TRADITION · PRECISION · PERFECTION - Erwin Sattler

The Manufactory
The small family-owned company Erwin Sattler Stiluhren,
founded in 1958, has become a globally operating enterprise
over the last 52 years. Thanks to permanent general improvements
in quality – chiefly within the last decade – and the
meticulously cultivated precision pendulum clock product lines,
Sattler is practically without competition today.
At Sattler it is not only clocks that are created. We manufacture
fixtures that may become the visual focus of an office or living
space. For this reason, we not only place value on the finest
workmanship and highest precision in our workshop in
Gräfelfing (near Munich); aesthetics play just as important a
role for these precious timekeepers. A Sattler clock should not
only display the precise time, but also be a joy to the eye.
For this reason, the long chain of development from the first
sketch of the movement to its completion in our workshops
takes place under the aegis of a balanced synthesis of the
most modern manufacturing technologies and a century-old
craft. Only this guarantees that a Sattler clock will live up to
our high expectations – and yours.
We begin by manufacturing the so-called ébauche using the
most modern computer-controlled production centers. These
precision tools complete their tasks precisely to the hundredth
of a millimeter. Tolerances above and beyond that are not
accepted. Ensuing finishing touches are characterized by the
extensive talents and skills of our experienced watchmakers.
Naturally, each and every raw component destined for use in
a Sattler movement is created from the full material, whether
it is steel or brass. Fully trained lathe operators and milling
cutters are responsible for this based on the sketches of our
movement design department. It is also clear that all 25
Sattler manufacture movements are our own developments,
created solely in exclusive small series.
The lavish cases are produced by a specialized German
carpenter’s workshop according to our sketches and uncompromising
quality standards.
A production depth of about ninety percent makes any
discussion unnecessary as to whether Erwin Sattler may bear
the title manufacture.
Precision and Perfection
An Imposing Clock
These days, Sattler produces timekeepers of almost every size
and shape. The façade of the company’s factory itself is
dominated by a twelve-meter-high glass tower housing the
largest precision pendulum clock in the world, boasting a
pendulum length of almost eight meters. Stephanie Sattler-Rick
and Richard Müller, owners of the Sattler manufacture, were
convinced that manufacturing such a giant precision clock
would offer an exciting challenge. More precisely expressed,
Monumentum Temporis is the 6.25-time enlargement of
a Sattler precision pendulum clock that has already been
manufactured more than 1,000 times.
The tower is fully illuminated at night, and thirteen giant glass
panels allow a fascinating view of the regulator dial, 160 cm
in diameter, while three blued hands – true to the style of oldfashioned
observatory clocks – display the seconds, minutes,
and hours on separate dials. The painstakingly milled, goldplated
brass gears and delicate Graham escapement can be
viewed not only through a cutaway in the dial, but also
through the side panels of the tower.
In keeping with the motto that a pendulum clock is only as
precise as its pendulum, the temperature and air pressure
compensation pendulum is made of several different materials.
The exactly coordinated dimensions of the carbon, brass,
stainless steel, and aluminum ensure that the 7.8-meter
pendulum maintains a precise frequency of 0.2 Hz (5 seconds
per swing) even at varying temperatures. The precision clock
is wound mechanically once a week from inside the building
using a winding crank. The movement is powered during
winding via a Huygens endless-chain winding mechanism,
typical in its dual weights of different sizes.
By building this unique precision clock, Erwin Sattler wanted
to »mark« time – both for Germany as a production
location, and far beyond its borders.
A Very Small Clock
The smallest product of this clock manufactory is an automatic
wristwatch featuring an engraved gold rotor, a regulator
display, and a jumping second hand that springs forward
with the tact of the second itself. This Sattler wristwatch was
created on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the
company’s founding and has since become a popular and
successful model.
The Regulateur Classica Secunda features an exact miniature
version of the very successful wall clock Classica Secunda
1985’s regulator dial, but with all the characteristics of a fine
mechanical wristwatch: As on the original, this wristwatch’s
dial is made of solid sterling silver (925/000) and sports four
screws.
With regard to our customers, we at Sattler have only one
goal: satisfaction in every way. This is equally true for
the design, quality, and longevity of our products. For this –
reason, the long development chain from the first sketch of the
movement all the way to the final assembly takes place in
our workshops under consideration of a balanced synthesis
comprising the most modern production methods and a
century-old craft. Only this guarantees that a Sattler clock,
down to the last detail, corresponds to our high demands –
and especially yours.
The twenty-five employees of the Erwin Sattler manufactory
therefore live the dream every day: they have the pleasure
of making clocks that last for generations.
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