Glashütte Original Senator

The watches in the Senator collection reflect the watchmaking tradition of Glashütte Original. Many models feature classic design elements, including tempered blue hands, Roman numerals, and railroad minute scales. However, only precise state-of-the-art movements power these luxury watches from Glashütte.

This collection contains everything from simple three-hand watches and flyback chronographs to more complicated models with a perpetual calendar, world time function, and tourbillon. The top model represents the highest-quality watchmaking Glashütte has to offer and is on par with masterpieces from A. Lange & Söhne and Patek Philippe. Senator watches also feature only the finest materials and finishes. Furthermore, Glashütte Original is one of the few manufacturers capable of producing their own dials. In fact, their vertical integration is up to 95%.

There are many complicated watches in the Senator collection. The highlight of Glashütte Original's flagship series is the Senator Grande Cosmopolite Tourbillon , which features a perpetual calendar, tourbillon, and world time complication. Unlike most world time watches, this Senator takes time zones that differ by half or three-quarters of an hour into account. The result is a total of 35 time zones. What's more, it also factors in daylight saving time. The perpetual calendar can be set forward or backward and shows the date, day, month, and leap year. A day/night indicator rounds off its functionality. The movement is elaborately finished and features details typical of watches made in Glashütte: a striped finish, screw-down gold chatons, tempered blue hands, beveled edges, and winding wheels with a sunburst pattern.

The Senator Grande Cosmopolite Tourbillon has a 48-mm platinum case that is 16 mm thick. A screw-down case back means it is water resistant to 50 m (5 bar, 164 ft). The brand's double G logo adorns the crown.

The silver dial has Roman numeral hour markers, a railroad minute scale, and pear-shaped tempered blue hands. Glashütte Original's typical panorama date sits at 4 o'clock. There's also a flying tourbillon at 12, month and leap year display between 2 and 3, and a day display between 9 and 10 o'clock. Limited to a run of 25 pieces, this timepiece costs around 367,000 USD new.

The Senator Cosmopolite also features 35 time zones, but is much less expensive than the Senator Grande Cosmopolite Tourbillon. One reason is the materials: This "simpler" Cosmopolite is available in stainless steel, white gold, or red gold. Red gold models sell for about 29,000 USD in mint condition. At about 35,000 USD, the white gold edition is a bit more expensive. The stainless steel version uses Arabic numerals to mark the hours, giving it a sportier feel than its sister models. It's also the least expensive of the trio and costs around 19,500 new. Pre-owned watches are currently hard to come by.

Fans of mechanical watches with a calendar function will also find what they're looking for in Glashütte Original's Senator collection. The Senator Diary features a particularly unique mechanism: a programmable mechanical alarm. This allows you to set future reminders. You can change the mode – date, time, or winding the alarm – via a push piece, while the additional crown allows you to set the alarm to a date and time of your choice. Once the watch reaches that date and time, the reminder goes off. Of course, you can also use this function as an alarm.

A mint-condition Senator Diary in red gold costs around 29,500 USD. Pre-owned examples are still rare and demand under 23,000 USD in very good condition. As expected, the white gold version is slightly more expensive. The stainless steel edition is the most affordable, ranging from 12,500 USD pre-owned to 15,000 USD new.

If you're looking to call a watch with a "proper" calendar your own, look no further than the Senator Perpetual Calendar. You won't have to manually correct this timepiece's calendar until March 1, 2100, making it the perfect model to pass down to the next generation. The automatic in-house caliber 100-02 powers this watch's various displays and provides it with a 55-hour power reserve. The case comes in either red gold or stainless steel. You can purchase a stainless steel model for about 11,500 USD pre-owned and 15,000 USD new. The red gold version sells for anywhere from 19,000 USD pre-owned to 24,000 USD new.

The Glashütte Original Senator Excellence Perpetual Calendar also features this popular complication, though its power comes from the in-house caliber 36-02. This automatic movement boasts a 100-hour power reserve. What's more, Glashütte Original tests every Excellence watch in-house for 24 days. The demands of this testing process go above and beyond those of the German chronometer test. The highlight among the Excellence perpetual calendar models is the white gold edition with a skeletonized dial. This timepiece offers a stunning view of the movement at work from the front. Introduced in 2018, this watch is limited to a run of 100 pieces and has an official list price of 37,500 USD with a pin buckle and 39,900 USD with a folding buckle. The stainless steel version is much more affordable and costs around 17,000 USD new. Since this model is so new, pre-owned watches are still hard to come by.

