MeisterSinger is marking its 25th anniversary with a new flagship family, the Panthero Jumping Hour.
The headline is in the complication: rather than a single hour hand, a jumping hour window at 12 o’clock is framed by a single minutes hand in an offset subdial.
A particularly eye-catching limited edition piece features radial silver guilloché.
MeisterSinger has spent the last quarter-century arguing for a different relationship with time. While most watches are built around ever-greater precision — more hands, more scales, more information — the Münster, Germany-based brand has made its name with mechanical single-hand watches that do the opposite. The idea is straightforward: time doesn’t need to be divided into minutes and seconds to feel meaningful. And it’s not even a purely modern provocation; for centuries, clocks and early watches commonly relied on a single hand, with minute and seconds indications only becoming widespread later.
Over 25 years, that philosophy has turned into a recognisable design code. MeisterSinger describes its look as being inspired by classic measuring instruments: minimalist, balanced, and resolutely functional. The brand positions itself as an owner-managed, family-run company producing watches to “Swiss Made” quality standards, and it has expanded the single-hand idea across a catalogue that can incorporate additional complications when they suit the concept.
For 2026, MeisterSinger is marking this 25th anniversary with a new flagship family rather than a simple celebratory reissue. It’s called the Panthero Jumping Hour, and it’s pitched as a clean-sheet creation: a newly developed case, a new movement designation, and a display that keeps the brand’s calm spirit while rethinking how the information is presented.
The headline is in the complication. The hour appears in a perfectly round jumping-hour window, changing with exact precision on the hour, hour after hour. Instead of using a central hour hand as the star of the show, minutes are indicated by a single, finely sculpted hand that doesn’t originate from the dial centre. It traces its path across an off-centre, superimposed minute ring that sits like a layer above the dial surface. The reimagined geometry gives the dial a sense of depth and a distinctive order: it reads intuitively, yet looks different enough to make you pause for a second — which, for MeisterSinger, is kind of the point.
That sense of architecture is helped along by the case. The Panthero arrives in a newly developed 40.5mm stainless steel case with an extremely slim bezel, acting more like a frame for the dial’s layout than a boundary. MeisterSinger calls out the refined finishing of the side flanks and the interplay between polished and brushed surfaces, plus a spiral-shaped crown as a distinctive signature. A subtly domed sapphire crystal sits up top, while the exhibition caseback is secured with four screws; despite the dressy presentation, water resistance is rated to 50 metres.
A small detail gives the Panthero a different rhythm from the average MeisterSinger. On the dial sits a circular element that rotates once per second, formed from the fermata logo and styled to evoke a sun. The brand is careful not to describe it as a conventional seconds display: the “sun wheel” is framed as measuring nothing and counting nothing, but quietly revealing that the movement is always at work. In practice, it’s a subtle, almost meditative pulse, adding life without turning the watch into a stopwatch.
Inside is the calibre MS-JH-01, based on the Sellita SW300 and refined with a module designed to drive the jumping-hour display. It’s an automatic movement with a stated 47 hours of power reserve, visible through the display back. MeisterSinger adds some on-theme finishing theatre via the rotor silhouette, inspired by three interlocking fermatas, with anthracite details used for the logo.
MeisterSinger is launching the Panthero family with a clear two-pronged strategy. First, there’s the collector-facing anniversary edition: a strictly limited guilloché dial model capped at 25 pieces, one for each year of the brand’s history. The dial is crafted entirely by hand on a historical, manually operated guilloché machine, cut line by line — a slow, exacting process that makes each dial genuinely individual. In a catalogue best known for crisp lacquer and graphic restraint, a proper hand-guilloché dial reads as a deliberate flex of craftsmanship. On that limited piece, the minute track, the hand, and the sun wheel are executed in metallic anthracite to stand out against the silver guilloché. It comes on a brown calf leather strap with crocodile embossing.
Alongside it sit the two series standard production models, which look likely to be the practical gateway into the new family. Both use high-gloss lacquer dials — in black or white — with a finish compared to fine piano lacquer. The black version uses white elements for the minute track, hand, and sun motif, paired with a glossy black calfskin strap with crocodile embossing. The white version flips the contrast with black dial elements, keeping the strap tone-on-tone for a cleaner, dress-led look. MeisterSinger also notes the Panthero can be paired with Milanese, vintage, or other leather straps, hinting at a case design intended as a platform for future variations.
Closing thoughts
The more interesting question is what Panthero says about where MeisterSinger wants to go next. The brand calls it the new “hero” of its collection and says additional variants are already planned, which suggests this isn’t a one-off anniversary flourish. Conceptually, it makes sense: a jumping hour introduces a crisp mechanical “event” once every sixty minutes, while the off-centre minutes keep the dial uncluttered and the reading experience relaxed – whilst making the watch strictly more functional.
If MeisterSinger’s usual single-hand watches are about de-emphasising exactitude, the Panthero does something a little more nuanced — offering certainty at the top of the hour, then letting the minutes sweep calmly around that off-centre track. The sun wheel, turning once per second, becomes a constant reminder of motion, but a quiet one, and that balance between clarity and atmosphere may be the reason Panthero feels less like a novelty and more like a new cornerstone.
MeisterSinger Panthero Jumping Hour pricing and availability
The MeisterSinger Panthero Jumping Hour models are available to purchase directly from MeisterSinger or its retailers worldwide from March 2026. Price: €6,990 (standard production models), €7,990 (limited edition model)
Brand
MeisterSinger
Model
Panthero Jumping Hour
Case Dimensions
40.5mm (D)
Case Material
Stainless steel
Water Resistance
50 meters
Crystal(s)
Sapphire front and back
Dial
Glossy black or white (standard production)
Radial silver-tone guilloché (limited edition model)
Strap
Calf leather with crocodile embossing
Movement
MS-JH-01, Sellita SW300 base with jumping hour module, automatic
Power Reserve
47 hours
Functions
Jumping hours, minutes, “sun wheel”
Availability
From March 2026
Price
€6,990 (standard production models)
€7,990 (limited edition model)