Hanhart tugs at its fans’ vintage heartstrings with the 415 ES, bringing back the winged logo
Buffy Acacia- The Hanhart 415 ES from the 1960s takes over from the 417 ES of the ’50s, with the return of the winged logo.
- Its red ring shows the rarely used industrial minutes scale of hundredths.
- It’s powered by the Sellita SW510 automatic chronograph, and priced at €2,390.
Chronographs have been Hanhart’s bread and butter since the 1920s, when the German brand rose to meet the demands of athletics competitions for affordable, reliable stopwatches. Naturally, that evolved into wrist-worn chronographs, and out came the models which are still best sellers today. The Hanhart 417 ES is the star of the show thanks to its association with Steve McQueen. However, the lesser-known Hanhart 415 ES from the 1960s has also returned to the catalogue, bringing along a nostalgic element that hasn’t been seen in decades.
It may not be known to the general public, but collectors of vintage chronographs will likely be thrilled by the sight of the Hanhart 415 ES’s printed logo. A pair of wings shooting off from each “h” in Hanhart propels the text forward, along with the italicisation making it feel like it’s zooming along. Whether your passions lie in the realms of motorsport of aviation, the logo captures the feeling of being pushed back in your seat by acceleration. The dial also includes a rather rare unit of measurement, indicated by a red ring and a scale of hundredths. An industrial minute is the same length as a regular minute, but it’s split up into 100 units. It’s pretty unlikely you’ll ever need to time yourself using industrial minutes, but it’s a cool historical curiosity and brings a nice touch of colour to the dial.
Overall, the reissued dial is extremely accurate to the 1960s original. The only glaring difference is the addition of a registered trademark symbol next to the Incabloc shock resistance, which is likely an unfortunate requirement of modern legalities. Still, having the Incabloc logo there is a nice touch for vintage accuracy. The brassy golden colour of the hands is something you don’t usually see, but it contributes to the overall warmth and aged effect of the dial, as does the yellowed Super-LumiNova in the pencil hands. Some may suggest that the minutes counter and running seconds sub-dials are a bit small, but it’s an accurate reproduction. Of course, there’s still a regular tachymeter around the dial’s perimeter for usual chronograph functionality.
Aiming to please the vintage purists, the Hanhart 415 ES is 39mm in diameter, which was pretty chunky at the time, but now meets a happy compromise between wrist presence and comfort. The 46mm lug-to-lug length should be versatile for any wrist, and the 13.5mm case thickness is relatively slender for an automatic chronograph with 100 metres of water resistance. The outer edges of the lugs are polished and the inner ones are brushed, providing class and ruggedness in equal measure. The watch also has a bi-directional, rotating, 60-click bezel with markers at five-minute intervals for keeping track of elapsed time separately to the chronograph.
The 415 ES is powered by the Sellita SW510 automatic chronograph movement, which is based on the architecture of the classic ETA/Valjoux 7750. The Sellita version has now been popular for several years, and is respected for its reliability, serviceability, and performance. It has a beat rate of 4Hz for a smooth sweep of the seconds hands, and a reserve of 58 hours offers plenty of power for the chronograph to run over long stretches of time. The movement is hidden by a solid caseback that features the Hanhart wing logo in polished relief over a sandblasted background.
Hanhart 415 ES price and availability
The Hanhart 415 ES is available now from Hanhart’s website. Price: €2,390 (~US$2,510)
| Brand | Hanhart |
| Model | 415 ES |
| Case Dimensions | 39mm (D) x 13.5mm (T) x 46mm |
| Case Material | Stainless steel |
| Water Resistance | 100 metres |
| Crystal(s) | Sapphire with anti-reflective coating |
| Dial | Black |
| Bracelet and strap | Black, light brown, or dark brown calfskin leather |
| Movement | Sellita SW510, automatic |
| Power Reserve | 58 hours |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, seconds, chronograph |
| Availability | Available now |
| Price | €2,390 |