Well, this was an unplanned purchase, and a very exiting one! I never actually saw this watch before at it has limited distribution to only five cities world wide, but once I saw it at Dubai I had to have it. Mine is No. 40
This is going to be a hard review for me to do as I am absolutely overwhelmed by the watch, but I will do my best.
Let me start out by saying that this watch is an absolute bargain at 25K retail, even though you cant get steep discounts on them due to the popularity and limited production and distribution. You can still get it for around 19,500 USD (just under what an RG TransOcean would cost
) Glashutte seem to have aggressively priced this piece to gain interest of collectors, they have succeeded in this case and I am a new convert!I have been looking to add something from the Glashutte family of watchmaking for some time, and I initially intended on the PanoInverse, but ultimately decided I wanted something more.
On to the watch, the main characteristic of the watch are its extensively decorated and complex column wheel chronograph movement that also contains a very useful counter and big date display function, the 72 jewel movement is made up of 514 parts and is a perfect introduction to high end horology for a number of reasons, first of all the column wheel chronograph is known to be the technically most advanced chronograph movement, and also presents the highest quality in terms of aesthetics. Glashutte designed the constructions of this watch so that it offers separation between the winding mechanism and the chronograph movement, so you get the best of both worlds, as opposed to a slide way mechanism. Additionally this is a flyback mechanism!
the skeltonized rotor is something to behold, with the large 21kt gold double G logo and perfect hand finishing.
Here you can see the balance cock and swan neck, which has been finely hand decorated as is the Glashutte fashion:
Here are a few more movement pictures, notice the beveled edges! This is a hallmark of higher quality brands like A Lange, and sometimes, Patek! Also hard to miss is the bridges with Glashutte ribbed finish! The movement is framed by a 24kt gold rim and features blued screws throughout.
The caliber has a three quarter plate and features Glashutte's renowned intelligent winding mechanism as well as a 42 hour power reserve. Under the loupe, you can easly see that fine care has been applied to every facet of the movement, from the functional and visual aspects.
The dial is simply breathtaking, and has to be seen to be appreciated. These pics do not do the watch justice, the dial has a number of elements that add up to a very 3D effect, for instance the date and counter display are quite deep and the edges are faceted and have an internal mirror like edge, which can be seen in this pic.
Additionally, the main center chrono seconds display is raised at only some sides by the dame dial material, which makes it seem as if it is suspended between the dial and crystal. also the subdials are sunken in quite a bit.
Also, the numerals, indices, and hands are made out of white gold and are extremely curved which adds allot of character and sense of depth.
The dial is then framed by a faceted edge that indicates the functions in different colors, all in all these details comprise a watch that is VERY interesting to look at and has a trues sense of levels.
The watch screams quality and attention to detail like no other I have seen, including A Lange or Patek watches. For instance the chronograph movement pushers do not have the usual resistence that you would experience in other watches.
Also, the counter pushers have been very well thought out, the middle one increases the count, the lower decreases it, and are engraved so as to be recognizable by touch, while the top button which resets to zero not only feels and looks different, but has a higher resistance and requires a full push, so as to minimize mistakes! Thats attention to detail my friends!
Its not all rainbows and large breasts in Glashutte land however, as there is one unfortunate consequence to having the large counter at its position, mainly the large seconds counter provides exceptional readability but makes it dificult to read the minutes counter when it is at 6 and 7, you have to remember that a partially obsucered minutes hand is 6, and fully obscured is 7.from minute 8 all the way to five is perfect, but still a downside!
The handsome case is 44MM wide and very well finished and polished, it wears slightly larger I suspect due to the watch being all dial and being surrounded by pushers all over.
The watch comes with an excellent alligator strap, and one of the best deployments I have ever seen:
All in all I am absolutely delirious with joy over this pick up
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