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Kit O. Payumo

As Time Goes By

Glashütte Original enhances the “young” Senator Excellence family with a tradition-rich complication

In the stratospheric world of high-end mechanical watchmaking no other complication generates the same kind of awe as the perpetual calendar. And that’s probably because it does so much. Indeed, in the high-end sweepstakes of haute horlogerie the perpetual calendar complication sits at the very top. So what differentiates one “excellent” perpetual calendar from another? Timeless design is one, which is something Glashütte Original is extremely good at.

Enter the Senator Excellence Perpetual Calendar, the latest from the German manufactory that takes the fundamental features of the Excellence collection and runs with it. This means that along with the hours, minutes and seconds, the Senator Excellence Perpetual Calendar also presents the characteristic Glashütte Original Panorama Date, a finely worked moon phase, weekday, month and leap year.

Indeed, every detail has been honed to perfection by the experienced artisans in the watchmaker’s own dial manufactory: the curve of the moon-phase at 8 o’clock echoes the gently sweeping lines of the case; the domed moon in relief is set off by a starry, galvanic blue sky; the Panorama Date at 4 o’clock, as well as weekday and month windows are presented, in a passe-partout (frame within a frame); and one need only glance at the leap year display beneath 12 o’clock, the hand of which moves counter-clockwise, counting down to ensure unmistakable clarity for every year, not just the clearly marked leap year.

The rest of the watch effortlessly lives up to the manufactory’s claim of “eternal youth” with a 42 mm diameter case, water resistant to 5-bar, in either satin-polished stainless steel or red gold. The stainless steel model presents the leap year and minute numerals in black, while in the red gold version these are printed in red, complemented by slim, blued-steel hands and an elegant black or brown Louisiana alligator leather bracelet with pin buckle or foldover clasp.

Adding gravitas is the equally excellent manufacture Calibre 36, which was designed and constructed for maximum stability and user-friendliness while ensuring easy servicing. The movement features an innovative silicon spiral for extreme precision, and a single spring barrel to ensure a power reserve of more than 100 hours. Stability, on the other hand, is achieved not only by its compact construction, but also in the use of an innovative bayonet mount to secure the movement to the case.

“The Saxon watchmaker gives this esteemed complication an extremely well tailored suit”

To assure the watchmaker’s standard of quality the finished watch is subjected to a series of rigorous tests under conditions more demanding than those of the challenging German Chronometer test for 24 days. Thus, a special engraving on the case back serves as the seal of quality on every single watch.

Best of all, every owner of a Senator Excellence is provided with a certificate that shows the key test results of his own watch, as well as access to comprehensive information regarding the various testing procedures in an exclusive online portal.

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