UN Fred
27
My first GO and I am impressed
I just received my first GO watch in the post this afternoon. Although I am reading as much as I can about this brand, GO was completely unknown to me before I saw this one for sale. This watch is a pre-Swatch era Cal 10-60 Chrono. The SS case is highly polished and features round telescoping pushers and a standard style crown guard that Glashutte seems to have dropped from their newer chronograph cases. I have tried to get more data on this model but I am unable to find a lot of good historical information beyond the technical aspects of the 10-60 movement itself. I have seen no other examples of this particular design on the internet and I would like to eventaully get an idea of the relative limited nature of this edition. If someone in this group could help or point me in the right direction I would be indebted. This one is marked 0281 on the case back but there is no reference number. The dial of this watch has a stunning , subtle, "stardust" silver finish, blue painted markers and signature, and the hours are indicated in roman numerals. I did find a short article written in German that mentions the word "Jubilee" in connection with this model and gave me the impression that this design may have been a commemorative effort linked to the anniversary of a certain clock tower or something like that in the town of Glashutte, but my German is pretty weak to say the least.
The case is 39 mm x 11.5 mm x about 46 mm lug to lug and the bezel features a great 2 mm coin edge decoration nearest the crystal. The flip side has a fantastic wide saphire observation portal for checking out the obviously finely crafted and mega jeweled 10-60 integrated chrono movement below. While this movement lacks the pizazz of the new double G winder plate and fancy finish of the newer models, it is plenty impressive and fun to look at. As I mentioned, the case back, attached with 6 screws, states only that the watch is WR down to 5 atm, made of SS, and that this is one of at least 281 others like it.
Prior to this purchase I had never seen a Glashutte timepeice up close and personal and so I was more excited about getting this watch on my wrist than perhaps any other aquisition in recent memory. Wow! I am so impressed with the quality, look, feel and finish of this watch. It has a nice solid presence and heft on my wrist without being bulky or weighty. At only 11.5 mm from crystal to crystal it is the perfect thickness for me. I like larger watches but I am not the biggest guy so I really need to keep it below about 40 mm or it gets a bit much visually. So I really appreciate companies that design cases around the movement as opposed to being big just for the sake of following the trend. What is the deal with all the popular watch models growing their cases just for the sake of being styishly larger with little or no improvement in readability, esthetic balance or layout of the secondary registers? I am getting really tired of it.
Also I really like coin edging on a bezel and this one is one of the nicest I have seen. This one beats my previous favorite (on the UN Maxi Marine) hands down. The black alligator band, blued narrow hands, roman numerals, special "stardust" silver dial and lack of luminosity make this watch a dressier piece and the coin edging is just the right width and design to keep the face visually interresting without over powering the rest of the case or dressing down the look.
I'm partial to metal bracelets even on a dress watch so I don't wear a skin too often, but I'd like a little more padding in the band and a deployment buckle would be nice, but the original 19 mm alligator strap does the job just fine and has a solid matching tang signed with a single G. If this watch had a date function, which I generally find indispensible in an everyday watch, I think it just might be the only dress watch I would need.
Man, I am impressed with this wristwatch and I am already drooling over another, newer GO Navigator chronograph with a date function. I attached some pictures to a short post I made when I was considering this purchase a couple of weeks ago when I was concerned with authenticity and I really appreciate the prompt help I received. This seems to be a GREAT forum and the members all seem to be not only passionate about their favorite watch brand but knowledgable as well. Thanks in advance if anyone has more information for me about this particualr GO model.
Fred
P.S. Sorry for originally posting this to the Gallery.. I got a little confused trying to get photos uploaded...
My first GO and I am impressed
