On its dial, the special model 1989 by the independent Glashütte watch manufactory Moritz Grossmann shows the streets around the infamous border post Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, which separated Friedrichstraße from the Zimmerstraße to Kochstraße junctions during the Cold War. This is where American and Soviet tanks faced each other on 25 October 1961 when the hitherto “Cold” War threatened to heat up.
Based on the colours of NATO flags and the former Warsaw Pact, the hands of the 1989 are blue and red. The sapphire glass back on the rear of the watch is decorated with a laser engraving in the form of an outline of Berlin during the time it was divided into the western sector on the one side and the eastern sector on the other, as well as the inscription of the anniversary date of the opening of the Wall on 9 November.
Tech Specs
Movement
Manufactory calibre 100.1, manual winding, regulated in five positions
Special features
Grossmann balance; hand setting override and start of movement with lateral pusher; space-saving modified Glashütte stopwork with backlash; adjustment with Grossmann micrometer screw on cantilevered balance cock; pillar movement with 2/3 plate and pillars made of untreated German silver; hand-engraved 2/3 plate, balance cock and escape-wheel cock hand-engraved; broad horizontal Glashütte ribbing; 3-band snailing on the ratchet wheel;raised gold chatons with pan-head screws; separately removable clutch winding mechanism; stop seconds for hand setting
Functions
Hours and minutes, subsidiary seconds with stop second, Grossmann manual winder with pusher
No. of parts
198
Jewels
20 Steine, davon 3 in verschraubten Goldchatons
Escapement
Lever escapement
Oscillator
Shock-resistant Grossmann balance with 4 inertia screws and 2 poising screws, Nivarox 1 balance spring with No. 80 Breguet terminal curve, Gustav Gerstenberger geometry
Balance
Diameter: 14.2 mm, frequency: 18,000 semi-oscillations/hour
Power reserve
42 hours when fully wound
Operating elements
Crowns in stainless steel to wind the watch and set the time and the date, pusher in stainless steel to start the watch
Case dimensions
Diameter: 41.0 mm, height: 11.35 mm
Movement dimensions
Diameter: 36.4 mm, height: 5.0 mm
Case
Three-part, precious metal
Hands
Manually crafted, in polished steel with Hy-Ceram filling
Crystal/display back
Sapphire crystal, antireflective coating on one side
Strap
hand-stitched calf leather with prong buckle in stainless steel