Glashütte Original PanoInverse CityScape… or at least that’s what I’m calling it, because the company never gave it a formal name. There was a cool corporate video called “The irresistible Rhythm of the City” but that’s a little cringe.
The laser-etched dials, both front and back, are works of art, and it’s a disappointment that the artist who created this isn’t credited. So few watch companies fail to see the opportunity to be a platform for artists, or to partner with them for such a special watch. Limited to only fifty pieces, and cased in platinum, it is another example of great work by Glashütte Original which the company then fails to promote sufficiently. This watch should be winning awards.
This watch is hard to photograph with a phone, but the dial is beautiful and the facets quite visible. A closer look reveals some really fun details. The required movement specs are in the form of signs on buildings, and there are even a few little characters going about their life, like the graffiti artist tagging the GO logo on the side of a building. I don’t have the macro capability to shoot that.
This watch was introduced in 2023, but they aren’t exactly jumping off the shelf. For one thing they’re quite expensive, but more importantly Glashütte Original seems to have no marketing prowess, no game, no rizz… so to speak. Every time Audemars Piguet drops a Iimited edition the watch community has a collective meltdown. A watch like this may not warrant the attention of a KAWS collaboration but there’s a lot of craft at work here… which no one knows about because they’re not marketing it.
The dial reminds me of Cairn Young’s work. If I was a watch maker I’d reach out to him for a series of collaborations. I took these photos in front of one of his vases.