The Moritz Grossmann Atum | family history
The Atum is Moritz Grossmann's core time-only dress reference and the watch the brand uses to demonstrate Glashütte movement finishing at its most deliberate. The in-house Caliber 100.0 is hand-wound, carries a German silver three-quarter plate, a hand-engraved balance cock, and brown-violet annealed hands that Grossmann produces using a heat-coloration process requiring precise temperature control. The patented Hand Setting system uses a proprietary crown mechanism that eliminates the risk of accidental hand displacement during time-setting. This is watchmaking for people who care about how the watch is made as much as how it looks.
Grossmann’s time-only dress family, named for the Egyptian deity of completion. Built around the in-house cal. 100.0 hand-wind: German silver three-quarter plate, hand-engraved balance cock, brown-violet annealed hands, and the brand’s patented Hand Setting system that stops and re-starts the movement cleanly without disturbing rate.
2013 · Atum introduction
Moritz Grossmann (revived in 2008) introduced the Atum in 2013 after establishing the Benu as the brand's entry point. The Atum represented Grossmann's upper-tier production: full three-quarter plate, hand-engraved components, the patented Hand Setting system. The 41mm case in stainless steel or precious metal carries the movement at a legible height.
No references from this era in the catalog yet.
2013–present · Core references and Pure variant
The Atum Pure (introduced 2018) is the most-requested reference in the family: a white dial, brass-and-black movement finishing, and a deliberately minimal presentation. The standard Atum carries the brown-violet annealed hands and the hand-engraved balance cock in gold. Both are hand-assembled in a small workshop in Glashütte by a team of fewer than 30 watchmakers.
How to read this family
Two honest questions for any Atum buyer:
- Moritz Grossmann or Nomos for a Glashütte dress watch? Nomos produces at higher volume, has stronger secondary-market liquidity, and prices below Grossmann. The Atum is the more-exclusive argument: fewer than 300 watches per year total from the manufacture, hand-engraved components, and finishing conventions closer to the 19th-century Glashütte tradition. For collectors who want maximum hand-finishing and exclusivity in Glashütte, Grossmann is the answer.
- What is the Hand Setting system? The Grossmann Hand Setting system uses a secondary pusher at 4 o'clock alongside the crown. To set the time, you depress the pusher, which disengages the hands from the gear train and allows safe setting without the risk of accidentally displacing a hand from its staff. It is a patented mechanism unique to Grossmann; no other production manufacturer uses it.
Related families: Benu · Tangente