It is a long-established fact that when it comes to creating new functions or adapting an existing complication in an uncommon manner, Glashütte Original’s creations often stand out from Swiss norms.
This is certainly true for the brand’s dual time zone found in the Senator Cosmopolite. The complication, which proves extremely practical, is one of the most complex on the market. It allows the time of one of the world’s 35 time zones to be displayed with incredible speed, including half-hour offset time zones, such as those in eastern Canada, India, or Sri Lanka, and 45-minute offset time zones in Australia and New Zealand. Moreover, it is designed to allow easy adaptation in case of time zone modifications in the coming years.
Its large subdials clearly display home time and running seconds, flanked by a very graphic day/night indication, a dual-disc big date, along with two small windows that display the local-time city International Air Transport Association (IATA) code designation, one for standard time and one for daylight savings time. Frequent travellers will be quick to decipher these codes, which allow the watch to indicate the necessary information without cluttering its dial. What is more, Glashütte Original is able to customise these discs to display a customer’s requested cities on demand if desired.
The 25-piece limited edition Grande Cosmopolite Tourbillon was unveiled in 2012, before being adapted into the core-collection timepiece seen here in 2018.
Though not the most compact dual time, its 44mm case is primarily a byproduct of its inner workings, as the movement itself is 39.2mm in diameter and 8mm thick. That said, it also offers a respectable 72-hour power reserve, all while ticking away at 4 hertz. The in-house mechanism is equally impressive in terms of finishing; its German silver three-quarter plate boasts Glashütte stripes and is held in place by heat-blued screws, while its duplex swan-neck balance bridge is engraved by hand in Glashütte’s own workshops. Since its initial release, the Senator Cosmopolite has been offered in a handful of different dial configurations, as well as in white and red gold cases.
The complication is the result of more than half a decade of research and development at Glashütte Original, with a specification focused on responding to the evolving map of time zones. An unpredictable factor, as we have seen repeatedly throughout history. Name changes, time zone changes, creation of a new time zone… a travel watch can quickly become obsolete. The Senator Cosmopolite solves this complex problem with a highly practical solution. If other time zones were added to an already extensive global list, the movement mechanism could be adapted to accommodate up to 96 time zones using a new display ring. The same applies to airport codes: if a reference were to disappear or change time zones, the issue could be resolved by contacting customer service.
