The New Glashütte Original PanoMaticCalendar Puts German Watchmaking Into the Spotlight
Annual calendars—that is, watches that display the day, date, and month—have been around for decades, but Glashütte Original’s new PanoMaticCalendar offers a new take on this grand complication, one that could only have been made in Glashütte. The result of a newly-developed in-house movement featuring a moon phase indicator as well as the requisite day-date-month displays, the new PanoMaticCalendar is one of Glashütte Original’s most notable creations of recent years. With its classical finishing, innovative dial configuration, and two distinct versions, it’s designed for those who appreciate traditional watchmaking with a German twist.
Glashütte Original PanoMaticCalendar
Glashütte Original PanoMaticCalendar
Glashütte Original PanoMaticCalendar
Glashütte Original PanoMaticCalendar
Glashütte Original PanoMaticCalendar
Glashütte Original PanoMaticCalendar
Glashütte Original PanoMaticCalendar
A German Original
As its name suggests, all Glashütte Original watches are produced in Glashütte, Germany. The company now known as Glashütte Original traces its roots back to the 1840s, when Ferdinand Adolph Lange (considered the father of modern German watchmaking) petitioned the government to open a watch factory in Glashütte, a small town near the Czech border. Inspired by the latest Swiss innovations in production, watches here would be made by specialists, each of whom focused on one part of the process—a method that is now standard practice for all high-end watchmakers. Watchmaking flourished in Glashütte and continued there following World War II when the watch industry was nationalized under communist rule. In the 1990s, following German reunification, Glashütte Original’s modern life began.
A New Member of the Family
The new PanoMaticCalendar joins other creations like the PanoLunarTourbillon and PanoGraph in the brand’s asymmetrical Pano watch family and provides a counterpoint to Glashütte’s classical Senator and sporty Spezialist collections. Featuring a new in-house movement with an impressive 100 hours of power reserve, the PanoMaticCalendar indicates the time, date, and phases of the moon across five highly legible displays. The large subdial is dedicated to hours and minutes, with seconds in an offset subdial just below, a moon phase display, a retrograde month, and a large gold-framed (on the gold version) “Panorama Date” window. As with all annual calendars, this watch needs to be adjusted just once a year, on March 1st, while the moon phase is estimated to be accurate for 122 years.
Glashütte Original PanoMaticCalendar
Glashütte Original PanoMaticCalendar
Glashütte Original PanoMaticCalendar
Glashütte Original PanoMaticCalendar
Glashütte Original PanoMaticCalendar
Fine Details
Produced in highly limited numbers (just 150 in the case of the platinum version with its black skeleton dial; the other while not technically a “limited-edition” is nonetheless subject to highly limited production numbers) the PanoMaticCalendar reveals attention to detail at every turn, from its German-made silver opaline dial to its hand-engraved balance bridge. Inside the movement, a silicon balance spring helps to resist magnetic fields, while a “bayonet” mounting helps the movement to resist shocks and impacts. As with every watch produced in Glashütte, however, the closer you look, the more fascinating details you’ll find. $35,500 (red gold) $47,900 (platinum)
