Normally, when I test watches, I am doing something sporty, dangerous, or completely mad. I have descended into glacier crevices with watches, I have hurtled downhill on mountain bikes, and have even tried my hand at acrobatic paragliding! So, when I received the gorgeous Glashütte Original PanoReserve, I’ll be totally honest, I was a little bit lost as to what to do with it!
Sensing my unease, my colleagues just laughed at me and told me that all I had to do was wear it and admire it! So, I strapped it on and let the admiration begin.
Its beautifully polished and satin-finished red gold case frame a dark blue dial that features the brand’s signature asymmetrical indications. On the left side of the watch’s dial, the hours and minutes subdial sits directly above the small seconds subdial. On the right side, a fan-shaped power reserve indication is positioned at two o’clock and a spectacular panorama date is just below at four o’clock. The date is displayed with white numerals against a blue background and white luminescence highlights the gold hour and minute hands for excellent legibility in low light.
The dial is crafted in Glashütte Original’s in-house dial manufacture in Germany’s Pforzheim. It takes over 40 different steps to complete, making it a work of art and precision in itself. The beautiful shade of blue is achieved thanks to a galvanic process that requires just the right amount of time and voltage to obtain the exact color required. Just the slightest deviation will result in a completely different hue.
Looking closely at the dial as the light catches it from the skylight above my desk, I notice that the subdials have also been subtly decorated with a vinyl-type pattern, which adds even more depth to the dial. I also notice the German words “Panoramdatum” and “Gangreserve” for Panorama Date and Power Reserve, which is a nice nod to the brand’s German origins.
The timepiece is powered by the manual-winding caliber 65-01 that comes with a 42-hour power reserve. A look through the sapphire crystal caseback reveals traditional finishing, such as a hand-engraved balance cock, screw-mounted gold chatons, blued screws on the three-quarter plate, and a Glashütte stripe finish on the duplex swan-neck fine adjustment.
This elegant timepiece comes with a dark blue Louisiana alligator strap and a choice of a red gold pin or deployant buckle.
It was an absolute pleasure to wear the PanoReserve for a few days, without needing to seek out physical/horological thrills. Sometimes it is nice just to slow down and enjoy a timepiece for what it is – a beautiful micro-mechanical machine and the Glashütte Original PanoReserve is just that.
