In the Spring of 2010, Glashütte Original introduced the then-new Senator Sixties Panorama Date (ref. 1-39-52-06-02-04) three-hander. Its main selling point? You are getting the original vintage-styled timepiece that now sports their signature Panorama Date complication: a feature that looks your run-off-the-mill “big date” look like a crude kid’s toy.
Ah, the Sixties. The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Beatles.Decolonization and the Vietnam War. The hippies and the mini-skirt. Also, bikini.
The British Motor Corporation makes a fortune on the first Mini compact cars: the first compacts that offered not only affordable prices, but also comfort, superior handling, and performance. Ford makes a fortune on the Mustang. Mao’s Red Guards harass and practically annihilate the Chinese intellectual elite, while the Soviets bring a man into space. Hitchcock films Psycho and the Birds.
Yes, those were the days.
I am 36 right now and was not present at the time, but, by the enthusiastic way eyewitnesses describe it, the decade was much better than the Eighties.
No wonder I liked the, err, original Senator Sixties so much. And I like the Senator Sixties Panorama Date even better.
The secret is the “Panorama Date” part of the name. Although stripping the watch of its “vintage” adjective, the complication builds a kind of a bridge that unites the latest vintage-style Senator Sixties with GO’s “modern” collection, most of which also feature the panorama date display as well as the German brand’s trademark off-centered hour and minute display area.
The Panorama Date is Glashutte Original’s proprietary complication that features a pair of coaxial and coplanar disks with the smaller inner disk bearing numerals 0, 1, 2, 3 and the larger outer disk featuring numerals from 0 to 9.
Thanks to its compact design, the complication allows the watchmaker to place the big date window virtually at any place of their liking, not only at the outer part of the dial, as it usually happens with standard movements from ETA and their numerous clones and ahem derivative works.
Some commentators were completely flabbergasted with the design (or, rather, with the standard typeface used to display the date that, to their disgust, contradicted the font family of the stylized 3, 6, 9, and 12 Arabic numerals.) To me, and I am impartial here, the choice is organically balanced with the “Glashutte I/SA” logo placed right atop the date window.
Delivered in a mid-size 42 mm x 12.4 mm stainless steel case, the Senator Sixties comes equipped with a choice of two –black and silvered– dials.
The black dial features white gold hands and hour indexes as well as diamond-cut hour markers and white on black date window. The Arabic numerals are painted in white. The one with the silvered dial comes with black Arabic numerals, rose gold hands, diamond-cut hour markers, and the date in black on white.
The sapphire case back allows a terrific view of the Caliber 39-47 manufacture automatic movement. And, believe me, it is a real pleasure to regard the mechanism, which is decorated with truly German ice-cold elegance.
At a recommended price of around $8000, this one is a truly must-have for just about any true aficionado with a thick wallet and good taste.
See also: 2010MY IWC Portuguese Automatic 7 Days Power Reserve
Photos: Glashütte Original
Glashütte Original Senator Sixties Panorama Date (ref. 1-39-52-06-02-04) specification
Price range: $8000 (MSRP)
Movement: Caliber GO 39-47, in-house, flat spring, Incabloc shock protection, polished steel parts, swan-neck fine adjustment, 30.95 mm in diameter, 5.9 mm in height, Made in Germany
- Winding: Automatic
- Jewels: 39
- Decoration: Glashütte three-quarter plate with stripe finish, skeletonized rotor with 21-ct gold oscillation weight
- Frequency: 28,800 vph
- Complications: Panorama Date at 6 o’clock
- Power reserve: 40 hours
Case: Stainless steel
Shape: Round
Size: 42.00 mm
Case height: 12.40 mm
Dial: Black (ref. 39-47-03-02-04) / Silvered (ref. 39-47-01-02-04) / Blue (39-47-06-02-04)
Numerals: Arabic
Hands: Rose (Silvered dial) or White (Black & Blue dials) gold with luminous spots on the hours
Water resistance: 30 meters
Strap: Black Louisiana Alligator leather strap
Crystal: Sapphire, antireflective
Back: Sapphire