famous watchmaking town, Glashütte. Located in the Saxon countryside, Glashütte is the birthplace and home of German watchmaking, with companies such as A. Lange & Söhne, NOMOS, Tutima and Glashütte Original all located in this small village. A particularly underrated Glashütte brand is Mühle Glashütte. Founded in 1994 by a family with 140 years of history in the watch industry, Mühle Glashütte is best known for its diving watches that reflect its nautical heritage. But in 2024, Mühle will release a new series of sports watches called Sportivo, which the brand says aims for a more generic “go anywhere, do anything” vibe.
case
Mühle Glashütte’s Sportivo collection was launched in three different watches: the Sportivo Compass Date, the Sportivo Travel GMT and the Sportivo Active Chronograph. They all have the same basic design and case diameter, measuring 42.5 mm. Both the Compass Date and Travel GMT are 11.4 mm thick, while the active chronograph is slightly thicker at 15.5 mm. All three feature ceramic bezel inserts with luminescent elements and are water resistant to 300 meters, meaning they still have the diver’s watch DNA. These proportions are probably slightly larger than the average GADA watch. And the watch’s sporty design further extends its label. But I can see what Muhle is going for here.
The Sportivo case has an undeniably robust design with a polished top surface contrasted by polished bevels, knurling on the bezel and crown guard. The crown guard protrudes from the case in much the same way as the chronograph pusher on the Compass Date and Travel GMT models, but the active chronograph has a slightly smaller crown guard to facilitate the actual chrono pusher . There’s not much to dislike here. Again, they feel very much like dive surveillance, but it’s never really dug into. Sportivo’s design exudes an unmistakable Germanic sophistication and seriousness.
The simplest of the three, the Sportivo Compass Date features a two-way compass bezel, as well as a blue and bright green color scheme. It doesn’t have a diving bezel, but it’s perfect for underwater adventures. Interestingly, Mühle equips the Travel GMT with a unidirectional diving bezel. That’s understandable considering its water resistance, but it could also have been equipped with a GMT bezel to allow users to keep track of three different time zones, so it’s probably a failed trick. It has a black and electric blue color scheme. Finally, the Sportivo Chronograph retains its diving bezel and boasts a blue and orange colorway.
dial
Both the Sportivo Compass Date and Active Chronograph feature dials with an interesting texture that resembles running water. The chronograph model is separated by two large azure subdials with funky hemispherical cutouts for the numerals, while the compass date features two Arabic numerals at 12 and 6 o’clock. ‘clock. The Sportivo Travel GMT ditches the textured dial of the other two models in the collection in favor of a more subdued black and gray fume look. Muhle explains that this is to improve readability when tracking multiple time zones, and the 24-hour sector is displayed below the index.
All three date windows feature a compass date and travel GMT at 3 o’clock and an active chronograph at 6 o’clock. Some people really hate the date window at 6 o’clock, but in this application it helps maintain the symmetry of the watch face. Each date wheel has a white background, but the numbers on the date wheels are color matched. The Compass Date and Active Chronograph have blue numerals, while the Travel GMT has black numerals. It’s a small adjustment, but the devil is in the details.
strap
Sportivo is available with two strap options. Tonal canvas and rubber strap with pin buckle and three-link steel bracelet. If you choose a strap other than the canvas strap, it will cost you an additional 250 euros. . The straps are high quality and feature ribbed rubber underlays for breathability and comfort. The bracelet is also a capable number with nicely machined links, subtle tapers, and on-the-fly tweaks. Points of criticism: I don’t like the end link design, but that’s mostly a criticism of the watch’s case design anyway. I don’t like watches with this kind of semi-integrated horn design, but that’s just me. .
movement
Although the three Mühle Glashütte Sportivo models each use a different movement, all are effectively Ceritas modified for Mühle, utilizing the brand’s shock-resistant woodpecker neck regulator, with blued screws and glass Features a comfortable Teutonic finish including Hütte solarization. The Compass Date is powered by the highly prolific Sellita SW200-1, which has a power reserve of 41 hours. The Travel GMT uses the SW330-2, a Kohler GMT movement with a 56-hour power reserve. The active chronograph uses the MU 9419, which is derived from the Sellita SW500 and has a decent power reserve of 62 hours. This is a 30-minute chronograph, which Mühle goes out of his way to describe as a “companion for intensive interval training or 1-kilometre training sessions for Hirox events.”
Mühle is one of the only watchmakers in Glashütte to primarily use movements made in Switzerland rather than Germany (in fact, in 2005 Nomos considered this practice to be in violation of the so-called “Glashütte Regulation”). (He brought Muhle to court). % of the movement’s added value had to be realized in Glashütte, which led to Mühle’s bankruptcy in 2007. However, I don’t see this as a negative thing. Mühle also makes some of the most affordable Glashütte watches, thanks in part to the use of Swiss movements. The MU9419 is a great movement, along with the SW200-1 and SW330-2, and Muhle’s proprietary modifications to these make it a step above your average Sellita-equipped watch.
judgment
As I said at the beginning, I feel that Mühle Glashütte is an underrated brand, and I believe that Sportivo will help further broaden the brand’s appeal. Of the three models, I like the look and color scheme of the GMT the best, but I wish it had the same textured dial as the other two models. I’d also generally like to see a less pretentious color scheme overall and perhaps a slightly smaller case. I think 42.5mm is a little too big to be considered a traditional GADA watch. However, its versatility and specifications cannot be ignored, and many collectors will find the Sportivo to be the perfect ‘one-of-a-kind watch’ in any guise.
Mühle Glashütte Sportivo price and availability
The Mühle Glashütte Sportivo collection is currently available from Mühle Glashütte dealers and the brand’s online store. Price: 2,300 euros (compass date), 2,700 euros (travel GMT), 3,800 euros (active chronograph)
Brand Mühle Glashütte Model Sportivo Compass Date
Sportivo Travel GMT
Sportivo Active Chronograph Reference Number M1-52-22-CK (Compass Date)
M1-52-13-CK (Travel GMT)
M1-52-02-CK (Active Chronograph) Case Dimensions 42.5mm (D) x 11.4mm (T) x 50.2mm (LTL) (Compass Date, Travel GMT)
42.5 mm (D) x 15.5 mm (T) x 50.3 mm (LTL) (Active Chronograph) Case Material Stainless Steel, Ceramic Bezel Insert Water Resistance 300 meters, Screw-Down Crown Crystal Sapphire Dial Textured Blue (Compass Date, Active Chronograph) graph)
Black Fumé (Travel GMT) 22mm lug width strap Color-matched canvas and rubber strap, pin buckle
Steel 3-link bracelet, folding clasp movement with fine adjustment Sellita SW200-1, automatic winding (Compass Date)
Sellita SW330-2, automatic (travel GMT)
MU 9419, based on Sellita SW 500, automatic (active chronograph) power reserve 41 hours (compass date)
56 hours (Travel Greenwich Mean Time)
62 hours (active chronograph) Functions Hours, minutes, seconds, date, bidirectional compass bezel (compass date)
Hours, minutes, seconds, date, GMT, unidirectional rotating bezel (travel GMT)
Hours, minutes, seconds, date, chronograph, unidirectional timing bezel (active chronograph) Availability Current price €2,300 (compass date)
€2,700 (Travel Greenwich Mean Time)
€3,800 (active chronograph)
