Maritime beauty

Nautical Instruments and Timepieces

Since 1994 we at Nautische Instrumente Mühle-Glashütte have been manufacturing marine chronometers and ship clock systems for professional shipping. We found that nautical instruments in general have a special kind of beauty. That is why this maritime world of hands, dials and brass housings should not only be on board of a ship. And so we have ship clocks, barometers, thermometers and hygrometers in their nautical form for your home or for the office.

Marine Navigation Set

The marine navigation set by Nautische Instrumente Mühle-Glashütte combines traditional instruments into an astronomical position-finding system for use at sea. The set contains two high-grade instruments from leading manufacturers, namely a Mühle marine chronometer and a Freiberger drum sextant. The drum sextant made by Freiberger Präzisionsmechanik allows exact measurements of the elevation angle between the ship/visible horizon and ship/celestial body lines of sight. In addition, horizontal angle measurements are possible near the coast. Moreover, the sextant features sensitively adjustable mirrors of tested surface evenness. Finally, a large telescopic field of vision and a protective eyecup ensure easy position finding. The technical specifications of the chronometer used in the marine navigation set correspond to those of the quartz marine chronometer.

Quartz Marine Chronometer

We considerably exceed the requirements laid down for chronometers by the DIN standard 8319. The outstanding accuracy of our chronometers is achieved by means of ultra-modern electronics with a selected artificially aged and temperature-stabilized 4.19 MHz piezoelectric quartz. As with all Mühle products, the readability of the timepiece stands in the forefront. Our chronometers have a clear non-reflecting face with a separate scale for the second hand, which moves smoothly without vibrations. The time can also be read when the lid is closed. The battery can be changed without interrupting the action: The chronometer will continue to run for at least 5 minutes and it is not necessary to reset the time. In view of its reliability, functional capability and easy handling, our nautical chronometer is also suitable for use in industry and research.

Yacht Chronometer LUXUS

Extreme precision: The LUXUS Yacht Chronometer comes with a quartz movement with a start-stop switch. It can be operated using one commercially available 1.5V baby battery. The valuable mahogany case is impeccably finished with brilliant polyester varnish. The brass corner inlays are gold plated in order to prevent oxidation under the varnish at a later point in time.

Yacht-Chronometer ECO

Precision without compromise: The ECO Yacht Chronometer has a quartz battery movement with a start-stop switch and can be operated using one commercially available 1.5V baby battery. The elegant mahogany case is varnished with a special transparent lacquer to withstand the roughest conditions on board.

Traditional timekeeping on board

Nautical clocks and instruments

Our ship’s clocks and nautical instruments are robust precision instruments that fear neither storms nor high waves. Even if they are in their element on board a yacht – our ship’s clocks, barometers, thermometers and hygrometers also feel very comfortable at home or in the office. The instruments are available in different diameters: 120, 140 and 180 millimeters.

Mühle Ship‘s Bell Clock

The ship’s bell clock was invented at the end of the 19th century. The name of the bell clock derives from the signal given by the ship’s bell, which was originally timed using an hourglass. The hourglass was suspended above the ship’s wheel on sailing vessels, close to the ship’s bell. The hourglass was used to divide the daily duties aboard a ship into 6 shifts lasting 4 hours each.

As is generally still the case nowadays, changeovers took place at 4am, 8am, 12pm, 4pm, 8pm and midnight. When 8 bells rang, this indicted a changeover and the on-duty helmsman turned the hourglass. After half an hour, the sand had run through from the top half of the hourglass to the bottom. One ring of the bell indicated that the first half an hour of the shift had passed. After the second half an hour, the hourglass was turned again and the helmsman used two rings of the bell to make it known that the second half an hour of the shift had passed. With each further half an hour, one ring of the bell was added until 8 bells (= 4 hours of the shift) had been reached and the next changeover took place.

The bell clapper was operated in a specific rhythm: The full hours were sounded by a double stroke (forward and backward stroke), with the second ring being slightly louder. Then there was a short pause before the next rings sounded. For example at 12 o’clock, there were 8 bells: ding-ding, ding-ding, ding-ding, ding-ding, or at 9.30: ding-ding, ding. The ship’s bell clock took over the function of the hourglass and bell. Technology made it possible to perfectly reproduce the rhythm of rings and the sound of the bell whilst also indicating the exact time. Our ship’s bell clocks retain the atmosphere of life on board and succeed in striking the right note on land too.

Tide Clock

Size Ø 180 mm
Depth 90 mm
Casing polished brass or stainless steel
Face white

State-of-the-art

Automated Marine Time Systems

The passion for precise measurement runs like a red thread through the history of Mühle-Glashütte. It was therefore not difficult to build on this long tradition and develop chronometers, ship’s clocks and a new generation of ship’s secondary clocks. We know that the “life” of our ship’s clocks on board is not always easy: constantly in motion, surrounded by salty air, different climatic conditions. All the more important are not only precision and readability, but also reliability and robustness.

The Control Center of Automated Clock Systems

Mühle TCS-1

Professional navigation has particular requirements when it comes to automated clock systems. The Mühle TCS-1 is exactly tailored to meet these requirements, as it can not only be easily integrated into the existing on-board Ethernet, but can also be configured via WLAN. Thus it combines up-to-date technologies that make life on board that little bit easier.

Mühle clock systems are not only suitable for ships, but also for airports and business premises. The TCS-1 (Time Control System) is the control center of automated clock systems and supplies the time protocol for an unlimited number of additional clocks and all integrated automization systems. It therefore enables, for example, quick and automatic time zone conversion or the timesaving changeover from summertime to wintertime.

The entire clock system can be controlled from a central location. Normally settings are adjusted using the bright and dimmable touch screen of the TCS-1, which is also clearly readable, even in direct sunlight. The TCS-1 can display up to three times simultaneously: Universal Time Coordinated and Local Time on the analogue display and a further time zone (at sea, for example, the home location time or the destination port time) on the digital display. The intelligent 24-hour display of the TCS-1 has been particularly well thought out, with the analogue displays for the Universal Time Coordinated and the Local Time designed with changing hour markers. In the morning the hour markers 1 to 12 are displayed and from midday to midnight the hour markers 13 to 24 are displayed. This means that for any of the three time zones, you can tell whether it’s night or day at first glance.

Intelligent Secondary Clocks

The intelligent secondary clocks from Nautische Instrumente Mühle-Glashütte have an analogue mechanism with a microcomputer and optoelectronic hand position recognition. They receive the time information once per second via Ethernet or RS485 data line from the master clock. After this, or when the power supply is reattached, the slave clock synchronizes independently. This system provides the following advantages: A quick and automatic time zone switchover, e.g. on ships. The individual switchover of the slave clocks from Universal Time Coordinated to Local Time and vice versa. A quick and automatic switchover from summer to winter time, e.g. in airports.