This Glashütte Original chronograph is more than just a handsome face.

This special feature is brought to you by Glashütte Original.

One of the most visually arresting chronographs launched this year, Glashütte Original’s Senator Chronograph Panorama Date comes across as a super versatile timepiece that expertly straddles the dressy and sporty categories. Here are five tech insights you should know about this chronograph:

The movement is integrated.

Many, ahem, run-of-the-mill chronographs feature automatic movements with a chronograph module mounted on top. The in-house Calibre 37-01 Senator Chronograph Panorama Date, which debuted in 2014, however, is built from the ground up as a fully integrated chronograph complication. Besides making it more of a chronograph ‘thoroughbred’, the integrated chronograph Calibre 37-01 registers better performance, feels better upon activation, and flaunts a prettier aesthetic compared to modular chronographs. It is not Glashütte Original’s only integrated chronograph movement, though. There’s also the Calibre 61 in the PanoGraph from 2012.

Column wheel, meet cam.

Offering the best of both worlds, the in-house Calibre 37 takes the benefits of a column wheel system with its meticulous construction and smooth actuation, and fuses it with the compact robustness of a cam system that is less subject to interference. The result? Highly integrated chronograph functions that combine top-notch handling, reliability and accuracy.

Performance by numbers.

So how well does the Senator Chronograph Panorama Date perform? We’ll let the numbers tell the story. Despite its dress watch appeal, the watch is a full-fledged sports ticker: water resistant to 100m, beats at a steady cadence of 28,800vph, and is armed with 70 hours of power reserve. Compared to the Calibre 61 in the PanoGraph, which stops at a 30-minute totaliser for the chronograph function, the Calibre 37-01 in the Senator Chronograph Panorama Date features an additional 12-hour totaliser.

The blue lume rocks.

If you’ve noticed, most luminescent watches come in green Super-LumiNova, which is great and does the job perfectly. But what we love about this watch is the striking blue SLN on the white gold hour, minute and stop seconds hands and indexes that not only looks stunning, but glows incredibly bright. The light blue colour also offers 87 per cent brightness yield as compared to light green which gives 82 per cent. Or in layman-speak, blue gleams brighter for better visibility in low light conditions.

A matter of metal.

Previously launched in platinum and red gold, this year’s Senator Chronograph Panorama Date comes in a friendlier stainless steel, meaning it’s more accessible at a lower price point. In fact, recent years have seen more watchmakers march out stainless steel options, catering to an educated audience that loves watches but doesn’t want to fork out too much just for precious metals.

Read the full review of the watch here.

 

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