The Beginnings of the Watch Manufacture in Glashütte
The origins of the long-established company Glashütte Original go back to the year 1845, when Ferdinand Adolph Lange founded the first watch manufacture in the town. After the collapse of silver mining, which had until then fed numerous families of the region, the state government granted Lange a loan. With it he trained the first watchmakers. In the 1850s further master watchmakers joined the company, and their experience and enthusiasm led to the creation of many watches that were sought after for their rate accuracy. Around 1865, for instance, the precision pocket watch came onto the market and enjoyed unbroken popularity for almost 80 years. Because of the great demand for watches from Glashütte, the German School of Watchmaking Glashütte opened its doors in May 1878 and swiftly gained a great reputation in specialist circles.
The Proof of Quality and Origin: Glashütte Original
While the watchmaker Karl W. Höhnel had already given a pendulum clock from his own hand the inscription "Glashütte Original" in 1916, this designation was also used from 1918 at the latest as proof of origin for watches from Deutsche Präzisionsuhrenfabrik Glashütte GmbH. From 1921 this inscription also came into use on the pocket watches of the manufacture, serving as both a trademark and a seal of quality. From about 1927 the ladies' wristwatches bore this inscription as well.
Stylish Classics from Glashütte Original: Senator, Pano & Co.
In the 1960s and 1970s it was above all everyday men's and ladies' wristwatches from Glashütte that were in demand. The main focus in production therefore lay on shock resistance of the case, rate accuracy and date and seconds display. In the meantime, however, watches from Glashütte have risen to become a globally recognised luxury brand "Made in Germany". Alongside the classical displays of hours, minute, seconds and date, the mechanical movements were extended by additional functions such as a power-reserve indicator or moon phases. Some models also received a perpetual calendar, which displays month, day of the week, leap year as well as day and night. The watch "Ewiger Kalender" from the Senator line was even awarded the title "Watch of the Year" in 2000.
When Engineering Becomes Art: Luxury Watches from Glashütte Original
The watch models from Glashütte Original impress not only through timeless design, precision and functionality. Then as now they are true masterpieces of the highest engineering art, uniting technology and fine materials into a total work of art. The watches of the PanoInverse line, for example, reveal their inner beauty to the beholder. They present their heart in the form of the balance and swan-neck fine adjustment on the dial, which shines with a striped finish. Blued hands and screws, artful engravings and rubies as jewel bearings complete these technical works of art, as does the central rotor to be admired through the sapphire-crystal case back, which is fitted with a 21-carat gold oscillating weight.
