Last saturday was the third European GTG for Horomundi members. The joy of meeting fellow watch aficionados and sharing our passion for fine watches didn’t last long enough…

After attending the first European GTG in November 2007, i just can’t get enough of these kind of meetings. The second European GTG, a two day event, was also the launch of Holland’s most prestigious watch brand Grönefeld with the Grönefeld GTM-06. I could inform you about the activities, organized by Wim, Horomundi moderator the Glashütte-Original forum…. However let that just be a sweet memory for those present and go on to the part most of us are moved by… the watches!

Rene Marx from Glashütte Original came all the way from Germany to share the afternoon with us and show Glashütte Original’s novelties from Baselworld. Not only this year’s novelties where present, but also two watches which, in my opinion, do not get enough attention, the Senator Chronometer and the Senator Sixties collection.

During such a meeting everyone wears at least one, but usually two watches. Most people find this the best way to bring their two favorite watches. Late in the afternoon i shot some photos of the wrists present, however i didn’t photograph everyone’s wrist. The watches missing in the photo collection below: Grönefeld GTM-06 in platinum, URWERK 103T Mexican Fireleg, Bremont MB2, Rolex Airking, my own d.m.h and probably several more.

The GTG was, again, something unique. Getting the chance to see 3 URWERK’s, a Jean Daniel Nicholas tourbillon and 2 Grönefeld’s GTM-06… my goodness! A mere mortal does not often get the chance to see so many beautifully crafted and finished, complex and highly complicated watches at once.

Here are’s a photo Ian Skellern made of the 3 URWERK’s:  103T Mexican Fireleg, 103T AlTiN and a black 103 that i have never seen before.

In the evening Tim and Bart Grönefeld presented their new watch, the Grönefeld One Hertz. I’m still very much impressed with the independent deadbeat seconds and because this mechanism is incredibly rare, the chance you’ll find it on other watches is next to zero. When there’s more news, maybe a video of how the deadbeat seconds mechanism works, i will keep you informed of course.

One last photo of this spectacular day…. the table shot!

Thanx to Wim for organizing this great GTG again, thanx to Glashütte-Original for presenting their collection, thanx to Tim and Bart Grönfeld for telling us more about the new One Hertz and thanx to Ian Skellern for letting me use some of his photos.

To read more about the third European Horomundi GTG visit Horomundi forum.

Glashütte Original already shows us 2 of their new models for Baselworld. The new Senator Sixties PanorameDate and the PanoMaticLunar XL. I think we already have a winner!

The Glashütte Original Senator Sixties, which was released during Baselworld 2007, received massive applause from watch lover all around the world. In 2008 they released a chronograph version, that was also praised. Last year Glashütte Original released yet another version of the Senator Sixties, the Sixties Square Chronograph.

This year finally a version with the typical Glashütte Original Panorama Date, the Senator Sixties Panorama Date. The normal Senator Sixties is in my opinion a beautiful and stylish dress watch, however with addition of the Panorama Date it has a function that is great for daily wear at the office as well.

I think Glashütte Original did a good job positioning the Panorama Date not at the 3 position or between 4 and 5, but centered above the 6 position. This way the dial looks very balanced. Another good detail, GO paid attention to is the black date disks and the white numbers. Well done!

This new model is available with a black or silver dial. The black dial has silver Arabic numerals, white gold baton hour, minute and seconds hands and hour markers. The silver dial has black Arabic numerals, rose gold hands and hour markers and the Panorama Date has black numerals on a white background.

The 42 mm large stainless steel case is 3 mm bigger than the time-only version. Other features like the domed sapphire crystal in front (with anti-reflective coating on both sides) and the sapphire crystal in the back (single sided anti-reflective coating) that is shaped around the movement are still the same.

Until now the PanoMaticLunar XL was only available in rose and white gold. This year Glashütte Original releases a version in stainless steel and with a new dial color…. grey. After another PanoMatic XL model that totally rocked my boat, yet another model in this collection that i just adore. . I think it’s absolutely beautiful and i’m really looking forward to seeing it ‘in the metal’ during Baselworld.

All other specifications remain the same and can be found on the Glashütte Original website.

