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LIMITED MASTERPIECES WITH HISTORICAL MANUAL WINDING MOVEMENTS FROM PFORZHEIM, GERMANY.
I am very happy to present the Circula Heritage hand winding to you today. This extraordinary watch with clear lines was inspired by the first Circula from 1955. And it comes from the famous gold town of Pforzheim.
The absolutely special thing about this really beautiful and elegant dresser, however, are the historic vintage movements inside. The PUW movements are assembled with the highest precision by Circula’s experienced watchmakers. Once these are neatly regulated, they are encased in the 3-piece stainless steel case in Pforzheim.
Vintage movements from the 70s
The extremely rare, mechanical P.U.W. movements set the hearts of all watch lovers vibrating. Manufactured 100% in Germany in the 70s, they are among the most reliable movements in the world.
Cornelius says so:
“I myself am of course incredibly proud and happy that we were able to locate historic movements from my home and Circula’s in Pforzheim. Something absolutely unique and naturally finite, as these PUW movements won’t exist once they are gone. For me a limitation makes sense.
In former times the watches of my grandfather, which were also for the design model, were also built with exactly these movements of PUW. For me the madness!
Time and heart and soul that flowed into this project were, from my point of view, absolutely worth it. We didn’t have any technical drawings or construction plans of the movements. That’s why, for example, a lot of trial and error was required in case construction, until finally everything fitted, just like the feet of the dial. Here we are in the micro millimeter range.
After a long search I found an experienced watchmaker in Pforzheim, who did his apprenticeship at PUW and knows the movements like the back of his hand. He assembles the never used parts from the 70s and also does the after-sales service. We adjust each watch exactly, in most cases we get it on +- 5 seconds deviation from the gear on the day, that is already great!
Circula Heritage Hand-Wound
As a result, the Circula Heritage hand-wound watch has become an absolutely special watch, less than 10 mm high, including an approx. 1.5 mm curved sapphire crystal and thus a very chic dress watch with 39 mm diameter.
Particularly worth mentioning are the many unusual details of the watch, e.g. an embossed crown with the circulating balance that gives Circula its name, extra long second hands that reach down to the minute hand, sapphire crystal on the back, ‘Matching Numbers’, i.e. engraving of the limitation number on the case back and barrel bridge.
The glass is not only double anti-reflective but also has as a special gimmick an anti-fingerprint coating that works really well. And last but not least the tapes, which come from a tannery near Pforzheim and are handmade in Southern Germany.
“The environmental aspect is also important to me, short distances and environmentally friendly production processes. No new raw materials had to be used at all for the plants, the housings are 100% recyclable. But this should not happen anyway, because the watches are qualitatively designed for a whole life.”
The history of PUW Werke
Circula Heritage: Historical clockworks in limited masterpieces
For the ‘heart’ of the Circula Heritage collection a real treasure could be lifted: Brand new, never used mechanical movements “Made in Pforzheim”. The Circula brand was founded in 1955 by the grandfather of the current owner.
To build new watches with these unique movements of the factory “Pforzheimer Uhren-Rohwerke (P.U.W.)” was a matter of heart for Cornelius. For this purpose, the historical and precise movements in Pforzheim were reassembled by hand, carefully regulated and installed in modern stainless steel cases with scratch-resistant sapphire glass. The dials were also built especially for this Heritage collection: A noble frame for these valuable movements, which were exclusively secured!
Die Heritage-Uhren gibt es mit dem P.U.W.-Kaliber 561 als Handaufzug, das Uhrwerk wurde 1971 vorgestellt. Für die Automatik-Uhr kommt das P.U.W. 1661s zum Einsatz, gebaut zwischen 1977 bis 1979 und eines der seltensten Uhrwerke aus deutscher Fertigung.
“Pforzheim Inside: Historical clockworks from the gold city!
In the beginning it was just a rumour: Historical, never used mechanical clockworks from Pforzheim were supposed to lie in a collector’s warehouse. And indeed: the rumour turned into real blue plastic boxes filled with plates, wheels, rotors, screws and everything else you need to assemble movements. This treasure was secured by Circula and the “Limited Edition” of the Heritage series was built from it.
Most people know Pforzheim as the gold city of Germany, known for its jewellery industry. However, Pforzheim is also a traditional home of the watch industry – and has been since 1767, when Margrave Carl Friedrich von Baden founded a watch factory in Pforzheim’s orphanage. In 1922 the watch and case industry already had 30 companies, ten years later the Pforzheimer Uhren-Rohwerke GmbH was founded. In 1933 the manufacturers Paul Dietrich and Arthur Wagner as well as the master watchmaker Rudolf Wehner were registered as managing directors. In the same year, the PUW 500 was the first caliber to be launched on the market. It was an 8 3⁄4 x 12-line form movement, suitable for round as well as barrel-shaped cases.
New movements were also created in cooperation with Junghans in Schramberg and UROFA Glashütte. The Second World War, however, put a spoke in the wheel: the factory was destroyed in a bombing raid on 23 February 1945. In 1946, however, production was resumed and the development of new plants was also boosted. In the 1950s, P.U.W. developed into the largest watch movement manufacturer in the Federal Republic of Germany. Circula also used the high-quality mechanical movements “Made in Pforzheim” at that time.
Circula Heritage Hand-Wound
“The increasing number of quartz watches from Asia brought the entire European watch industry to its knees, and in 1979 P.U.W. discontinued the production of mechanical movements. In 1990, the Swiss SMH – today known as SwatchGroup – took over the company.”
The P.U.W. caliber 561 was the basic handwound caliber of the factory’s penultimate movement series and was launched on the market in 1971. It meets the most modern and still valid quality requirements for mechanical movements, stable, reliable and accurate. With a Swiss lever escapement, Incabloc shock protection and an oscillation frequency of 21,600 vibrations per hour, it is precise and has a power reserve of 41 hours.
“Here the circle to Circula closes again: We found the movements from the late 70s, including spare parts, and were able to secure them for Circula. Both movements were carefully assembled, oiled and regulated after their return to Pforzheim and are ready to display the precise time after a long sleep for many decades! Of course, we also have enough spare parts to be able to restore any Circula Heritage to its original condition in the event of damage!“
Circula Heritage Hand-Wound
The historic P.U.W. movement from the 70s makes the Heritage manual winding a real piece of German watch history, limited to 499 pieces.
The limitation number is engraved both on the caseback and on the mainspring barrel bridge and combines both in a unique way. The design is inspired by the first Circula from 1955, which already used a P.U.W. movement.
- Handmade in Pforzheim, Quality Made in Germany
- Very rare and reliable German manual winding movement, P.U.W. caliber 561 from Pforzheim, Germany
- Scratch-resistant, double arched and double anti-reflective sapphire crystal
- 39 mm diameter and only 9.9 mm height
- Leather strap handmade in Germany with quick-change system
Gallery Circula Heritage Hand-Wound
You found Circula here:
Homepage: https://circulawatches.com/en/
Circula Heritage Handaufzug: https://circulawatches.com/heritage-handaufzug-circula/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/circulawatches
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/circulawatches/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4SQcsBYLkeWcceQsS2bnTA
All Photos: WATCHDAVID // Text: Circula & WATCHDAVID
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