BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
Glashütte Original’s Pano range of watches is undoubtedly its most iconic. Its most prominent feature is its offset display on the dial, whereby the time is set in one part, then the other elements, like the date and running seconds, sit elsewhere on the dial. This split-up layout isn’t unique to Glashütte Original, but it is unique to the little village of Glashütte, where most of Germany’s most prestigious watches are crafted.
With this new limited-edition model of the PanoMaticCalendar, Glashütte Original pays tribute to the dedication of its talented watchmakers, who are apparently at work quite early in the morning, before sunrise. The “Blue of Dawn” dial is the biggest hint at this, but it’s also just a really classy colour for a watch dial. Morning larks, eh? I just cannot function that early without loads of coffee.
The watch’s dial follows the split-up design I mentioned in the first paragraph, but it’s been embellished with a view to the movement via some openworking. The time is displayed to the left of the dial and has hands with applied lume for easy nighttime reading; the subseconds overlap with the hours and minutes. To the bottom right is the Panorama Date display, which uses two disks to show the date numbers. Take a second look that way and you’ll spot the subtle month indicator set into the outer edge of the dial, yeah, I missed it too at first. We also have a moonphase display in the upper right. Classy stuff.
Through the open caseback, you’ll find the self-winding calibre 92-11. If you’re familiar with watchmaking from this part of the world, you might be able to spot that the calibre 92-11 follows the traditional movement construction found in Glashütte. Most of the view of the calibre is obscured by the striped three-quarter plate, atop which sits the 21k gold rotor with the Glashütte Original Double G logo. Underneath that plate sits the mechanism for the PanoMaticCalendar’s annual calendar, which means that the watch adjusts for the ends of every month bar February. Watches that can adjust for the length of February and thus know when a leap year is are called perpetual calendar watches. The balance wheel is offset to the three-quarter plate and is set beneath a hand-engraved bridge with a double swan’s neck regulator atop that. This movement beats at 4Hz and has a power reserve of around 100 hours.
All of that sits neatly in a 42mm x 12.4mm case, which is made of platinum and features 50m of water resistance. Attached to the case is a Louisiana alligator leather strap with a platinum folding clasp. A synthetic fabric strap with the platinum folding clasp is also available.
Glashütte Original’s tribute to the sunrises its dedicated watchmakers regularly witness is a classy affair. Although green is now en vogue in horology, having taken over from blue, I do like it when a watchmaker gets a rich blue just right. Prices for these watches with the blue done just right are $43,800USD and they are limited to 150 pieces, they’re available through Glashütte Original boutiques and selected dealers worldwide.
