For its 180th anniversary, Glashütte Original keeps flaunting its know-how. In its latest release in October, the German brand shows that watchmaking is not necessarily only about watchmaking – it can also be about teaming up with artisans from other industries with similar approaches to handmade craft and art. The Glashütte Original x Meissen collaboration with the porcelain maker, where hand-painted porcelain dials are housed in 40-millimetre red gold cases for the Senator Meissen Edition, is exactly that: shared values with a synthesis that is more than the sum of its parts.
The Senator Meissen Edition features three different dials. Two of them are single-hued; white or soft celadon green – both an historical flirt with the origins of porcelain production in 9th-century China. To achieve the crisp colours, several firings at around 1400°C are required. These two versions carry the Meissen Mystic Maison floral décor which debuted in 2024, as well as Meissen’s crossed swords, the manufactory’s signet which has been a symbol for the exceptional quality of Meissen porcelain since 1722. This symbol came into use 12 years after the debut of the brand that is attributed to being the first European hard-paste porcelain maker. Hard paste? This porcelain cut in thin slivers for the dial is made from a mixture of kaolin, quartz, and feldspar, fired at high temperatures. These green and white versions are made in a limited edition of 150 pieces each – perhaps a flirt with the theory by anthropologist Robin Dunbar that humans can only maintain about 150 stable social relationships?
If the dials of the above-described watches are serene and mystically adorned with discreet patterns, the dial on the third watch is more of a wild one. Decorated with a collage of iconic nature, flowers, and foliage motifs against a celadon green background, it is limited to only eight pieces. The elaborate collage comes from the Meissen Dekorwelten crater vase, on which 27 painters started collaborating in 2018 to adorn a vase with over 100 overlapping distinct motifs. The vase is a contemporary take on historical patterns and forms created by Meissen’s most prominent 19th-century designer, Ernst August Leuteritz (1818-1893).
The contemporary vase – and the watch – combines classical patterns from 300 years of cultural heritage. This is an embodiment of handmade precision work – just like the movement ticking under the mesmerising dial.
Here, Glashütte Original’s watch-making know-how is manifested in a time-only automatic inhouse-made calibre with 100 hours of power reserve. This calibre 36-16 features beloved tell-tales of the manufacture, such as the Glashütte three-quarter plate with stripe finish, balance cock engraved by hand, skeletonised double G-symbol rotor with 21-carat gold oscillation weight, regulator-free fine adjustment with swan-neck spring, bevelled edges, mirror-polished steel parts, and blued screws. All is held in place with a blue or black Louisiana alligator leather strap with a folding clasp.
With such naturalistic motifs it is fitting that the watch displays time with leaf-shaped so-called feuille hands, a style which has been used by watchmakers for more than a century.
Glashütte Original is the embodiment of fine German watchmaking, as is Meissen in the fine art of porcelain manufacturing. Thus, this collaboration between two brands is the result of a close friendship; a natural connection showing that an equal mindset when it comes to philosophy and culture can fruitfully bridge different industries and artforms.
