“Don’t mess with success” is a mantra to which many watch brands subscribe; German luxury watch brand Glashütte Original, on the other hand, has adopted another piece of advice: “Don’t rest on your laurels.” As proof, witness the company’s subtle, yet significant, redesigns in its popular Pano Collection of timepieces, from which four new models made their debut last month at Baselworld. Click below for info, pricing and wallpaper images of the new watches.
The Pano watches arrived on the watch scene 12 years ago with the debut of the first PanoRetroGraph — a chronograph with an eye-catching asymmetrical dial and “retro” chronograph mechanism with 30-minute counter. A limited edition of 50 pieces in platinum that quickly sold out, it was succeeded by the first PanoGraph model in 2002, which incorporated many elements of the design, as did subsequent models like the PanoMatic Lunar, PanoReserve and PanoInverse.
The Pano watches making their debut in 2012 have larger cases (most growing from 39 mm to 40 mm; the PanoInverse XL has a 42-mm case) and more expansive dials due to the thinner bezels and Glashütte Original’s design decision to omit the chapter rings of previous models. Each new Pano model also features its own enhancements, which the company has incorporated for what it calls a more elegant, contemporary look.
The PanoGraph takes advantage of its larger case size and dial dimensions by moving the interlocking hour/minute and subsidiary seconds subdials to the left while leaving the large “Panorama” date display (a Glashütte specialty) at the 4 o’clock position. The 30-minute chronograph counter has three 10-minute scales with three separate pointers; the chrono pushers at 4 o’clock and 2 o’clock are labeled “START-STOP” and “FLY-BACK,” respectively, to indicate their function. The movement, manual-wind manufacture Caliber 61-03, has a column-wheel chronograph mechanism and features the traditional three-quarters plate with Glashütte waves decoration. The watch is in a rose gold case and comes with either a black or brown leather strap, which is slightly wider than the previous version. It is priced at $37,200.
The larger dial dimensions also aid the PanoReserve in achieving its clean, minimalist look. The big date is at 4 o’clock, next to the off-center hours, minutes and seconds and just below the stripped-down power-reserve indicator (labeled in the German “auf” and “ab” for “off” and “on,” respectively). The watch is powered by manual-wind manufacture Caliber 65-10, which has a 42-hour power reserve. the PanoReserve is now available in either a rose-gold edition with a silver dial ($21,500) or in two stainless steel versions (both $11,000), one with a silver dial, blued hands and blued steel indicator on the power reserve display; the other with a gray ruthenium dial, white-gold hands and a white-on-gray Panorama date.
The PanoInverse XL — a timepiece that essentially moved the back view of the watch to the front by a clever reworking of the movement — had the watch world buzzing when it debuted in 2008. The existing model in stainless steel upgrades this year to a 42-mm case that makes for an even bigger showcase for the three-quarter plate, the oscillating screw balance, and the movement’s most noteworthy piece of tech, the duplex swan’s-neck adjustment, which regulates the watch’s rate, all of which are visible from the dial side of the watch, along with the hours, minutes, small seconds, and power reserve. Glashütte original reworked all the plates and wheel-pinion subgroups in the movement, Caliber 66-04, to fit the new dimensions. The watch is $12,600 on an alligator strap and $13,600 on a steel bracelet. This year also sees the release of a rose-gold version of the PanoInverse XL, limited to 200 pieces ($24,900).
Finally, the PanoMaticLunar, the collection’s moon-phase model, retains its asymmetrical design but with a few adjustments: The hour-minute and small-seconds subdials remain aligned along a vertical axis left of the dial’s center, while the Panorama date and moon-phase display are positioned slightly to the lower and upper right, respectively. Fans of the brand will also note the smaller, more elegant indices and the lack of a bold Arabic “12″ in the hours/minutes subdial. The movement is Glashütte Original’s own Caliber 90-02. There are three new versions of thePanoMaticLunar: one in a rose-gold case with rose-gold hands and indices and a silver dial ($21,300); another in stainless steel with blued steel hands, silver hour indices and a silver dial; and another in steel with ruthenium dial, silver indices, and white-gold hands. Both steel versions are $10,800 on alligator straps and $12,000 on steel bracelets.
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