Glashütte Original

As always, Glashütte Original (GO) did not disappoint with the width or depth of the novelties presented at Baselworld. From the simple and quirky Senator Sixties up to the Julius Assman 4 Flying Tourbillon, GO had something for everyone.

One of the greats of Teutonic watchmaking, Julius Assman, founded his eponymous firm in 1853. For the 155th anniversary of the founding, GO unveiled the fourth in the series of Julius Assman complications commemorating the watchmaker. The Julius Assman 4 is a skeletonised, retrograde hour, flying tourbillon, and is housed in a detachable case, which can be removed from the wristwatch carriage and carried as a pocket watch. This is a large watch at 45mm in diameter, but it is not ungainly. The movement inside is the same as that found on the retrograde tourbillon which made its premier in 2006.

The Senator split seconds chronograph with big date would have been one of the technical marvels of Baselworld, unfortunately the movement was not completed in time for the fair, so only a mock-up was available. Everyone I spoke to at Basel looks forward to seeing an actual model of this watch.

A hot favourite of show attendees was the Senator Sixties. GO's aim when it conceived this watch was to recreate the look and feel of a 1960s wristwatch; the company has achieved that goal perfectly. With domed crystals on both sides, the Senator Sixties is elegant yet quirky. It will be available both in steel and yellow gold, though the gold version looks more authentic and 'retro'.

GO is well known for its use of Meissen porcelain dials, but previous Meissen models have all featured various motifs on the dial. This year sees the introduction of an unadorned porcelain dial, but its simplicity belies the complexity of creating it. Each dial in this series is painted free hand, in other words the artist only uses paint, a brush and a steady hand.

Now we move on to the Pano collection, which has been widened to keep up with the times. The flagship of the XL line is the PanoTourbillon XL, a flying tourbillon with retrograde date and power reserve display. A handsome watch, but I reckon it resembles a certain multi-axis tourbillon a bit too much.

Most automatic models in the current Pano series have been put in the XL case, which will be available in either white or rose gold.

GO has also expanded the Karree series in the form of the Karree Calibre 22, a manually wound tonneau movement with Panorama date at six o'clock. This will be available in rose gold or steel, with a silver or black dial.

Going to head to head with the Rolex GMT Master is the Sport Evolution GMT, a sports watch with second timezone and big date display, each adjusted by one pusher. Although this design does not break new ground, the Sport Evolution GMT is fine looking and is one of the best finished dual time sports watches on the market now.

And last is something for the ladies, the diamond set Lady Serenade Tourbillon. GO has already made significant headway into the female market with the Star Collection of 2006, but was missing a ladies high complication, a gap filled with this flying tourbillon.