Glashütte Original donates a one of a kind watch to Italian Cancer Research Organization AIRC. And to be honest, this watch is so beautiful that i hope it will be part of the novelties Baselworld 2010!

Patrizzi & Co will auction 40 watches during the Italian national day of cancer, November 26th. All proceeds will go to the Italian cancer research. Earlier this year i already blogged about the Only Watch 2009 auction Patrizzi & Co did for another good cause. For this auction, Glashütte Original donates a unique version of the PanoMaticReserve XL. This one is so beautiful… that i’m sad that it’s a one of a kind…. Here is already the off center placed hour and minutes subdial. Scroll down to see more of the watch….

Glashütte Original PanoMaticReserveXL - piece unique

The regular Glashütte Original PanoMaticReserveXL, only available in white or rose gold, has a diameter of 42mm and is 12.5mm thick. This piece unique has a steel case with PVD coating, which suits this model very well. Instead of the usual red accents, Glashütte Original has chosen yellow.

Glashütte Original PanoMaticReserveXL - piece unique

The beautiful silver markers are applied and next to every  marker, as well as on the hands, is luminous material to make it possible to tell the time in the dark. The use of yellow as accent, they went further than on the regular PanoMaticReserveXL models, which have the date in white on black date disks. This piece unique Glashütte Original that will be auctioned by Patrizzi & Co, has a yellow date on the black date disks. I just love those details

Glashütte Original PanoMaticReserveXL - piece unique

Inside ticks manufacture caliber 90-03 that gives 42 hours of power reserve. The beautifully finished movement has 61 jewels, the Glashütte three-quater plate, hand engraved balance bridge and a double swan-neck fine adjustment.

Now a photo of the watch… Glashütte Original PanoMaticReserveXL piece unique. A beauty… and i really hope GO will take such a watch into production. Look for yourself and let me know what you think!

Glashütte Original PanoMaticReserveXL - piece unique

Glashütte Original was one of the most impressive brands at this year’s Baselworld. Last week i was invited by Glashütte Original to see the Baselworld novelties which are about to be delivered to the dealers.

With the Senator Meissen Tourbillon and the Senator Chronometer, Glashütte Original has two watches in my Baselworld 2009 top 10. Merdal Güler, brand manager for the Netherlands, and Wim Koster, moderator of the GO forum at Horomundi, invited a few friends for dinner in the College Hotel in Amsterdam. It was an evening in the excellent company of good friend, with great food and amazing watches. At Horomundi Wim posted a full report of the evening and all watches. Wim was wearing his beautiful Pano Reserve… Oh, and all photos are made by Edwin!

Glashütte Original PanoReserve

Before dinner we had a nice glass of bubbles in the garden of the College Hotel. Sitting there outside in a nice and quiet place in the middle of Amsterdam was a strange experience. Amsterdam is not one of the most quiet places on earth We talked about watches in general, the watch industry and of course the all new collection Glashütte Original presented at Baselworld this year. And while talking we got the chance to see them all. My absolute favorite… the Senator Chronometer.

Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer

With it’s classic dial it looks like a vintage ship’s chronometer. The dial is slightly off-white which looks very attractive with the classic roman numbers. Besides the great looks, functionally it’s also a winner. The typical Glashütte Original PanoDate has been improved and now changes date instantly at midnight, while other PanoDate models take around 20 minutes to change date. Another great function is the day/night indication dot. Perfect for setting the time. Another great feature for setting time, is that the second hand resets to 12 when the crown is pulled. And yet another superb feature for setting time, is that the minute hands jumps in full minutes when the time is adjusted. I am deeply impressed with this achievement of Glashütte Original… Of the big brands the Senator Chronometer is the absolute the winner of Baselworld 2009.

Glashütte Original Senator Meissen Tourbillon

The Senator Meissen Tourbillon… the rose gold case, the beautiful meissen dial and a tourbillon. Another great achievement, especially cutting the round hole in the meissen dial. Meissen is very vulnerable so cutting the perfect round hole is very difficult. I love the looks of the watch, but it’s not a watch i would wear. Just not a huge fan of holes in dials. But this does not mean i’m not impressed… it’s still in my Baselworld 2009 top 10.

And of course i had to try the Senator Sixties Square Chronograph. Nice isn’t it?

Glashütte Original Senator Sixties Square Chronograph