Spending Time With The Mühle Glashütte Sportivo Travel GMT

All good things must come to an end, maybe...

Okay, before we go too far into this, I have to go back to where and when I first encountered the Sportivo Travel GMT. I was wandering through the booths at the Wind-Up show in New York this past October. I had briefly spoken with Damir Armstrong of Duber Time - the US distributor for Mühle Glashütte at the Watch Time event the night before, and as I waded through the masses of the Wind-Up show the next day, I was on a mission. I had to have a second look at something that had caught my eye and beguiled me. 

If you wanted to spend a quality minute or two on Saturday at the WindUp show, you had to commit to pushing through a throng of folks, three to four bodies wide, several wearing backpacks stuffed beyond a fully-prepped paratrooper just before jumping into Normandy. You had to show commitment ; )

Courtesy of Mühle Glashütte

So needless to say, after struggling past (I'm sorry, but in all honesty) some less-than fresh smelling folks, and dodging latte splashes and hurdling baby strollers (what the hell were these parents thinking?) I had Damir walk me through the the GMT Sportivo, and that more than anything else I saw in New York stayed with me.

So fast forward to "nowish" and the Sportivo Travel GMT found its way to the North Shore for me to spend some time with it.

Courtesy of Mühle Glashütte

Mühle Glashütte makes some fancier pieces, not least of which is my ALL-TIME favorite - the Robert Mühle Mondphase Limited Edition. And although what I am about to say may seem contrarian, this versatility is why I far prefer the offerings from Mühle Glashütte. And this is why I find the Sportivo Travel GMT such a perfect counter point to the (let's be honest) very high priced pseudo sport models offered by their neighbors in Glashütte.

So let's dive in, shall we? (see what I did there?)

Let's start with the basics - the case is of stainless steel, and measures 42.5 mm in diameter; with a height of 11.4 mm.

The level of quality in the case finish is of an impressive level - brushed and polished stainless steel. And yes, aesthetics are important. But just as important if not more so? The engineering that often goes unseen, and can be under appreciated or even taken for granted.

The Sportivo Travel GMT is rated to a depth of 30 bars - that's 3 ATM (atmospheres) or more specifically 300 meters.

Under the hood, the Sportivo GMT is driven by a nicely customized Sellita SW 330-2. How customized? Glad you asked!

The specs on the Mühle Glashütte website break it down -

Movement: SW 330-2 Mühle Version, automatic, Mühle version with woodpecker neck regulation, own rotor, characteristic surface finishes, stop-second, fast date correction, 56-hr power reserve.

And now here is where the NOMOS fanboys and fangirls will whinge - "But it's not a manufacture movment..."

Well, allow me to relate a few sad realities about owing a watch with a manufacture movement - service, movement failure, high service cost, long service wait times. This is the reality. So when we are talking about a watch that you actually intend to, I don't know, actually wear... well you might want to consider how you want to spend your money, and time ; )

The timekeeping of the Sportivo Travel GMT has been quite good, very steady, not real variances. And that's as it should be.

The strap is an interesting design choice, and clearly speaks to the actual intended use of the watch.  

It is crafted of canvas and rubber. The rubber portion is textured to ensure that the strap is breathable, not slippy, and most importantly in less wintery-weather? It won't be slimy.

The strap is similar to what I have seen from Hirsch. And as many of you know, Hirsch straps are not exactly inexpensive, and are highly praised for their quality.

Now all of these are important things, but ultimately you could have a perfectly engineered watch, but if it is uncomfortable to wear, it will either sit in your dresser, or be traded or sold for something else.

After several weeks, I can honestly say that it is one of the most comfortable watches I have worn in some time. 

But now I need to get a little personal. Because despite all of the wonderful craftsmanship (both artisanal and technological), the Sportivo Travel GMT hit (and still hits) me with a visceral sucker-punch. 

What do I mean by visceral?

Per Merriam-Webster:

1. : felt in or as if in the internal organs of the body : deep. a visceral conviction. 

2. : not intellectual : instinctive, unreasoning.

Visceral Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

When you work with and around watches, and most of your waking hours are spent trying to describe them, sell them, market them? It can become a bit like, well, work...

Courtesy of Watch Charts.com

The Swatch Calypso Diver is not exactly an horological marvel. It's a plastic cased quartz watch with a plastic strap that I think I bought at the May Company in the Midway Mall in Elyria, Ohio back in 1985. That watch strangely meant quite a bit to me, even more in hindsight. I had moved out of the family home, I was 17 years old and staring down the reality that I would have to work nights and weekends at the now defunct Selenti's Pizza, while going to Oberlin High School, haplessly chasing a soccer scholarship that the OHS coach spent zero effort to help me with. Let's just say that one year probably still resonates more with me than any one before or since.

