In late 2019, Mühle-Glashütte celebrated its’ 150th anniversary with release of limited edition pilot watch in collaboration with AOPA ((The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association). In February 2020, before COVID-19 virus cancelled all the watch shows, Mühle presented the latest pilot watches in Terrasport series at Inhorgenta show in Munich. The limited edition Terrasport IV pilot watch in bronze case with two dial variations – mocha and khaki color dials.
Just about every watch company offering a pilot watch has experimented with bronze alloy in the last two years – IWC, Oris, Stowa, Archimede, Zenith, Hanhart, Bell & Ross, and many more. However, each watch company has made their own variation of bronze color, oxidation/no oxidation, and interesting dial colors to complement the warm tone of the bronze case. Mühle opted for the bronze case with oxidation and a contemporary mocha and khaki dials. Mocha dial offers more of button-up appeal and makes for a desk-pilot, whereas khaki dial transforms it into a casual tool watch. A traditional approach is employed for bronze alloy on bezel, case-sides, and the crown. The display case back, on the other hand, is made from stainless steel to avoid adverse reaction to copper in the alloy.
Terrasport Bronze case is compact 42mm due to the short and curved lugs, and the case height is slim 10.2mm. The finishing of the fluted bezel differs according to the dial color. The mocha dial has a bezel with a matte finish, while the bezel of the khaki dial has a finely polished finish. Unlike traditional diamond or onion watch crowns, this flieger has a screwed-down mushroom-shaped crown with a three-dimensional engraving of a windmill motif. The dial remains a traditional Baumuster Type A, with triangle at 12 o’clock, and easy to read numbers with coating of SuperLuminova. While date on the pilot watch is a modern feature, I appreciated that the date window did not overlap with the 3 o’clock marker. The white date wheel also complements the white color numbers, markers, and the hands. Both dial variations have a touch of red with the red-tip of the seconds hand, and partial red marker at 12 o’clock.
Bronze Pilot is powered by a modified Sellita SW 200-1 automatic movement with hacking seconds and a quick-date correction. The movement modification has Mühle’s in-house developed shockproof woodpecker neck regulation, which is regulated in six different positions, and set to ensure accuracy values of between 0 and a maximum of +8 seconds per day. These values comply with the German chronometer standard. The watch comes with a vintage leather strap with top stitches, and bronze pin buckle. A handy travel case made of vintage leather is provided as part of the packaging. Both dial variations are limited to 250 pieces each, and the retail price is €1800 (including VAT).
What I like about Mühle watches in general, also applies to this watch – that they are consistently well-designed, add niceties like three-dimensional motif on the crown, and provide horological substance with the woodpecker neck regulation. Thilo Mühle, CEO of Mühle-Glashütte, provided us with an insight, that these two watches will be the last bronze watches being produced at their manufactury.
Learn More About Mühle-Glashütte Terrasport IV Bronze Here
Live report and picture credit: Mike Stuffler