The MeisterSinger Panthero Jumping Hour Celebrates The Brand’s 25th Anniversary
There’s something in the water of the watch world. No idea what it is, but it’s making brands launch jump-hour watches. It started in 2025 with Cartier, Bremont, and Chronoswiss, to name but a few, and this year, Audemars Piguet presented a mechanical digital watch. The MeisterSinger Panthero Jumping Hour is yet another watch that uses jumping digits to tell time. The 25th anniversary of the brand from Münster, Germany, is the occasion for a timepiece that comes in no less than three “flavors” — one limited edition and two regular-collection models — to make sure everybody can enjoy the “birthday cake.”
Let me get something off my mind before introducing you to the three versions of the MeisterSinger Panthero Jumping Hour. The new creations cause some confusion. For 25 years, MeisterSinger has been sharing its philosophy of time — a one-handed display of it that gently invites you to slow down. A single hand doesn’t really tell time when you glance at it; it merely suggests what time it is. The Panthero Jumping Hour has a single hand, but it also features the complete opposite — a digital hour indicator. Is this celebratory MeisterSinger a contradiction that defies the brand’s original philosophy? Is a birthday party the right moment to do so? Answers are sorely needed.
The MeisterSinger Panthero Jumping Hour celebrates the brand’s 25th anniversary
The idea of a single-handed watch that consciously dispenses with hands for minutes and seconds is the philosophy that MeisterSinger is celebrating as it marks its 25th birthday. What better way to do it than with a watch that displays minutes with a hand and the hours digitally? Sorry, what? Exactly. The new Panthero Jumping Hour is a fresh creation featuring a jump-hour mechanism. Still, according to the brand itself, the new watch, available in three dial variations, is unmistakably MeisterSinger. That’s because the Panthero displays the time in the brand’s signature minimalist, calm, and intuitive way.
That might be true, but the digital hour at 12 o’clock, revealed through a perfectly circular aperture, advances with crisp precision from one hour to the next, and that leaves nothing to the imagination. The minute hand makes a full turn once every hour along an offset, superimposed minute ring. The newly conceived geometry creates a sense of depth and balance while tying the dial together, so to speak.
Something spins 360 degrees every minute; what is that?
So, the Panthero features a digital hour indicator and a minute hand. But what’s that fan-like object at 6 o’clock? It’s a circular element that rotates as the seconds pass. Its form is derived from the fermata, which is MeisterSinger’s logo and a sign indicating a prolonged note or rest in a music score. The spinning wheel evokes the image of a radiant sun, but it neither measures nor counts anything, so in a way, it follows the MeisterSinger philosophy. At the same time, the fast-spinning wheel shows the continuous flow of time. It also reveals that the movement is working within. The effect is subtle, maybe even meditative, and along with the digital hour display, it signals a new accent within the MeisterSinger universe.
Inside lies the caliber MS-JH-01, based on the proven Sellita SW300, displaying time in two ways and making the sun wheel spin. It requires a special module designed to drive the jump-hour display. You can try to figure out how it works by taking a closer look at it through the display case back. Clearly visible is the rotor’s silhouette, inspired by the outline of three interlocking fermatas.
Making a new case for MeisterSinger
Before looking at the three dial variations of the Panthero, let’s examine the case. The 40.5mm steel housing shows a new design. Viewed from the front, the ultra-slim bezel serves as a discreet frame, allowing the dial to take center stage. The case features a spiral-shaped crown with the brand’s fermata logo and polished and brushed surfaces. A subtly domed sapphire crystal on the front is complemented by an exhibition case back that offers a view of the movement.
Three dials — one limited, two for the collection
The new Panthero product family premieres with a limited guilloché edition of just 25 pieces — one for each year in the history of MeisterSinger. The silver dial is decorated entirely on a historic, manually operated guilloché machine. Encircling the intricate dial is a minute track in metallic anthracite, the same color used for the minute hand and the sun-shaped wheel.
Alongside the anniversary edition, two regular-collection timepieces debut with high-gloss-lacquered dials in deep black and pure white. The deep, rich sheen of those dials is reminiscent of fine piano lacquer. On the black version, the hand and sun wheel appear in crisp white and are paired with a glossy black calfskin strap featuring crocodile embossing. The white-lacquered model reverses the contrast, with black dial elements and a tone-on-tone crocodile-embossed strap. In case you don’t like straps, the Panthero is also available with a Milanese bracelet.
The 25-piece guilloché limited edition of the MeisterSinger Panthero Jumping Hour will become available in March and cost €7,990. The regular-collection models will debut at the same time, and each of those references will retail for €6,990.
What do you make of the new Panthero Jumping Hour, and what do you think of a MeisterSinger with a minute hand, a digital hour display, and a spinning fermata-inspired wheel? I would love to read your thoughts in the comments section below.
