Glashütte Original Seventies Chronograph Panorama Date – limited-edition chronographs in strong colours
As Angus Davies looks at the Glashütte Original Seventies Chronograph Panorama Date, it evokes childhood memories of televisions with valves, tunes played on music centres and cameras that contained film. However, the brand from Saxony has juxtaposed the period-inspired style of this watch with contemporary dial hues, delivering a striking yet harmonious aesthetic.
Recently, I stood chatting to a friend, enquiring about what he planned to do in the future as his retirement loomed ever closer, a subject I have become obsessed with of late. He revealed that he had a passion for Citröen cars of the 70s. Immediately, I was captivated by the subject of our conversation. My father was an avid fan of the French marque and as a youngster I was smitten with the idea of wafting around in a Citröen SM endowed with a 2.7 litre Maserati engine. Likewise, when I was a child we had family friends who owned a DS Safari with occasional seats in the boot and headlights that moved when the steering wheel was turned. Therefore, I was amazed to discover that my friend had an example of each car and, to my shame, I struggled to mask my envy.
There are many objects that evoke childhood memories including televisions with valves, tunes played on music centres and cameras that contained film. It was an analogue world back then, where some high-tech products of the era would endure, while other seemingly space-age ideas would date and eventually become obsolete. During this time, many examples of architecture, furniture and cars were infused with a sizeable dose of futurism.
The Glashütte Original Seventies Chronograph Panorama Date takes the wearer on a nostalgic journey to a period when greens, browns and kipper ties were all the rage. Indeed, the shape of the watch head resembles a TV screen, square in form but with gently curving corners.
However, just when everything sounds delightfully retro, Glashütte Original catches the would-be wearer off guard, dressing the model’s dial in neoteric ‘varnished yellow’ or ‘varnished turquoise with dégradé effect and sunray finish’. It could have ended so badly, but these two limited edition dial variants look fabulous.
Presented in a 40mm x 40mm stainless steel case, the comparatively generous proportions of the watch subscribe to modern-day tastes. The timepiece is available on a brown-grey calfskin-Nubuck leather strap or a 3-rows stainless steel bracelet. The dial, a bi-compax design, features a 30-minute chronograph counter positioned at 3 o’clock and a small seconds display located opposite. The latter counter also incorporates a power-reserve display. Unusually, a 12-hour chronograph counter is presented via an arc-shaped aperture which sits just below the watch firm’s branding. Glashütte Original is a master of the large date display, or Panorama Date as they prefer to say in Glashütte. This wide-format indication employs two discs to impart the tens and units, bestowing a highly intelligible indication.
Glashütte Original has its own dial-making facility in Pforzheim and, having examined several of the company’s displays with a loupe in hand, I can attest the in-house dials are superb. The indexes are applied, sitting proud of the dial epidermis. The aperture for the 12-hour chronograph counter is stepped, masterfully playing with depths. This stepped treatment is repeated for the Panorama Date, no doubt heightening costs, but augmenting the perception of luxury. There is nothing perfunctory about the dial of the Glashütte Original Seventies Chronograph Panorama Date.
While some products made in the 70s evinced much style, they often lacked mechanical virtue. However, no such criticism can be levelled at the Seventies Chronograph Panorama Date. Its Calibre 37-02 automatic movement upholds the firm’s reputation for fine finishing. It features a three-quarter plate, bevelled edges, polished steel components, blued screws and Glashütte ribbing. The movement includes a highly desirable column-wheel arrangement, granting a silky-smooth pushpiece action. Moreover, when the chronograph is actuated it commences its journey without any suggestion of hesitation or wobbling.
Once again, Glashütte Original has created a product that combines notable charm and meritorious mechanics.
The brand’s press release
Glashütte Original invites you to enjoy an exceptionally stylish journey through time. The popular Seventies Chronograph Panorama Date makes a name for itself once again, giving its latest limited edition two of the decade’s favourite colours: sunny yellow and bright turquoise. Our handmade timepieces celebrate the feeling for life of a decade whose design, music and fashion trends enjoy cult status today. The watches are powered by an elaborately finished manufactory movement with automatic winding and flyback function.
A time of contrasts
It would be difficult to name a decade with a more laid-back attitude than the 1970s. Even today, Hollywood productions and artists make use of the clothing, cars and furniture of this decade when they’re looking to present a casual lifestyle enhanced by the sound of a rock electric guitar, funk or disco music. It was a decade that set the stage for decisive aspects of our society today: the first PC was launched, the modern environmental movement began, traditional conventions were questioned. And on the silver screen and TV, great science fiction classics created an aesthetic that was to make a lasting impression on the genre, filled with the characteristic brown, yellow and green hues and curved forms of the time.
Sporty and colourful through summer 2021
The Seventies Chronograph Panorama Date models from Glashütte Original celebrate this retro-futuristic style of the 1970s. The latest edition – a pair of chronographs – combines the familiar round corners of the Seventies wristwatch with strong colours. While one of the dials is coated entirely with yellow varnish, the second version was first given a refined sunray finish prior to coating with a turquoise-black varnish with dégradé effect. Super-LumiNova highlights on the hour and minute hands and on the appliques ensure optimal legibility in the dark as well. A grey-brown calfskin-Nubuck leather strap rounds off the vintage look in a stylish fashion.
Maximum stability and reliability
As laid-back as the design of this watch may be, it is an exceptionally precise timepiece. Its automatic movement, which beats at a frequency of 4 Hz and features a column-wheel switch, was designed to be compact in order to ensure maximum efficiency.
This permits the manufactory’s 37-02 movement to guarantee a high degree of precision, reliability and low susceptibility to interference. In addition, a bilateral winding rotor ensures a rapid delivery of energy; the power reserve is a generous 70 hours.
Refined and detailed surface finishings
A special sapphire crystal case back allows one to view the manufactory movement, which presents a number of highly refined features. Among these are such characteristic elements of Glashütte watchmaking as bevelled edges, polished steel components, blued screws and the Glashütte three-quarter plate with Glashütte stripes finish, along with a skeletonised rotor with 21-carat gold oscillating mass and the brand’s signature double-G logo.
The Seventies Chronograph Panorama Date takes up the cult designs of the 1970s and gives them a contemporary look and feel. The two models mentioned here are limited to 100 pieces each, and are available worldwide from Glashütte Original Boutiques and selected authorized dealers.
Further reading