More than anything else I remember about that time was that I wanted to do more, wanted to see more. I knew that there had to be more out there than Northern Ohio, and the dream of travel, learning a new language, living in a different country with a different culture? This started as an aspirational notion that evolved into an obsession.

When I wear the Sportivo GMT, it hits me on so many levels. Now I realize that the point of a watch review is to be objective, but sometimes things are more personal. And my feeling is that the right watch (which is different for each wearer) does more than tell the time. And for the Mühle Glashütte Sportivo Travel GMT is more - it is a time machine. 

The Mühle Glashütte Sportivo Travel GMT is very well priced at $2,999.00 on the canvas strap, and $3,249.00 on the stainless steel bracelet.

Here are the pertinents, straight from Mühle Glashütte -

Movement: SW 330-2 Mühle Version, automatic, Mühle version with woodpecker neck regulation, own rotor, characteristic surface finishes, stop-second, fast date correction, 56-hr power reserve

Case: Brushed/polished stainless steel, Bidirectional rotating bezel with black ceramic inlay, Double anti-glare sapphire crystal, Transparent case back, Screw-in crown, Water-resistant to 30 bars.

Strap: Waterproof canvas/rubber strap with stainless steel pin buckle or stainless steel strap with butterfly clasp

Dimensions: Diameter – 42.5 mm; Height – 11.4 mm

Dial: Black, Applied indices, Hour markers and hands coated in Super LumiNova

What I've Learned - It's Deja-Vu All Over Again!

As we get towards the end of the year, I thought I would re-heat some leftovers from a few years ago. It is safe to say that we are well on the other side of the pandemic (at least the most recent one), and despite inflation, other economic indicators are stabilizing. Here in the lower 48 we do have a small, local election about to take place which you might have heard about, but beyond that everything is peace and prosperity!

So on the real side, I  share with you once again something I first put out four years ago. It seems as accurate now as it was then -

The Tiger Who Came to Tea, or What Judith Kerr Could Teach Watch Town

Now in fairness, I had never heard of Judith Kerr or her famous children's book The Tiger Who Came to Tea - 

Courtesy of Judith Kerr/The Tiger Who Came to Tea

Long story short, a very friendly, talking tiger knocks on the door at tea time, asks if he can join the little girl (Sophie) and her mom for tea, and proceeds to eat everything in the house that isn't nailed down. Because, you know, he's a tiger. Very polite, but also very hungry. He finishes eating and drinking everything in the house, and then leaves. Mom is a wee bit concerned because dad is coming home soon and there's nothing to eat.  Not to worry, dad takes everyone out to a cafe for dinner, and the next day mom and Sophie go shopping and re-stock the kitchen.  And just in case?  They buy an extra large can of tiger food just in case the tiger returns for tea, which he never does.

I was actually introduced to this story through Monocle Magazine.  And if you have not already, and you can afford it, get a subscription.  In the most recent issue - no 134, June 2020, Alain de Botton the founder of The School of Life - 
https://www.theschooloflife.com/london/, penned "Taming The Beast".  In it, he speaks to the fears and anxiety that plague us all from the cradle to the grave, using the classic children's tale to illustrate that in many cases, if we can understand our fears, we can better manage them.  A great article and I highly recommend it.

Now me (being me) read the same story about Sophie and the tea-time tiger, and had a slightly different take-away. Because I actually saw things this way -

It would be easy to view the tiger as "catastrophe", and therefore we could equate it with the Hong Kong protests, COVID-19, or civil unrest in the US.  In other words, randomness that when unleashed damages otherwise well functioning organizations. Well, in some instances yes, but in many?  Not so much.  

In my estimation, the tiger represents shitty management.  The tiger epitomizes all of the poor decision making that gets made, which then has a knock-on effect. Sophie and her mom represent the failure of organizations to recognize it and reign it in, or cut it out. On the one hand you can say that at least the tiger didn't eat them, but that was never really the threat.  It was really more a case of upsetting someone (or in this case, a tiger) and asking them to leave.  You know, like saying no to a costly America's Cup promotion, choosing not to make more watches than you can sell, opt not to engage directly with the grey market... well, you get the idea. 

It has been said that adversity will often separate the champs from the chumps, it will reveal true talent and ability, and lay bare deficiencies.  But Watch Town, let's be honest with each other for once, we've been heading towards this reality for the last 2 - 3 years. The Hong Kong protests, COVID-19 and civil unrest in the US only served to accelerate the process.

So rather than going out to buy more tiger food, maybe it might be a moment to look to the brands that have continued to move forward these past few years. Almost all of them have a strong digital presence, communicate with their customers and customers-to-be regularly, and have found ways to adapt in the time of pandemic.  They have direct sales channels, and they are nimble enough to adapt quickly.  

