Prestigous watch manufacture Glashütte Original (“GO”) has been making the rounds these past few months to show off its new Senator Chronometer watch at “exclusive” launch events in various cities around the globe.  And with a watch this beautiful and technically interesting, why wouldn’t they?  The Senator Navigator was unveiled at Baselworld 2009 and has turned out to be a real hit with watch collectors and enthusiasts.  Also, because GO just recently released a good (but not great) video which highlights the various functions of the watch, I thought it would be an opportune time to introduce (or re-introduce) this fine watch to the readers of First In Watches.

Now, being a Glashütte Original owner myself (you can watch my review of my Senator Navigator HERE),  I can not say enough good things about the brand and their passion for watchmaking at the highest level.  Having toured the manufacture last year, I also admire and appreciate the brand’s enormous sense of pride that their watches are “Made In Germany”.  In fact, GO’s home town of Glashütte, Germany is home to several watch brands, but it is Glashütte Original and its neighbor A. Lange & Sohne (literally, the building next door to the GO manufacture) that put this quaint little town – and German watches – on the map.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand – the Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer.  If you have not yet seen this watch, take as long as you would like to enjoy it here, and be sure to check out the video which I included below:

A lavish manufacturing process goes into making the dial’s seemingly simple surface.  Glashütte Original consciously opted to employ a vintage tradition: a technique known as l’argenture grainée, a frosted silver plating.  The first step in the process consists of machine-blasting the surface of the brass dial with a mixture of water, chalk, and wood. Then a paste containing silver powder and water is carefully applied by hand to the blasted surface.

While beauty is of course in the eye of the beholder, I will be good money that even the most glaring eye will find it hard to look away from this watch!

Ok, so the watch looks good, but what can it do?  Well, here is the aforementioned video which walks you through each of the watches functions.

(Note to GO:  Add some background music next time!)

As you saw in the video, pulling the crown stops the time display and causes the second hand to jump to the beginning position, where it remains; the minute hand moves simultaneously to the next full minute. When the crown is then turned to set the time, the minute hand stops only on the indication of the full minute, thus always guaranteeing the correct relationship between the minutes and seconds displayed.  No small feat, and no wonder this watch is proving to be such a big hit!