The German watchmaker, Glashutte Original, has presented its latest novelty made in accordance with the current trends that promote watches with exposed movements and, may we say, has done it quite tremendously. Senator Manual Winding Skeletonized Edition timekeeper from the brand’s Quintessentials lineage has its manufacture caliber almost completely finished and engraved by hand which transforms the movement in a proper artistic piece whose intricately decorated components resemble the ones of a lacework. The watch is set in a thin and 42 mm wide rose gold casing which is the trait that in congress with the superbly finished in-house movement raises the price of the timekeeper to $37,100.
Glashütte Original Quintessentials Senator Manual Winding Skeletonized Edition Watch
Exposed from both Ends
Glashütte Original Quintessentials Senator Manual Winding Skeletonized Edition is a prime example of how impressive a skeletonized watch can appear. This high level of ornaments is logically coupled with the decision to expose it as much as possible. On the front side of the watch, beneath the double anti-reflective sapphire crystal, almost the entirety of the movement can be observed. The only exception is a periphery of its face which includes a silver galvanized chapter ring with a black railroad minute scale and painted roman numerals in the same tone. Naturally, there are also two central blued hands that circle around the dial and tell the hours and minutes which are the watch’s only supported functions. The rear side of the case is likewise transparent because of the addition of a single glare-proofed sapphire section. Thanks to this decision, the caliber can also be seen from the movement side. This sort of arrangement clearly exposes the intricate decorations and also makes the movement appear to be weightlessly floating, especially in the blank upper left section (when looking from the front side) that includes less components than the rest of the movement.
Glashütte Original Quintessentials Senator Manual Winding Skeletonized Edition Watch Back
Long List of Manually-Performed Decorations
When it comes to the decorations and finishes that are visible on the rhodium-plated movement, the list is quite extensive. A trained eye can notice manually engraved plates, the brand’s recognizable winding wheels with sunburst motifs, opulently decorated swan-neck type of fine adjustment, beveled edges, polished steel parts, screw-mounted gold chatons that encircle blued screws and gold engraved lettering.
Each of these striking decorations is used to beautify Glashütte Original in-house Calibre 49-18. Calibre 49 has been present in the brand’s offer for nearly two decades now and has even been skeletonized in previous occasions, but never as extensively as it is the case in its latest iteration Calibre 49-18. The hand-wound movement with 19 jewels oscillates at the frequency of 28,800 vph and it has a power reserve which roughly lasts for 40 hours. When it comes to its dimensions, it is 36 mm wide and has a notably slim profile of 4.2 mm.
Calibre 49-18
Thanks to such a thin caliber, the brand was able to make the entire watch slim as well. The polished red gold case of Glashütte Original Quintessentials Senator Manual Winding Skeletonized Edition is 42 mm wide and measures to just 9.5 mm in thickness. For the attachment of the model with lovely filigreed skeletonized movement, the German watchmaker chose a Louisiana alligator leather strap in matt black color which fastens with a fold-over clasp made in the same material as the housing. Finally, it should be said that the model is delivered to its future owner in a brown wooden case with a mirror-polished finish.
