By Dhananjay Pathak
It’s only been a few days since I wrote about a new watch, wherein I talked about a dearth of GMT watches in the market and expressed my happiness whenever I saw a new one release. So, here I am today with an even bigger smile on my face introducing another new dual time watch from German brand Glashütte Original. The Senator Cosmopolite as it is called is a travel watch which was released back in 2015 in white and red gold respectively, making it a functional timepiece. And while the stainless steel version that you are looking at does come reasonable priced, it offers the same technical capabilities as its precious metal siblings at a relatively affordable price point, making it a compelling package.
The dial of the Glashütte Original Cosmopolite is well executed and thoughtfully laid out. The matt white base provides a sense of openness to the dial and nicely complements the black/blue color scheme used throughout the dial. The hour markers have been presented in the form printed blue Arabic numerals whereas the minute markings are these finely printed black batons along with applied/blued thicker batons at intervals of five. While this is quite a conventional configuration in the world of watches, it certainly lends a sporty flair to the watch when compared to its elder siblings which have Roman numerals for hours and a railroad style minute track. There is a large second’s subdial at 6 which balances out the sub-register at 12 which displays the home time and this also brings us down to the highlight of this watch, the multi-time zone function.
As you can see, one can read time in two time zones simultaneously by glancing at the dial of the Senator Cosmopolite. There are a total of 35 world time zones which can be tracked currently and each of them is displayed using an official IATA location code – for instance, LON represents London. But, as all time zones do not show a full-hour deviation this watch intelligently tackles it by showing, 24 time zones with a full-hour deviation using a black IATA code; eight time-zones with half-hour offsets in blue and the remaining three time zones using red IATA codes. Further to this the two windows at 8 enable the wearer to set standard and Daylight saving time. Both local and home time zones are also enhanced with individual day/night indication which allows for precise timekeeping. And finally, to wrap up the dial there is a big date display at 4 which like the rest of the dial is highly legible even from a distance.
The case on this version of the Glashütte Original Senator Cosmopolite is made out of 316L stainless steel and has a diameter of 44mm. While this is certainly a large size especially considering the dressy nature of this watch, it definitely sounds acceptable if one takes into account the sheer amount of information that is on display. There is a sapphire crystal on the top as well as the back, and the case is flanked by 3 crowns at 2, 4, and 8 which are used to set the home time, the city corresponding to the local time and the big date via a corrector at 9. Water resistance is marked at 5 bars which is quite decent for a watch of this type.
This watch is powered by Glashütte Original’s in-house automatic caliber 89-02 which comprises of over 400 parts. It operates at a frequency of 4 Hz, offering a power reserve of around 72 hours. The movement has been beautifully decorated and features the brand’s duplex swan-neck fine adjustment that allows for fine tuning of the movement for better accuracy. Energizing the movement is an off-center openwork rotor that features a double G logo and a 21k gold weight. The movement can be admired in all its glory through the wide sapphire crystal exhibition case-back.
The Glashütte Original Senator Cosmopolite is a handsome looking utilitarian wrist watch targeted towards the globetrotters of the modern world. And with this new stainless steel version, the brand has certainly made it a lot more accessible. The watch would come mated to a blue alligator leather strap with a steel buckle and would at a price of EUR 20,700 as compared to EUR 38,000 for the gold version. Experience more about these rare pieces and Glashütte Original’s Watchmaking Art.
