Terrasport I Chronograph — Black Dial / Black Buffalo

Thilo Mühle has worn the Terrasport I Chronograph personally since it was introduced in March 2012. He calls it the one that embodies the company's DNA.

The Terrasport I Chronograph borrows its visual language from the pilot's and observation watches that Glashütte began producing in the late 1930s. That is a claim about the town, not about the firm: Mühle-Glashütte's own nineteenth-century business was precision measuring instruments. What carries across is the layout. A matte black dial, Arabic numerals 1 through 11, a luminous baton at every hour, and losange hands, which is Mühle's own term for lancet hands that taper to a point and reach their greatest width at mid-length.

The brushed stainless steel case measures 44.0 mm across and 13.6 mm tall, 52.8 mm lug to lug. The 30-minute counter occupies 12 o'clock, so there is no triangle in that position; small seconds sit at 9, the 12-hour counter at 6 and the date at 3, with red-tipped chronograph hands matching red markers on the scale. Anti-reflective sapphire, screw-down crown and an exhibition caseback over the MU 9413, Mühle's own chronograph caliber built on a Swiss base and extensively reworked in Glashütte, with the Glashütte three-quarter plate and 62 hours of reserve. 10 bar, on 22 mm black buffalo leather.

Large, legible, and finished far beyond what an instrument dial suggests.

Perfect for: aviation-inspired chronograph buyers, 62-hour power reserve seekers, large black dial chronograph collectors.