By Carl Scutt
In this Top 5, we put Swiss luxury on the back burner to look at this fine German brand.
The Glashütte name is synonymous with the production of quality made timepieces that far from being fussy, they remain steadfast in their precision German engineering entirely produced in-house. But where can we start on our quest to find the top 5 Glashütte pieces?
Glashütte have established a culture of excellence and creativity that stretches across the generations and it’s that continues to inspire us all. With this collection, it’s a case of what floats your boat and I can say without having to second guess myself, I have a personal favorite.
Which One Is The Best?
While this is initially a good question it’s really a misnomer because this isn’t what the Glashütte collection is about. They’re all equal under precision German engineering design, and all show the same attention to detail and style, and please don’t forget the in-house precision movements with exquisite detailing.
No, it’s not about which is best, it’s all about personal taste, it’s which one do you like, which one pulls on your heartstrings, or, which one makes you think of nothing but engineering perfection. This is the true leveller of the collection and you should just embrace the organic nature of attraction to go with the flow.
5. Glashütte Original Observer
The Senator Observer is Glashütte’s modern interpretation on a deck watch taking a lot of design cues from the original, such as the large power-reserve indicator for example. To the uninitiated among us, the deck watch is the hand-held pocket watch used by navigators as a backup to the ship’s marine chronometer, giving it something of a rich maritime history.
At the heart of the Observer is the self-winding calibre 100-14 with a 55-hour power reserve featuring Panoramic date at six o’clock and some really nice finishing touches like a three-quarter-plate construction with striping screw balance with 18 weighted screws, and a skeletonized rotor with 21 ct gold oscillation weight bevelled edges.
This all adds up to one nice piece completely made in-house to the high standards we’ve come to expect from German engineering for a very reasonable price of $11,800 on a strap, and $13,200 on a bracelet.
Points to consider:
31.15 mm diameter case housing the Calibre 100-14 Glashütte Original manufactory movement, with 60 Jewels, 55-hour power reserve, running at a frequency of 28,800 vph.
4. Glashütte Original Sixties
The Glashütte Original vintage Sixties is an iconic design that embodies the highest level of German matchmaking excellence in terms of design and functionality.
Unquestionably, inspired by its own history during the cold days of Soviet occupation the Glashütte Original Sixties shines bright amongst its sister stars, offering four wonderful flavors, all beautifully and subtlety crafted to wholehearted give a nod to the Sixties.
At 42mm the case size is large but never cumbersome, with a beautiful selection of refined dial colors against Stainless Steel, Rose Cold, cases.
The beating heart of this piece is another in-house build, the Calibre 39-52 that’s easy to view and quietly admired through its sapphire crystal case back. Offering features like the 40-hour power reserve and a swan-neck fine adjustment, the Glashütte three-quarter plate with Glashütte stripe finish and a skeletonized rotor with oscillating weight with bevelled edges in 21-carat gold. All these delights are uniformly priced at $9,700.
Points to consider:
26 mm diameter case housing the Calibre 39-52 Glashütte Original manufactory movement, with 25 Jewels, 40-hour power reserve, running at a frequency of 28,800 vph.
3. Glashütte Original PanoReserve
The PanoReserve is a manual winding piece housing the Calibre 65-01 with 42-hour power reserve and 48 jewels to give it a smooth and long lasting life. Again, the sapphire crystal case back offers a clear view into the characteristic Glashütte duplex swan-neck fine adjustment. The now expected Glashütte three-quarter plate with Glashütte stripe finish now has a hand-engraved balance cock.
The most recent Pano models are offered in red gold with a choice of matt black Louisiana Alligator leather strap or a Louisiana Alligator nubuck strap, the stainless steel are worn with a dark blue calf’s leather or Louisiana Alligator strap. Either way, they are beautiful examples of this German brand that creates intricate design while maintaining a sense of minimalism.
Points to consider:
A 32.2 mm diameter case housing the Calibre 65-01 Glashütte Original manufactory movement, with 48 Jewels, 42-hour power reserve, running at a frequency of 28,800 vph.
2. Glashütte Original Pano Lunar Tourbillon
The flying tourbillon has been around some time and originally developed in Germany in the early 1900s, so what better way to celebrate this than the Pano Lunar Tourbillion than in this lovely piece. As you would imagine it’s all about the tourbillion with a view from the front and the rear of the case. So much so, there is a blued-steel indicator on the cage to further cement the notion of the tourbillion doubling as a seconds indicator.
The overall design is very Glashütte, although it’s been argued by some, the asymmetric design that’s a hallmark of Glashütte may well have been born from the Lange 1 watches of A. Lange & Sohne, a competitor, but whether this is the case or not, there is no mistaking the stable these clean offset lines hailed from.
Again the piece has the Glashütte three-quarter plate with stripe finish screw balance Breguet-spring fine adjustment by adjustment screws and the skeletonized rotor with 21 ct gold oscillation weight.
Points to consider:
A 32.2 mm diameter case housing the Calibre 93-02 Tourbillon Glashütte Original manufactory movement, with 48 Jewels, 48-hour power reserve, running at a frequency of 21,600 vph.
1. Glashütte Original Seventies Panorama Date
The seventies is another era that made waves, although not all of them something to be proud of. Starsky and Hutch may have been cool but uncomfortably tight jeans with 30-inch bellbottoms worn by the likes of the B-Gees et al, were never going to be a seen as a high point in the era that taste almost forgot. Having said this, the seventies did introduce a certain amount of chic, watches being one item that survived the decade.
The Seventies Panorama Date is a nice example of how a modern watch can give a firm nod to the past without harming its future. Complete with a domed sapphire crystal case back it offers a view of its finely finished movement, that’s so characteristically Glashütte.
Maintaining rich traditions of watchmaking Glashütte Original have taken the seventies as its cues to offer an exquisitely finished piece with a three-quarter plate with stripe finish smooth balance rim swan-neck fine adjustment and again, the skeletonized rotor in 21 ct gold oscillation weight with bevelled and polished edges.
At a price around $7000 this is going to be a popular timepiece for serious collectors.
I will go out on a limb here, stand up to be counted and say proudly, the Seventies Panorama Date is the one that get my blood running. The seventies was okay sometimes, right?
Points to consider:
A 30.95 mm diameter case housing the Calibre 39-47 Glashütte Original manufactory movement, with 39 Jewels, 40-hour power reserve, running at a frequency of 28,800 vph.
