The new Muehle-Glashutte Teutonia III Handaufzug is the first hand-wound watch from the German watchmaker that comes powered by their own Caliber MU 9411 hand-wound movement that was designed and manufactured solely in-house.
When ETA S.A. first announced its plans to gradually stop selling its blank calibers to third-party brands out of the monstrous Swatch Group conglomerate, it was like a nuclear blast that put almost the whole industry in a state of deep shock.
While some brands protested, others simply turned their attention to independent ebauche makers like Sellita. However, there was also a third group that began investing money into designing their own calibers and thus becoming real Manufactures.
The German Mühle Glashütte is one of them.
After the self-winding Caliber MU 9408 that was presented early last year and powered their Antaria Chronograph, the German brand has released the hand-wound MU 9411: too, their first one. Adjusted in 6 positions, the highly accurate movement is equipped with its own woodpecker neck regulation mechanism that was designed in 2003.
The movement features a discreet, Nordic approach to decoration with its three-quarter plate and the bridge brushed and its transmission and ratchet wheels featuring the trademark Glashuette solarization.
Although the caliber sports “only” 18 jewels, they all are completely functional unlike those on some more “advanced” calibers that are here purely for marketing purposes.
The only serious problem that you risk encountering is that being an “in-house” movement, it may be difficult to service and repair if you happen to live far from Germany. In some cases, you will probably have to send the watch back to the manufacturer for repair or replacement, which is always a bummer.
The movement first appeared in Basel, Switzerland during the Baselworld 2011 industry event. Later, the Germans presented the first watch that is going to rock the MU 9411: the classic-shaped Teutonia III Handaufzug
Like many other “historic” models, the new watch features the signature grooved (coin edge-style) bezel and comes in an alternately polished and brushed stainless steel case. Sporting nice, slender proportions, the case is 42 millimeters in diameter and is slightly more than 11 millimeters thick.
With its clean, bold Arabic numerals, crisp railway minute track, and three blackened hands, the dial is perfectly legible and easy to read: an essential feature of most watches that come from Germany.
Well, the date window at 3 o’clock could have been a little larger, but I can live with that.
At a starting price of just €1590, this is a very interesting offer if you are into this kind of style.
See also: Archimede Deck Watch R UA7952
Photos: Mühle Glashütte
Muehle-Glashutte Teutonia III Handaufzug specification
Price: From €1590 (MSRP)
Movement: Hand-wound, Caliber MU 9411, in-house, Made in Germany
Number of jewels: 18
Movement frequency: 28,800 vph
Movement decoration: Brushed bridge and three-quarter plate. Solarized transmission wheel and ratchet wheel
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date
Power reserve: 42 hours
Case: Stainless steel, polished and brushed
Shape: Round
Size: 42.00 mm
Case height: 11.20 mm
Dial: White
Numerals: Arabic
Hour markers: Black
Hands: Blackened
Water resistance: 100 meters
Strap: Black leather strap with stainless steel pin buckle (a stainless steel strap with stainless steel butterfly clasp is available as an option.) Screwed strap attachment bridges.
Crystal: Sapphire, domed, antireflective
Back: Transparent