Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. The Glashütte Original PanoMaticInverse Limited Edition for 2024
The hand-engraved dial of the platinum PanoMaticInverse pays tribute to Dresden’s historical landmarks.
The epicentre of Germany’s watchmaking industry since the mid-1800s, the small village of Glashütte recovered its former prestige after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 with the return of some of the original brands. Proudly upholding the tenets established by the German School of Watchmaking, Glashütte Original’s latest watch pays tribute to the city of Dresden and its famous landmarks. The canvas for this latest platinum hand-engraved model is the PanoMaticInverse, with its reversed movement and exposed regulating organ on the dial.
A sibling of the PanoInverse, the PanoMaticInverse fitted with an automatic movement was introduced in 2014. Still wearing its heart on its sleeve, the dial features the hallmark ¾ mainplate and is hand-engraved with the silhouettes of Dresden’s iconic cupolas. Referred to as “Florence on the Elbe” Dresden is a beautiful Baroque city and the capital of the state of Saxony. A leading city for sciences and art in the 17th and 18th centuries, Ferdinand Adolf Lange, attended the Technical School before heading to the small town of Glashütte to establish his watchmaking manufacture in 1845. There, he laid the foundation stone for the proud Saxon watchmaking tradition that lives on with brands like Glashütte Original.
The theme of city-inspired dials is not new at Glashütte Original; we covered a platinum PanoInverse with a guilloché dial replicating the pattern found on the dome of Dresden’s Academy of Fine Arts and a laser-engraved fictional metropolis on the dial of this PanoInverse. The latest homage, however, belongs to the PanoMaticInverse family and comes in a 42mm diameter platinum case with a thickness of 12.3mm.
The traditional ¾ Glashütte rhodium-plated mainplate of the PanoMaticInverse has abandoned its traditional stripes. It now hosts hand-engravings of famous Dresden sites: the dome of the Academy of Fine Arts with its winged statue of Fama, the famous lantern crowning the Frauenkirche, and a hot air balloon, birds and clouds in the background appear on the mainplate/dial. The recessed area on the dial, which is not covered by the mainplate, displays the beautiful hand-engraved balance bridge with its duplex swan-neck fine adjustment. Like the historical monuments of Dresden, the hand-engraved decorative flourishes are Baroque in style.
A signature Glashütte Original feature is the Panorama Date, or big date window, introduced in 1997. Formed by two concentric discs placed on the same axis and level, separated by an almost invisible curved line, GO’s date window is not only legible but visually appealing. Here, the date is positioned at 2 o’clock with a dark grey background and white numerals.
Like all Pano models, the dial is asymmetric. To ensure a clear view of the engraved dial, the disc for the hours and minutes is crafted in sapphire crystal with printed anthracite Roman numerals and a matte surface beneath the minutes track to assist legibility. The small seconds are also relayed on a sapphire disc intersecting the larger one and forming an inverted figure eight. Pursuing transparency across the dial, the blued hands are skeletonised. Another dash of colour is provided by the heat-blued screws and jewels.
Turning the watch over reveals a hand-engraved depiction of Dresden’s promenade along the banks of the majestic Elbe River with another perspective of historical buildings. The openworked rotor also features the silhouette of the Frauenkirche’s lantern. The automatic in-house calibre 91-03 beats at a frequency of 28,800vph and delivers a power reserve of 45 hours. The watch is fitted with a blue alligator leather strap with a platinum folding clasp.
Availability & Price
The Dresden-inspired PanoMaticInverse platinum is limited to 25 pieces and retails for EUR 50,400 (incl. tax). For more information, please consult glashuette-original.com.