Like the perpetual calendar, the chronograph function is one of the most highly coveted complications. Glashütte Original's Senator collection contains numerous models with a stopwatch function. Each houses the automatic in-house caliber 37-01 with a flyback mechanism and distinctive panorama date above the brand inscription at 6 o'clock. This movement has a respectable 70-hour power reserve. You can see just how much energy your timepiece has left in the small seconds dial at 9 o'clock. There's also a 30-minute counter at 3 and a 12-hour counter at 12 o'clock.

When it comes to the dial, you can choose from classic designs with Roman numerals or more modern models with indices. These sportier watches only have Roman numerals at 6 and 12 o'clock. Bands made of rubber or stainless steel underscore the sporty nature of these timepieces. SuperLuminova-coated indices and alpha hands make telling the time in the dark a breeze. Stainless steel models cost between 9,500 USD pre-owned and 11,500 USD new. A mint-condition Senator Chronograph Panorama Date in red gold demands around 21,500 USD new. Pre-owned, this timepiece sells for about 18,000 USD.

In celebration of the 68th Berlin International Film Festival in 2018, Glashütte Original released an extremely limited edition of the Senator Chronograph Panorama Date known as "The Capital Edition." A total of 130 pieces exist: 100 in stainless steel, 25 in red gold, and five in platinum. The platinum model is the most expensive, with an official list price of 55,600 USD. The price of the red gold edition sits at 31,500 USD, while the stainless steel version requires an investment of 14,900 USD.

The Senator collection's three-hand watches make ideal dress watches. They are moderately sized and pleasantly flat. The simplest models lack any additional displays, including a date. At 40 mm in diameter and 10 mm thick, they are the perfect companion for at the office. If you prefer the stainless steel model, be sure to set aside around 7,300 USD. The Senator Excellence in red gold costs about 13,000 USD in mint condition and 11,500 USD pre-owned.

Those looking for a watch with a date display should turn to the Senator Excellence Panorama Date. This model is available with a wide variety of dial designs. Plan to spend around 8,000 USD on a new timepiece in stainless steel. You can find pre-owned watches for about 900 USD less. A red-gold Glashütte Original Senator Excellence Panorama Date demands about 16,500 USD new. You can save around 2,300 USD by purchasing a pre-owned piece.

The Senator Excellence Panorama Date Moon Phase displays the current phase of the Moon in addition to the date. The red gold model costs around 17,000 USD in mint condition and 15,000 pre-owned. Prices for stainless steel watches are much lower at about 8,600 USD. Since these watches are so new, pre-owned examples are difficult to find.

Strictly speaking, Glashütte Original is a brand name and not the actual manufacturer, which is Glashütter Uhrenbetrieb GmbH. This manufacturer is the successor to the VEB Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe (GUB), which was the only watch manufacturer that existed in Glashütte during the German Democratic Republic. The mechanical watches produced in Glashütte during the GDR were predominantly simple and affordable. Many were even exported to the West and sold at cheap prices in mail-order catalogs.

Since German reunification in 1990, many watch manufacturers have set up shop in Glashütte. Some had disappeared from Glashütte after the Second World War, either fleeing west, like Tutima, or merging with other companies to form the Volkseigenen Betrieb, a state-owned company, as A. Lange & Söhne was forced to do in the early 1950s. Other companies are completely new, such as Nomos and Moritz Grossmann. Since the Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe GmbH is the one company to be born out of the VEB, it has the longest standing tradition and over 170 years of history to look back on.

Watches from Glashütte Original are in a league of their own. The new owners changed their trajectory in the 1990s and began to focus on the luxury watch market. Nothing changed when the largest watch concern in the world, the Swatch Group, took over the Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe GmbH in 2000. Today, the Glashütte Original brand represents the highest level of German mechanical watchmaking.