The year 2018 marked the start of something new, or rather, the start of something new about something old. The Saxon watchmaker Glashütte Original released their annual editions dedicated to the Sixties. Yes, the sixties, the time some thought of as a golden age, a time of luxury, a time of elegance. And every year since then, the watch lovers have waited with bated breath to see what Glashütte would present. This year, as always, they did not disappoint.

While the previous editions were extravagance personified, this year’s edition is sublime elegance. The cool color palette suits the Sixties watch design quite well, and best of all, this year Glashütte offers a Sixties Chronograph. As we know, the chronograph watch has the stopwatch feature built right into it. The complication is useful and playful too.

The alpine glaciers provided the inspiration for this Glashütte Sixties and Sixties Chronograph watches. Glaciers are majestic, towering above us, yet somehow calming at the same time. And for the adventurers among us, the glaciers beckon. The Glashütte Original watches continue with the 1960s signature design – domed sapphire crystals, elegantly curved hands, stylish Arabic numerals paired with classic hour markers. The dial itself is impressively done by the experts of the in-house dial manufactory. Each dial has a sunray finish topped with a dark blue lacquer to create the dégradé effect. The watchmakers don’t stop the hand-crafting there though, they add another layer of lacquer, this time in glacier blue, creating a depth that is unique to each watch. The last step is heating the dials in an oven to burn in the precious colors. In a final step the dials are heated in an oven to burn in the colors.

These Sixties are the classic three-hand version, powered by the Calibre 39-52 automatic movement, and come in at 39 mm. The Sixties Chronograph features the manufactory’s Calibre 39-34, and has a central stop-second and two auxiliary dials for the small second and 30-minute counter, nicely fitting in the 42 mm case. Both the Sixties and the Sixties Chronograph are in stainless steel cases and have 40-hours power reserve. The strap choice of browngrey nubuck calfskin continues with the color palette from the alpine mountains.

As the excitement over this annual edition has reached its fervor, I’d get to a boutique soon. The Glashütte Original Sixties and Sixties Chronographs in this annual edition are available for a limited time only from Glashütte Original Boutiques and selected authorized dealers across the globe.