ühle-Glashütte can trace its origins all the way back to the mid-nineteenth century and Robert Mühle, a toolmaking apprentice at Moritz Grossmann.

“The race was on to develop instruments that could measure time with ultra precision. In 1869 my forebear began to manufacture tools under his own name. This would be the beginning of the family firm. In 1900 he succeeded in building an instrument that measured micro-components to within a thousandth of a millimetre,” says Thilo Mühle.

He represents the fifth generation (his children, Dustin and Fanny, the sixth generation, are already on board) at the head of the company which began not as a maker of watches but as a supplier of high precision measuring instruments to the watch manufacturers of Glashütte. Later, Robert Mühle would extend his clientele beyond watchmaking and launch production of speedometers and rev counters.

Chief Executive Thilo Mühle represents the fifth generation at the head of the firm. Continuity is assured by his children, who have already joined the company

An incursion into automobiles

“Cars were a fast-growing industry in the 1920s and our company prospered alongside it,” Thilo Mühle continues. “In 1932 four German carmakers - Auto Union, DKW, Horch and Wanderer – merged into the Audi group [the four interlocking rings of the Audi logo symbolise this fusion], which used Mühle car clocks. I’ve visited the Audi museum in Ingolstadt where I saw a Robert Mühle & Sohn dashboard clock in one of their vintage cars. A model with an eight-day power reserve. It was a proud moment to see my family name on such a piece of Germany’s industrial history.”

Then came the Second World War. The company was shuttered by the Russians but this wasn’t the end of the Mühle name in manufacturing, as the current CEO points out: “In 1945, right at the end of the war, my grandfather, Hans Mühle, set up a company that made manometers, which are devices used to measure pressure, thus carrying on the family tradition.”

The overnight communist

Now located in the communist German Democratic Republic, the company was still able to carry on its activity for several decades, until 1972 when, out of nowhere, it was nationalised. By then it was in the hands of Thilo Mühle’s father, Hans-Jürgen Mühle, who liked to say, “I went to bed a capitalist and woke up at the head of a socialist enterprise.” Then, in 1980, his and every other watchmaking company in Glashütte was incorporated into the Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe (GUB); a vast state-owned consortium.

Hans-Jürgen was one of GUB’s five managing directors, responsible for marine chronometers. When the consortium, which employed more than two thousand people, was dismantled in the wake of the country’s reunification in 1989, he set up on his own. In 1994 Mühle-Glashütte was born a second time.

Fitting the regulating organ and balance staff of the “woodpecker” module, developed by Mühle-Glashütte

Given Hans-Jürgen’s experience during his time at GUB, the company initially specialised in quartz-driven nautical instruments but the desire to make mechanical watches was never far away. “Günter Blümlein, CEO of A. Lange & Söhne, another recently revived name, encouraged my father to go back to watch production, telling him he had every legtimacy to do so,” recalls Thilo Mühle. “They were different times. Companies would help each other out in the interests of building a strong local industry.”

A Europa Star article from 1995 on the relaunching of Mühle-Glashütte, following German reunification

©Archives Europa Star

Additional modules

The first Mühle-Glashütte mechanical wristwatches were delivered in 1996. Today, the company produces its own movements for its “Robert Mühle” limited editions but focuses mainly on its in-house regulation and additional modules.

“We only release limited editions for anniversaries and special occasions,” says Thilo Mühle. “in a considerably higher price range than our regular collections. Our most recent special edition retailed from €8,500. If we were to use our own movement for our regular collections, the additional development and production costs would add at least €2,000 to the price of each watch.”

Teutonia II Chronograph with day and date at the 4 o’clock position

The family’s objective has always been to produce affordable watches, hence the focus on movement decoration and upgrading calibres using its own modules/complications, as Thilo Mühle explains: “Our”woodpecker“module, for example, provides shock protection in addition to the Incabloc shock absorber already in the ETA or Sellita movements that we use. This is typical of the philosophy behind every Mühle-Glashütte product: to be first and foremost a measuring instrument. They derive their form from their function, with the emphasis on providing accurate and legible information.”

The “woodpecker” regulation developed by Mühle-Glashütte. Named after the bird, it provides shock protection in addition to the Incabloc system already in the movements the brand uses.

“We’re a small company with a 65-strong workforce. We don’t have huge budgets. Our value lies with the quality we provide at the prices we charge. Building a production facility requires major investments which have to be passed on through increased prices. We’re happy with our current market segment and customers appreciate what we do. We prefer to concentrate on developing new modules, which is the best way to keep control over prices and hold on to our customers, who can follow us as we develop.”

How is Mühle-Glashütte different? “It’s a question of values and value,” insists Thilo Mühle. “We are an independent company and the stories we tell are all true, such as the creation of our S.A.R Rescue Timer dive watch in 2002, which is now our most iconic model. People like the idea of an authentic tool watch with a sporty design that still has classic appeal... and that delivers excellent value for money. That’s how we do things at Mühle-Glashütte.”

After the brand was relaunched in 1990, it worked with sea-rescue services.

©Archives Europa Star

The brand makes most of its sales in Germany, but has a strong fanbase in the United States. Hong Kong and Southeast Asia are next in its sights. Mühle-Glashütte watches are distributed through solid partnerships with local retailers “who have both feet on the ground, like us. People who want to sell watches that their customers will wear every day.”

As the brand celebrates 30 years since its renaissance, Thilo Mühle looks firmly ahead: “We have new modules coming out at next year’s Inhorgenta. We’re launching a chronograph, because we think it’s a useful module. What we really want is to put a smile on our customers’ faces every time they look at their watch. We want them to feel good knowing they have an excellent daily beater with a design that will never go out of style, at a fair price. It’s what we’ll keep on doing.” Exactly the kind of down-to-earth, practical approach that Mühle-Glashütte has always taken.