S.A.R. Rescue-Timer

The S.A.R. Rescue-Timer was born from a direct collaboration between Mühle-Glashütte and the DGzRS (Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Rettung Schiffbrüchiger), the German maritime rescue society founded in 1865 that still operates today along the coasts of the North Sea and the Baltic. It was Mühle itself that proposed, in March 2001, developing for the rescuers a robust watch designed specifically for their operating conditions: an initiative directly stemming from the maritime vocation with which the company had refounded itself in 1994. The first examples were delivered to DGzRS crews in February 2002, launching a partnership that continues today and that has produced over the years several special editions dedicated to the rescue society's anniversaries, such as those for the DGzRS's 150th and 160th years.

The project's most distinctive trait arose from direct consultation with the helmsmen of the rescue vessels, who asked for a dial that was as essential as possible: no GMT function, which would have complicated reading, only the elements indispensable for operations in coastal waters. From this practical need came one of the most original technical solutions devised by Hans-Jürgen Mühle: a magnifying lens machined directly into the thickness of the sapphire crystal, positioned over the date window, able to enlarge its reading without the risk of damage that an externally applied magnifying crystal would carry, as in the traditional "cyclops lens".

The rest of the technical specifications answer the same logic of absolute reliability required by professional use at sea: a sapphire crystal 4 millimeters thick to withstand impacts and pressure, a stated water resistance of 100 bar (with development tests conducted up to 250 bar) and a solid steel case designed to withstand the most demanding conditions. The result is a watch that has managed to establish itself well beyond the environment for which it was originally conceived, becoming one of the most recognized tool watches in the Mühle catalogue and one of the products most associated, in enthusiasts' minds, with the brand's own name.