Tony.A.[GO Moderator]
2613
Changing Sides: A Success Story
Dec 15, 2018,02:42 AM
Dear Forum Friends,
It is time to celebrate! 10 years ago Glashütte Original staged a premiere for a very special element of its horological art.
The
PanoInverse XL unveiled its inner beauty, presenting the duplex
swan-neck fine adjustment as an exceptional element on the dial side of
the watch. Today, with the
PanoInverse and the PanoMaticInverse two Pano models represent in particular a remarkable success story that began in 2008.
Changing Sides: A Success Story
The innovative PanoInverse celebrates its 10-year anniversary In
2008, staged a brilliant premiere for a very special element of its
horological art. The PanoInverse XL unveiled its inner beauty,
presenting the duplex swan-neck fine adjustment as an exceptional
element on the dial side of the watch. Today, two Pano models in
particular represent a remarkable success story that began in 2008 with
the PanoInverse XL.
Unusual design and technical sophisticationThe
beauty of a watch from Glashütte Original has many facets: the timeless
and stylish design, the precious materials, and the complications that
enrich everyday life with their visual and technical sophistication. But
what is most obvious is by no means the only reason a mechanical watch
is so fascinating. Above all there is the exquisitely finished movement
housed within the timepiece.
In
2008, the elaborately engraved balance bridge with its fine adjustment
mechanism was presented for the first time on the dial side of a watch.
This was made possible by the inverse arrangement of components that
would normally be visible only through the sapphire crystal case back.
The off-centre design of the Pano collection gives well-deserved pride
of place to the duplex swan-neck fine adjustment, the manufactory’s own
innovation. After all, the device enables exceptionally precise
adjustment of the watch’s rate and centring of the oscillation system.
The
obvious beauty of this perfectly realised functional element had
inspired the engineers and designers to undertake a thorough re-design
of the manual winding movement 66: they laid out the movement in such a
way as to make the “butterfly”, as the duplex swan-neck fine adjustment
is also known, the centre of attention on the dial. To turn this idea
into reality it was necessary to rework the design at a number of places
in the movement, and to develop new components and subassemblies. As a
result, of these new developments, all three plates, as well as the
wheel train assemblies for the movement and power reserve, had to be
reworked and adapted to the new configuration.
Inner and outer beautyThis
impressive back-to-front reversal proved an enormous success – and at
Glashütte Original in the years to follow, the hidden inner beauty of
its movements was repeatedly transformed into visible beauty. The debut
versions of the PanoInverse XL in white and rose gold were joined in
2010 by an elegant companion in stainless steel. Its galvanic anthracite
three-quarter plate and butterfly bridge served as an especially
splendid stage for the filigreed regulation system with its golden screw
balance.
A
further two models followed, once again after two years, each equipped
with a larger, 42-mm case and spacious dials. While the red gold version
with blued steel hands was limited to 200 pieces, the PanoInverse in
stainless steel with black dial ring, launched in 2012, continues today
to offer fascinating views of its 66-06 manual winding movement.
Glashütte
Original took the idea even further and in 2014 presented the
PanoMaticInverse, whose newly developed 91-02 automatic movement
features a 42-hour power reserve. Here, too, a 42-mm case frames the
off-centre display of hours, minutes and seconds.
The
elegance of the PanoMaticInverse is unmistakable: blued screws and ruby
bearings on the rhodium-plated three-quarter plate with Glashütte
stripes, blued-steel hands with luminous coating, the elegant Panorama
Date and, of course, the perfectly realised duplex swan-neck fine
adjustment. The automatic manufactory movement’s screw balance is easily
admired as it oscillates beneath the artfully engraved balance bridge,
its rhythmic, pulsing movement resembling a beating heart.
Changing sides, a succes story.
www.glashuette-original.com