THE HANHART MANUFACTORY
Tradition and expertise since 1882
When a small watch store was opened in the small Swiss town of Diessenhofen in 1882, nobody knew that the name Hanhart would later become synonymous with the largest European producer and market leader in the field of mechanical stopwatches and play a leading role in the German watch industry.
Apart from a brief period after the Second World War, Hanhart has an uninterrupted manufacturing tradition to this day.
The company’s breakthrough came in 1924, when Willy Hanhart, the sports-mad son of the company founder, launched the first affordable mechanical stopwatch on the market.
The second great era followed in 1938: Hanhart became a pioneer in the production of pilot’s chronographs and, with the Caliber 40, paved the way for the development of today’s highly coveted collector’s items.
From the 1950s onwards, Hanhart increasingly concentrated on the production of mechanical stopwatches and thus achieved worldwide reach through its use in sports timekeeping.
Hanhart stopwatches were an integral part of important car races, sporting events and general school supplies.
The company countered the so-called “quartz crisis” from the 1970s onwards by setting up its own plastic injection molding plant and developing its own quartz movement, the caliber 3305, which is sold by the millions.
In the late 1990s, Hanhart returned to its own pioneering achievements and presented the legendary pilot’s chronographs as carefully crafted new editions.
Thus the predecessors of today’s Hanhart collection were born.
Highest standards "Made in Germany"
Only recently, a new watchmaking workshop was set up in Gütenbach, where the fine Hanhart wrist chronographs are made. Right next to it, a museum presents the unique history of the company in the form of precious exhibits and timepieces that the watch manufacturer has produced since its foundation.
The Gütenbach plant has its own in-house toolmaking and parts production facilities. After development and design, a wide variety of mechanical movement parts are produced at the Black Forest site, from the smallest gear wheels to plates.
In numerous production steps, milled, punched or eroded components, among others, are first assembled into subassemblies. In final assembly, watchmakers join all the components together and set the dials and hands. The result is high-precision wristwatches and stopwatches with specially developed additional functions and the “Made in Germany” seal of quality.
If this has aroused your curiosity, you are cordially invited to visit the Hanhart Museum on Wednesday afternoons.
Take the opportunity to look over the shoulders of our watchmakers, be inspired by their craftsmanship and join us on a journey through time.
Hanhart on the German Manufactory Road
Since 2017, Hanhart has been a member of the German Manufactory Route, an almost 2,500 km long adventure route that takes you along four routes to the most important manufactories in Germany.
The routes stretch from the Baltic Sea to Lake Constance and touch all 16 federal states.
The association of manufactories has set itself the task of maintaining and keeping alive a technically and aesthetically high-quality production, promoting responsible production in the sense of ecological, economic and social sustainability, in which traditional craftsmanship and the possibilities of the present and future are combined and aims to preserve regional cultural diversity with its activities.
For this reason, this experience route is not only interesting from a touristic point of view for manufacturing enthusiasts, but as a non-profit organization it brings manufacturers, retailers and consumers into contact with each other and imparts knowledge about quality and production methods.
