Glashütte Original

The story of the Panograph begins with Panoretrograph, one of the early wave of new chronograph calibers that started hitting the market after a long drought along with the likes of the Datograph and Daytona. The caliber 60 in the retrograph featured a fascinating countdown timer and striking complication. Soon after a simpler derivative sans countdown was released in the form of the Cal 61 in the Panograph. I have to say that although the watch had a beautiful caliber and presented tremendous value in SS, I was not a huge fan of the aesthetics. I find the bezel too thick, and I especially don’t like the use of thick chapter rings on the intersecting time and sub seconds dial.

Rose gold Panoretrograph

Steel Panograph

Panograph was discontinued around 2005 or so I believe before surprisingly being re-introduced in 2012 in a redesigned 40mm case in rose gold only. The bezel was made much thinner and IMO, the dial as whole, took on a far more elegant design.

I acquired the new rose gold Panograph about a year ago which was a significant year for me both personally and professionally and it has been a complete delight that always brightens up my day when I put it on.

Let’s dive in deeper. One of the most distinctive aspects of the Panograph is that at first glance, it does not look like a chronograph at all! The general layout, along with the 2012 redesign makes for one of the most elegant and dressy looking chronographs out there. It sticks with the offset dial arrangement of other Pano collection watches which I feel is well balanced despite the asymmetric design.

The main dial features the main hours and minutes along with the chrono seconds. Running seconds is featured in an intersecting small sub-dial dial below. By ditching the chapter rings from the older design, the watch remains legible despite the intersection and looks far more elegant. The dials are decorated with a circular snail pattern.

On the top right of the dial is the signature triple layer minute counter. At first glance it seems complicated in operation and readability but it is actually rather simple. Three hands of three different lengths are equally spaced apart and connected to a central spoke. Mechanically it is the same as a normal circular minute counter. The first hand is the longest and covers the first layer from 0-10 minutes. The middle length hand covers 10-20 and the shortest covers 20-30. So its not some crazy retrograde counter, the design simply hides 2 of the hands at any given time. (except at 0/30m, 10m or 20m at which point two hands will be visible on the dial. However there is no confusion as both hands will read the same time.) 

Though not intuitive at first glance, once you understand the way it works, the large size of the minutes counter means it is very legible and easy to read quickly. For instance the picture above is reading 2 mins and 57 seconds while the pic below is indicating 27 minutes and 15 seconds.

The chronograph pushers are also worth mentioning. GO has unusually reversed the order here; the Start/Stop is at 4 o’clock and reset/flyback is at 2 o’clock. The start stop button is also incredibly refined in the way it feels. The pusher moves in with very light resistance and the chronograph starts or stops with a satisfying light but distinct “snick”. Its by far the best feeling chronograph pusher I have encountered and others who have tried more high end chronographs than I have have also remarked on how good it feels in some online comments I’ve seen. The flyback/reset button has slightly more resistance and makes a more typical sound, it’s still very very refined but not quite as satisfying as the start/stop pusher.

The Pano name of course comes from GO’s Panorama Date, probably one of the best implementation of the big date I have seen anywhere with a beautiful design and both digits on the same plane next to each other. The date window is beautifully done. The date can be easily quick set from the crown and changes instantaneously at midnight.

The case is beautifully detailed with brushed sides (polished between the lugs) and polished bezel. The lugs are short and curved adding to comfort and wearability. The dressiness of the design is negated to some extent by the thickness of the watch which comes in at 13.7mm. It does fit under most of my shirt cuffs without a problem but not everyone will be a fan of the slightly “chunky” overall look. I however do like the way the relatively muscular look adds presence to an otherwise understated watch.

The strap too is a thing of beauty. The dark brown lousiana alligator strap is of superb quality and supple despite being very thick. The surface is matte, I don’t know if the term nubuck is applicable to alligator hide but it has that kind of matte texture. The deployant too is very solid although it is held in place by a screw. Not really a problem as I don’t need to adjust once sized properly. The watch is fairly comfortable on the wrist but it is not the most comfortable watch I own. I found the deployant a bit uncomfortable initially but after the strap broke in and became more flexible, it now sits more comfortably.

And now the pièce de résistance, the Glashutte Original caliber 61. As mentioned before, caliber 61 is derived directly from caliber 60. Caliber 61 is a manually wound column wheel chronograph with flyback mechanism, lateral clutch, big date, 42 hours power reserve and beating at 28,800 bph. The specification is quite traditional and offers no real technical innovations on the chronograph front compared to some more recent releases. However, the appeal lies very much in the refined execution.

(GO has really been hyping up their new automatic Cal 37 which is more advanced including a free sprung balance and long power reserve, however it seems not to be finished to the same standard as Cal 61. I wonder what the future holds for GO chronographs...)

Whilst the dial side is restrained and understated, the Panograph goes all out on the movement side. The movement is beautifully decorated in the Saxon style with perlage, Glashutte stripes, gold chatons, and blued screws. The deep layout of the chronograph mechanisms create a miniature 3D city you can spend ages staring at.

Unlike some new chronographs, caliber 61 features a lateral clutch to engage the chronograph mechanism with the going train. A lateral clutch often results in slight jerkiness in the second hand as the chrono is engaged and this effect can be observed in the Panograph at times. The upside however is the visual appeal; you can easily see part of the going train (top two wheels) pivot to engage with the chronograph clutch (bottom left) [I think the terminology here is correct].

Speaking of visual appeal, the balance cock is beautifully engraved by hand and the balance is regulated by a black polished swan neck adjustment system. However, there isn’t enough space in the chrono movement for GO’s signature double swan neck system. you can’t have everything I guess!

The edges are nicely beveled and feature some nice exterior angles. 

If I'm being critical, I would comment on the two interior angles I found here, they are not very sharp on close inspection, it seems only very few manufactures do razor sharp interior angles.

In a separate thread I have been trying to ascertain which components have been black polished, GO states the swan necks are but there are a lot of other beautiful and highly polished steel parts on the caliber as well. Hopefully we can find a definitive answer soon.

The column wheel and chronograph levers

In conclusion I would say that the Panograph offers a very interesting, elegant and uncommon alternative for anyone looking for a high end chronograph. Even in rose gold it is still quite good value I think compared to many other brands with similar technical specifications and its definitely more interesting than a Lemania 2310 ebauche which is still seen in a few brands. And i definitely prefer a manual movement which puts the full intricacy of a chronograph movement on display vs an automatic in a "dress chrono" of this nature.

Hope you enjoyed the pics! 

ps. Im also on instagram if any of you guys want to connect: @tempocalypse