3 Limited-Edition Mühle Glashütte Watches Commemorate 145 Years of the Brand

The German watch brand we know today as Mühle Glashütte was founded in 1869 by Robert Mühle, and the family business was re-established in 1994 by his descendant, Hans-Jürgen Mühle. Mühle Glashütte commemorates both the 145 anniversary of its origins and the 20th anniversary of its rebirth this year with a trio of limited-edition anniversary watches. The R. Mühle & Sohn Anniversary editions, fittingly named after the company's founder, represents the launch of Mühle's "R. Mühle & Sohn" manufacture collection and feature the debut of two new in-house movements, Caliber RMK 01 and RMK 02. Both new movements are manual-wound and designed by Mühle watchmakers in the classical Glashütte style, with such stylistic hallmarks as engraved balance cocks and screwed gold chatons. They also include the now-rare three-fifths mainplate (watches made in Glashütte typically have three-quarters mainplates) and the brand's patented "woodpecker neck" regulator (contrasting with the more commonly used "swan's neck" regulator). Mühle Caliber RMK 01 powers two of the new Anniversary models. The first is the Robert Mühle Auf/Ab Gold, a limited edition of only 20 pieces worldwide. The watch has a 44-mm case in 18k rose gold and a dial that recalls the era of Glashütte pocketwatches, with red numerals surrounding a railroad minute track and Roman hour numerals. The stark white dial is coated in several layers of varnish, making it appear similar to enamel, and features a small seconds subdial at 6 o'clock and a power reserve display at 12 o'clock. The German "Auf" and "Ab" indications on the power reserve display scale refer to the "up" (fully wound) and "down" (fully run down) status, respectively, of the watch's 56-hour power reserve. The gold-plated hands match the case, which has a finely notched bezel and sapphire crystals in both the front and back. The Robert Mühle Auf/Ab Gold, which is priced around $25,000, comes on a brown crocodile leather strap with a rose-gold pin buckle.

The other Robert Muhle Auf/Ab model comes in a brushed and polished stainless steel case and is limited to 145 pieces. The stainless steel model has the same 44-mm case (water-resistant to 100 meters) and the same independent module, made up of 25 components, for the retrograde "Auf/Ab" power reserve display at 12 o'clock. The dial is silvered and the hands are blued. The watch has a black alligator strap with a stainless steel folding clasp. Its price: approximately $10,000.

The third of the Mühle Anniversary watches, the Robert Mühle Kleine Sekunde, contains Caliber RMK 02, which is slightly thinner than Caliber RMK 01 (6.65 mm as compared to 8.35 mm, likely owing to the absence of the power-reserve indicator module). The watch, which is also limited to 145 pieces, features a 44-mm case made of brushed and polished stainless steel and using the same finely notched bezel as the Auf/Ab models. The notable differences here are on the silvered dial, which has Arabic numerals inside the railroad minute track and a more traditional small-seconds ("kleine sekunde") subdial at 6 o'clock. The hours, minutes and small seconds hands are all blued and, while this watch does not display it on the dial, boasts the same 56-hour power reserve as the Auf/Ab models. The Robert Mühle Kleine Sekunde comes on a black crocodile strap with steel folding clasp and retails for around $6,500.