Comments:
Glashutte Original Senator Rattrapante. .
One of these watches which made me dream and which still makes me dream.
Movement side, taken by Craig:
When discuss Rattrapantes, we most often forget it. Strangely, because it was a very good one. Here is the platinum, limited to 100 pieces
Credit: Govberg.
Movement side, taken by Craig:
One of my biggest regrets is to have missed it...
Best,
Nicolas
Looks lovely. I really do like grande date and being manual. I also recall it was quite tall , but it would not bothered me at all having big chunk of platinum on the wrist.
Yes, a bit chunky, bit this is often the case with Split Seconds. See Patek and Lange, for example.
I owned this one, but....
...sold it because of the poor legability. There was no contrast between hands and dial and this drove me crazy. Well I guess a small improvement would change the situation. The hands should be curved (it works well on IWC Portugeese with gray dial). Maybe the red gold version with white dial and blue hands will do it better.
Good news: the new owner is also a fellow PuristS menber and maybe you know him ;-)
stere
Good idea to wear it again…
Indeed a beauty, esp. the movement; and so far I can still read it 😜
Some say it is a problem of legibility, I personally think that it is most of all a problem of eyesight.
Legibility is my favourite pet-peeve with watches ...
... and especially polished steel/rhodium or white gold hands are really problematic. For me, perfectly blued hands would be the the logical choice for this watch.
Marcus
Marcus
Played with it not to long ago and I much prefer it to the Double-Split, or Dato for that matter(even if it’s just a chrono). Now a 5370 or 5470 is another story.
I've reconsidered over the years
For many years I loved the Senator Rattrapante and thought it was underrated. With a slightly more experienced eye for design, I can revisit it today and say the dial has problems. The date window at 4 o'clock does not provide proper balance to the off-centre subregisters.
Somebody with more technical ability than me would be able to comment on whether the Senator Rattrapante borrowed the panoramic date window gearing from another model. Production of this model was limited, even by Glashutte Original's standards. The 4 o'clock date window location works well with the Pano(retro)graph, as that dial is carefully balanced. Unlike a smaller date window (e.g. Bell & Ross), the Pano date stands out and must be considered a big part of the dial design.
Consider the dial layout of today's Senator Chronograph. We can see the designers went in this direction when they developed the modern integrated chronograph movement. I think we can agree that the level of craftsmanship and finishing of the Senator Rattrapante movement is strongly preferred to the modern movement, but (I think) the front of the watch matters when considering long term ownership satisfaction.
Sure that the date would be terrific at 6. Good point, my friend. I have no certainties, here. But I totally see your point.
Always liked this piece...
but like a lot of the modern splits, heft is an issue. Patek 5959 still the dream...
It reminds me of the GO Panograph I used to own
In the early 2000s, I was enamored with GO Panograph after seeing the watch in pictures. I loved the big date implementation, the unique chrono minute counter, and most important of all, the exquisitely hand finished manual movement with column wheel. I also had a Vacheron Le Historiques chronograph with Lemania 2310 at the same time and I thought adding a German chronograph would be a great complement to my collection.
After receiving the watch however, I was somewhat disappointed. I still loved the dial layout and the big date, but thought the minute counter was a bit gimmicky and difficult to read. But the most disappointing part was the movement. While it looked beautiful in the pictures, especially from their promotional material, in person the movement looked rather sparse, flat or 2-demential, and in a way boring comparing to the Lemania 2310 in my VC. It was still very well finished, but just not pretty. It had a lot of levers and arms that are functional but really flat in literal sense and lack any design flare. Needless to say I didn't keep the watch for too long.
I have the same feeling when looking at this movement. It's well finished, probably very well designed and reliable (I'm guessing here but it's German after all), but in my eyes not a pretty one. I am superficial and the movement look is important to me, especially at this price 
For comparison, below is the Montblanc's rattrapante movement, MB 16.31. I know it has a very traditional layout and architecture, and is swiss instead of german, but to me it is far more beautiful than the GO.
For comparison, below is the Montblanc's rattrapante movement, MB 16.31. I know it has a very traditional layout and architecture, and is swiss instead of german, but to me it is far more beautiful than the GO. Mind you this is totally my own preference so if you love this watch or Panograph, enjoy them! I don't mean to offend anyone.
