MeisterSinger is a manufacturer of mechanical

wristwatches A watch is a timepiece carried or worn by a person. It is designed to maintain a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is worn around the wrist, attached by a watch strap or another type of ...

. The company is based in

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Annual sales are claimed to be 10,000 pieces.

History

Weller Manfred Brassler, a self-taught jeweler, founded the company "Watch People" with Klaus Botta in 1989. The watches produced were primarily

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

. He sold the company in 1999, so that he might pursue his interest in the creation of higher-end mechanical timepieces. In 2001 MeisterSinger was formed. The name was chosen to draw parallels to a title given to German singers in the Middle Ages who had discovered new melodic elements.

Design

MeisterSinger watches distinguish themselves from others by the fact that they use a single hand rather than two or three. This feature of sundials and some old clock towers, for example

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

, acted as inspiration behind the design. In 2013 MeisterSinger released a watch based on the Westminster Abbey clock face to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the

coronation A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...

of Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

. Additionally, to create a sense of symmetry, the hours 1-9 are prefixed with a "0" such that every number on the dial has double-digits. Historically MeisterSinger used movements sourced from

ETA SA ETA SA Manufacture Horlogère Suisse (ETA SA Swiss Watch Manufacturer) designs and manufactures quartz watches and both hand-wound and automatic-winding mechanical and movements. Commonly referred to as ETA, the company is headquartered in Grenc ...

, but due to limited availability chose to develop their own in-house movement.

Awards

In 2015, the MeisterSinger Circularis won an

IF product design award The iF Product Design Award was introduced in 1954 and is annually conferred by the iF International Forum Design. The award, which spans multiple disciplines, has more than 5,500 entries from around 59 nations every year. History The iF Indus ...

. In 2016, the Adhaesio model won both an IF award and a

Red Dot The Red Dot Design Award is an international, annual design competition for product and industrial design, brand and communication design as well as design concepts, in which the Red Dot quality label is awarded to winners. The Red Dot Design A ...

award.

History

Design

Awards

See also

References

Further reading