Independents

D.DORNBLÜTH & SOHN Regulator                                                                                         July 2009

Earlier this year I visited the Dornblüth manufacture in Kalbe, where I was fortunate to accept personal delivery of one of the very first Dornblüth Regulators produced there.  Mine is a Regulator (GR) ST with a couple of personalized modifications.  This model, with its new hours sub-dial and center sweep seconds indicators, represents the most recent leap forward for the house of Dornblüth.  Dirk Dornblüth boasts with great pride that over seventy-five percent of the Regulator’s parts are either fabricated in house or are so highly modified that they could never be used with any other caliber.

The dial of my Regulator is made in-house from brass, which is engraved, filled and silver-plated with its signature lustrous grain.  While the standard Regulator engraving appears in black, mine has been personalized with red numerals indicating 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes (and seconds).  Further, the “REG” in “REGULATOR” was done in red as those letters also form my monogram!

The steel hands are hand-polished and heat-blued in typical Dornblüth fashion.  Their hue is a bit brighter than other Dornblüth hands in my collection.

The Regulator’s solid nickel-free polished and burnished stainless steel case height measures 12.5 mm (1 mm thicker than the 99.X models).  Its diameter is 42 mm.  It has a double screw union, a 1.6 mm sapphire crystal on the dial side (slightly domed, with an anti-reflective coating on the  inside), and a screwed sapphire crystal base. 

While this case is and wears slightly taller than the typical 99.X, it is quite comfortable on my wrist.  With the symmetry and visual heft offered by the base bezel, I much prefer the profile of this model to the others:

The Regulator movement’s diameter is 37 mm;  its height is 5.4 mm (1 mm taller than the 99.X movements).  The central seconds mechanism with stop seconds is driven by an eccentric second wheel.  An intermediate wheel and seconds pinion are configured below a separate bridge with Geneva stripes and beveled edges (i.e., anglage).  The power reserve indicator functions by means of the Dornblüth- developed bevel gear differential.  Like other models, its other specifications include:  20 rubies;  50 hours (± 5%) power reserve;  18,000 semi-oscillations per hour;  red gold plated three-quarter plate with yellow gold plated engraving of manufactory name and Geneva stripe finish;  retracing ratchet;  double sunburst finish on the crown wheels and power reserve wheels;  flat polished, heat-blued, screws with beveled edges;  Glucydur screw balance with Nivarox-1-spring;  and a swan-neck fine adjustment on a hand-engraved balance cock.

A friction spring added below the center seconds pinion maintains the smooth operation of the center sweep seconds hand.  The hour hand is directly driven by the minute wheel.  New, larger minute and hour wheels were created in order to span greater than normal distances.

With the Regulator, Dornblüth has put its own spin on the classic.  Dirk sent me the photo to the right, which contains an illustration of a dial from a traditional regulator clock of old.  This image served as his inspiration.  In his Regulator, he went to great lengths to keep the hours indicator sub-dial in the “6 o’clock” position (most Regulator models produced by other manufacturers place them at “12 o’clock” to avoid re-working their standard movements).  The center sweep  seconds indicator uses a hand shape patterned after that pictured. 

While most Regulators contain a “planetary” display that separates the hours, minutes and seconds indicators, Dirk has chosen to incorporate his proprietary power reserve mechanism, with its indicator sub-dial at “12 o’clock”.  Combining the central minutes and sweep seconds indicators is solution that is perfectly clear to me.

Look at the below close-up of the center sweep seconds pinion bridge for a sample of Dornblüth’s finest anglage:

Here some low-resolution shots taken during Dornblüth’s manufacturing of my Regulator dial:

Here are some shots taken during the manufacturing of my Regulator movement (applying the Geneva stripes;  progress shot during assembly;   gorgeous perlage on the dial side):

I am impressed by the crispness of this engraved dial.  The edges around the sub-dials are distinct and the graphics quite sharp.  The “sunken” hours display:

Dornblüth customized my Regulator’s center sweep seconds pinion bridge by adding Geneva stripes.  Note how nicely they align with the stripes on the three-quarter plate:

The Dornblüth embossed crown is one of my very favorite elements of all my Dornblüth watches.  The Regulator’s turns smoothly, but with a decisive click.  Conversely, I long for a highest-quality, proprietary Dornblüth-signed buckle (tang-style or deployant).  In my opinion, the “off the shelf” machine engraved versions in use so far fail to meet the standard set by the truly outstanding watches they secure.

The chocolate brown alligator strap nicely brings out the red accents on the dial:

I wear my Dornblüth Regulator with immense delight and satisfaction.  It is truly an incredible piece.