And the other thing that most of these lottery winners know? Things are not ever going to go back exactly to the way they were.  They do not rhapsodize about how things used to be and what they think they will be in the future when things return to "normal".  Normal is in the rear view mirror.  They understand that the future is now. They don't have time for hyperbole. 

So I'll leave it with a quote from that other great commentator on watches, Nino Brown as portrayed by Wesley Snipes in the movie New Jack City -

“Money talks and bullshit runs a marathon.”

Nobody Ever Texted A Mission Statement

So I recommend you find a more permanent communication device. I give you the Esterbrook Model J in Lotus Green. 

Pen people are slightly connected to watch people, but in truth they are a tribe unto themselves. Watches, by and large, come as they are. True, you can order a custom Sartory-Billard, or Holthinrichs watch, but by and large you buy what the brand has made. You might put your own twist on it with a different strap, but for the most part that's it.

For pen people, it's often a wee bit different. Some of it's about heft (i.e. how much it weighs, how dense it feels in your hand), for some it's about the flow of the ink from the nib, for others it's about how stiff or flexible the nib is. Others are solely focused on the name on the box that the pen came in. Pen people, like watch people, are often looking for that extra bit of validation.

I have been guilty of this, with a flock of Pelikan pens in various drawers and pen boxes. I had an opportunity to check out Esterbook's pens back in October and I took the Model J for a test drive.

It is available in two colors. And as you came to Henki Time for the words, and not the photos, I will borrow a better image from the folks at Esterbrook -

Courtesy of Esterbook

This is the Model J in Antique Rose. It was a close contest, but in the end I opted for the Lotus Green with a broad nib. Yes, to quote that other great commentator on watches and pens, Boz Skaggs, I put my money on the table and drove it off the lot.

Now should you ever encounter my handwriting, you will scratch your head, and wonder why I would bother even trying to use anything so elegant. Well, that is an answer in two parts:

Part One:

Just prior to my sixth birthday, I took an ill advised leap off of our neighbor's swing set. According to my mother, it was a multiple break "2 or 3 places!" Luckily, long-suffering family friend and neighborhood doctor, Dr. Mason, was on hand to splint me up in (according to my father) that day's copy of the New York Times. The accuracy of that last factoid remains lost to history, but after an overnight stay at Allen Memorial Hospital, and six weeks in plaster, I went off to first grade where they tried as best they could to get me to hold a pencil correctly, and produce anything that might vaguely pass as handwriting. What was not realized at the time was that there was nerve damage in the arm - and therefore the hand as well. About a year after leaving the U of O, I picked up a fountain pen and used it from time to time, nothing too serious. Almost as much an affectation as anything else. But I did notice that it forced me to be more patient when writing. Wendy gave me a Parker Sonnet for our first wedding anniversary. But by and large, I still mostly used ball points or roller balls.

Part Two:

In 2009 I took a rather nasty tumble off my Gitane Team Replica bike (it is worth noting that the only 2 cycling accidents I have had have been on blue French bicycles - my Peugeot in 1982, and the Gitane). I managed to drag my face along the tarmac for a good 25 feet. Two front teeth, literally the skin off my nose, a knee filled with gravel (of which the removal was excruciating), and two broken fingers later, I was back at work. And needless to say, holding a pen was also, excruciating. 

I started trying to get control of my hand, and its now semi-serviceable fingers. And I started writing exclusively with fountain pens as a type of physical therapy as it forced me to focus my actions and motions. And for the most part? I never looked back.

But back to my new Esterbrook -

It is safe to say, that not unlike watches, when it comes to pens you have plenty to choose from. Some of it well worth the money, some of it disappointing. The Esterbrook does not disappoint! I opted for a broad nib. The feel is forgiving without being flimsy. The ink flows evenly, and it requires little to no downward force. 

It is crafted of ebonite, and therefore has a wonderfully warm feeling in the hand. And it now has me looking at it's Antique Rose partner.

While it is not inexpensive, it is not outrageously priced at $295. Now while that would have been way out of my league as a freshly minted graduate with journalistic ambitions, it is certainly not too outlandish. It is the type of pen that just might inspire the next Charles Foster Kane (ideally the one before his fall from grace).

So for those of you out there working on a business plan, a mission statement or even a declaration of principles...

Get yourself a decent pen, and write like you give a damn!

Attn: PR Offices -

Consider just who you are sending a press release BEFORE you hit send.

So interesting to relate, a fairly large brand sent me a breathless press release regarding how honored they were to be displaying their wares at Worn and Wound's "Wind Up" event!
(I guess their check cleared)

and...

They felt quite confident that my readers would enjoy reading this news!

So I went ahead and sent them back a press release about one of their competitors.
It's been silent from them ever since, but I'm still not sure if they got it.