HOROLOGY IN HAMBURG 

A marine chronometer is very different from a chronograph. Some watch collectors do genuinely get mixed up and don’t realise that a chronometer is a precision timepiece that is carried on a ship to help determine the ship’s position by celestial navigation.

The chronometer is used to determine longitude by comparing Greenwich Mean Time and the time at the current location found from observing the stars. Chronometers were invented by John Harrison in Britain in 1759. After the development of the chronometer they were eventually sold to many navy’s and ship companies around the world, including Germany.

In the early 1900’s Gerhard Diederich Wilhelm Wempe moved his already established watch and clock business to Hamburg and before 1920 he had 5 stores in Hamburg alone. Many collectors will be aware of the Wempe brand being one of the five German companies to make flieger watchers. Most however will not know that Wempe are also still manufacturing some of the worlds most accurate and reliable ship’s clocks, Barometers, Thermo- and Hygrometers. For many decades Wempe was the leading supplier of ship chronometers and had the largest service centre in Germany.

Hamburg has had a very long and rich history with Horology and marine instruments. It is reported that in the mid 1900’s Hamburg had over 200 watch and clock makers all with their own stores. Today there are less than 20 watch outlets in Hamburg, the most notable is still no doubt Wempe, however there is one independent watch maker that creates some truly remarkable watches.

Welcome to a visit to HENTSCHEL HAMBURG !

THE MAN BEHIND THE BRAND 

It was a very cold and very wet day in Hamburg and I realised that I had more of a chance of finding a Rolex Submariner in a boutique than finding a car park in the claustrophobic back streets around the town centre. Hamburg is no ordinary town. It’s the location of the largest shipping port in Germany and it’s one of the 20 largest ports in the world. I was trying to find somewhere to abandon the rental car for a few hours so I could go and meet the people and watches at HENTSCHEL HAMBURG, the boutique of the Independent Watchmaker Andreas Hentschel.

Somehow I magically conjured up a sliver of real estate to park in and literally closed my eyes and hoped the rental would get into it without a ding, and once the job was done I was off on foot with haste in my step as I had looked forward to this opportunity for some time.

The atelier is an impressive white building that has an immediate presence and air of distinction about it. Its crisp white paint highlighted by contrasting grey and burgundy was impactful and stylish but also very welcoming.

Buzzing through the security intercom I was welcomed by an unfamiliar German greeting which soon turned into a polished English “come in” as soon as I uttered my name. The door buzzed open and I walked in to be warmly welcomed by Frank the atelier manager. I immediately felt relaxed in a very nautically decorated space full of clocks, chronometers and watches. This was no ordinary boutique. There were bronze propellers, telescopes, ropes, anchors, portholes, scale model ships, sailing boats and lots of finely presented boxes with every conceivable variation of Hentschel watches. There was absolutely a feeling of “where do I look first?”.

 

I was offered refreshments and greeted with the friendly banter of someone genuinely wonder as to why on Earth someone would come from Sydney, Australia to Hamburg to have a chat about watches for an hour or two.

I had seen 3 variants of Mr Hentschel’s watches on their website but I was surrounded by at least 40 variations most of which I had no idea existed. It was very clear that if you were to make the effort to get to this atelier then the experience would far exceed any expectations you would derive from the online introduction.

Everything screamed quality and purpose. There was without doubt a coherent design language and progression of models from simple and sporty to simple and absolutely elegant. There were two complications on offer: time-only two-handers or time-only three-handers(central or sub seconds). There were four case designs in three sizes, 34mm, 37.5mm and 39.5mm. Everything was ordered. Everything was stylish. Everything was so good!

Mr Hentschel began making watches in 1990 after serving as a watch repairer for plenty of years before that. He had a passion to bring back to the market beautifully crafted, reliable wrist watches that emulated those that he so faithfully served for his clients for years. He wanted to create the reliability and style of decades past. He wanted to offer time pieces that were bought and never sold. He wanted his clients to have a watch for life! It was very apparent to me that he has accomplished all of these things.

I sat with Mr Hentschel and Frank and talked about many things for quite a while. Late in our conversation I asked what was next, and whether he ever plans to bring in any new complications. Mr Hentschel paused and thought long and hard before returning with a very considered and humble “no”. I asked him what else he wanted to achieve in his career. He said “to continue to refine the process of creating beautiful and elegant timepieces in house”.

Mr Hentschel acknowledged the difficulty of not being located in Glashütte like many of the other German watch brands, he talked about supply chain issues but he proudly showed how he was continuing to move towards producing in house movements with the exception of a third party supplied hairspring and a few other minor components. Everything is finished in house and they have no watches in stock. Everything is produced to order and it will take about 6 months to fulfil your order.

THE WONDERFUL WATCHES 

Mr Hentschel is inspired to create slim, comfortable, elegant and highly desirable watches with as much control over the supply chain quality as possible.

He was very proud of the fact that his watches were slim and graceful yet came with a robust 5-year warranty. He is totally confident that with maintenance his watches will last for many generations to come. The man behind the watches appeared to be quite humble, eminently capable, determined and without doubt content that he is living his dream.

The watches were indeed genuinely impressive and without doubt produced with purpose and passion. I could absolutely understand why one of his clients was the owner of no less than 11 pieces from the brand.

The watches of HENTSCHEL HAMBURG are elegant, sporty and dressy. They will not appeal to everyone but I cannot see why most collectors wouldn’t be attracted to most of them. The three stand out pieces for me were the H1 1877, the H2 Klassik and the H2 Sport.

Their website gives a glimpse of what is available from HENTSCHEL HAMBURG but in no way discloses the secrets and surprises of the atelier. If ever in Hamburg do not miss a visit, you will not come away disappointed (or without having ordered something I’ll guess).

 

More Images from the visit below: