THE ART OF WATCHMAKING OVER GENERATIONS
Active leisure or busy business trips: A Hanhart watch will last a lifetime. However, over the years the timepieces are exposed to enormous loads and demand regular servicing. In Gütenbach, in the Black Forest, Hanhart watchmakers ensure that repairs and maintenance are carried out professionally.
Every three to five years mechanical timepieces go back to service. A watchmaker will then dismantle the movement to its individual parts, accurately check all components, clean them from dirt and residual lubricant, and then reassemble the movement. After careful lubrication, the watch is restarted and the accuracy of the movement carefully checked.
GEMS FROM THE PAST
All services and revisions carried out in the headquarters in Gütenbach are overlooked by master watchmaker and head of production Andreas Panitz, who takes great care of the valuable timepieces.
Andreas Panitz has successfully passed his examination in front of the chamber of commerce in 2009. Today, he occasionally finds himself revising models that he assembled himself. “Re-encountering an old chronograph always gives me a great feeling,” he says. On his table is a collection of rare watches that would quicken any collector’s pulse. There’s a well-preserved PIONEER TachyTele watch from the year 1939, for instance; next to it a rare Admiral precision watch made in 1948 under the commission of the French in order to supply military officers and the navy.
The older the watch, the more difficult it is to find spare parts. Hanhart is cooperating with a proven partner who has specialised on historical watches of the brand Hanhart. Occasionally, no effort is spared to save an unusual collector’s item, and the company’s watchmakers will make the parts needed for a restoration themselves. “When doing maintenance work of Hanhart timepieces, I’m always fascinated by the enthusiasm watch owners show for our watches,” says Panitz. Hanhart watches are returned regularly for servicing for years. This is proof that the timepieces made in the Black Forest are not merely fashionable items, but accompany their owners for generations.