Hentschel Hamburg H2 Hafenmeister - German Clarity

With this post I want to present you something different: the Hentschel Hamburg H2 Hafenmeister (harbor master) which is since summer 2017 in my collection.

The independent watch maker Andreas Hentschel produces 150-200 watches per year in his workshop in Hamburg (northern Germany). It is a pleasure to talk to him personally about his work and his watches.

All watches are made on request, so after ordering you have to wait 3 - 6 month till it is finalized. If you want you can individualize your watch, I e.g. chose a movement with swan neck regulator but w/o gold chatons and I chose a red gold plated movement (white or yellow gold would be the other options). I also opted for the classic hands, dial and case shape in steel, they have a variety to choose. You can also have it in a bronze case (then it is called Hamburg Botschafter (ambassador)). The next what you have to choose is, which straps to you take. It is like buying a couch or carped with these color samples :). I went with a dark brown, navy blue both with contrast stitching and a black all with butterfly clasp. However, I wear currently on a navy blue Nomos fabric strap with Hentschel pin buckle.

The watch itself is almost perfectly balanced, it is pure simplicity, clarity and refinement w/o being boring. The red 12 is a design left over from ship chronometers. The domed sapphire crystal has anti-reflective coating from both sides, when you look on the dial it seems that there is no crystal.  With a thickness of 10.3 mm including the domed crystal it is nice and flat, the diameter of 38.5 mm is the optimal modern size for such a nice watch.

The hand wound movement HUW 1130 S is architecturally based on an AS 1130 (which he used in the beginning as new old stock), but the bridges are redesigned and he added a swan neck regulator. It is so beautifully finished… I would love to wear with the movement side up XD

For me the only two small downsides are the lugs, they could have been a bit shorter and more tapered, and the non-hacking movement.

With the watch comes besides the normal things like box and papers, an additional croc straps AND a photo documentation how my watch was made. This is so amazing, on the box is really my name written. Such an enthusiast dream! Here you can also see that even the parts of the movement are done in house. I added some pictures from this booklet for you.