Glashütte Original Launches New Senator Excellence Models

By Paul Joseph

With the launch in the spring of 2016 of its manufactory Calibre 36 – the heart of the new Senator Excellence line – German luxury watchmakers Glashütte Original laid the cornerstone for a new generation of timepieces.

Now two new versions have joined the line-up: the  Senator Excellence Panorama Date and the Senator Excellence Panorama Date Moon Phase. Both models take up the promise of an assured new standard of quality, embodied in the Calibre 36 in its precision, running time, stability and aesthetics – with the Panorama Date and Moon Phase as characteristic elements of the art of watchmaking at Glashütte Original.

The Senator Excellence Panorama Date places the watchmaker's well-known date display at centre stage. The secret of its exceptional legibility lies in the mounting of two concentric display discs on the same level, which makes it possible to present the two numerals comprising the date without the central separation bar.

A precise jumping mechanism now enables even greater precision when the date changes at midnight. Refined details transform this useful function into a decorative stylistic element. A softly rounded window integrates the display into the dial in an elegant manner, and two subtle steps enhance, like a passe-partout, the impression of visual depth. The printed numerals are set off in deep black from the ivory-coloured ground.

The Senator Excellence Panorama Date Moon Phase combines the date display with a further characteristic element from Glashütte Original: the moon phase complication. A silvery moon travels along its path, glimpsed through a softly curving dial window between 10 and 11 o'clock. The display, executed in the firm's own dial manufactory in Pforzheim, Germany, is a refined expression of exquisite craftsmanship. Careful diamond milling renders the elegant curve of the moon, whose gently curving silhouette is set off by a starry, galvanic blue sky.

The two models are presented in a 40mm diameter case that is fashioned in precious red gold or cool stainless steel, both featuring polished and satin-brushed surfaces. A slim bezel and a domed sapphire crystal, reflective on both sides, offer generous views of the silver-grained dial and its laser-cut, galvanic black hour indexes and matching railroad chapter ring.

On the stainless steel model the finely drawn minute numerals are also lasercut and galvanized in black, while the red gold version features minute numerals printed in luminous red. Blued-steel pear-shaped hands and a filigree seconds hand render both timepieces easily legible. In both cases a black Louisiana alligator leather bracelet and pin buckle assure the wearer both elegance and comfort.

The watches are available to order from Harrods in London.

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By Paul Joseph