Hands-On With The Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer
One of the watches that impressed me most during Baselworld was the Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer with blue dial in white gold (reference 1-58-01-05-34-30). Blue dials are hip & happening again since a while, and Glashütte Original decided to jump on that bandwagon with this Senator Chronometer with this distinctive dark blue grainy dial.
The danger with dials that have a color other than silvery white and black is that they might become out of fashion at some point, or that you simply get bored by it after a few years. In the 1990s we saw a lot of colored dials like red, yellow, green etc. No burgundy red or racing green with a sun burst pattern, no, just red and green. These watches are rarely seen on the wrist these days, they need to have more subtle dial colors.
Our own creative designer Teun van Heerebeek dedicated a special article to the use of colors in watches, which you can read here.
In the last couple of years, I’ve noticed an increase again in watches with an outspoken dial. Brown, grey and blue were – and still are – popular colors to use for watch dials. However, with a sun burst finish or like this Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer, with a beautiful grain.
Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer
Blue grainy dial of the Senator Chronometer
The dial has a beautiful texture as you can see above; a combination of very fine grain and a lacquered surface.
Glashütte Original owns a dial manufacture in Pforzheim (the one they always used, for decades, is now part of their company). The lacquering is done in several layers, until they reached the best combination of grain and shadow. The beautiful white gold hands give enough contrast with the dial in order to read the time. The chapter ring, indexes and numerals are all finally engraved in the dial and then galvanised in silver. As you can see, the white gold hands and silver finished markings on the dial do not match exactly, which is perfect in my opinion as otherwise it would perhaps become a bit too dull. The entire ensemble is well designed and keeps the face of the watch very interesting, every single time you pay attention to it.
Besides the time, indicated by its long and sleek ‘poire’ shaped hands, the dial gives information about the power reserve (auf and ab, not to confuse with “off” and “up” when pronounced), a large date window (again, creative designer Teun van Heerebeek did a marvelous piece recently on date windows). In the end, the dial is inspired by the marine chronometers that were used on ships in order to navigate to the place of destination.
Talking about chronometers, on the dial we also find the wording ‘Chronometer’, right below the power reserve indicator. Chronometer of course refers to the precision of a timepiece. Today, a protected name that is bound to a couple of strict rules for timekeeping. A watch may only bear this title if the movement complies to these rules. Most Swiss chronometer watches are certified by the COSC organization in Switzerland, this German chronometer is certified by the German Calibration Service. The movement, caliber 58-01 is adjusted in five positions, ensuring performance of max. -4/+6 seconds per day deviation on average.
The Glashütte Original caliber 58-01 is a feast for the eyes, as are most in-house movements that come from Glashütte to be honest, with their three-quarter plates, gold chatons and beautiful finishing on the balance cock. The latter is hand-engraved as you can see on the image above and below.
This 35mm movement is 6.47 thick and ticks at 28,800 vph. The power reserve, as indicated on the beautiful blue grainy dial, is almost 45 hours (44 hours and 40 minutes). As you can see, the manual wound movement has a stunning finish with polished edges, polished steel parts, blued screws, striped finish and a swan-neck fine adjustment. The caliber 58-01 has 58 jewels.
So far for the dial and the movement of the Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer, although these are the eye catchers of this timepiece of course. I did not the mention the white gold case yet, that measures 42mm in diameter and is 12.47mm thick. 42mm is a good size for this watch, any smaller and it would have looked to cluttered in my opinion and larger makes it perhaps unwearable for a lot of men, even though a lot of watches these days are still 43mm and larger.
The crown is well proportioned, especially since it concerns a hand-wound movement on this watch. You need to be able to grab the crown without problems and wind the movement. The thin bezel of the watch has a polished finish, while the case band has been brushed. The caseback also has a polished finish. As you can see below, the lugs have nice polished facts on there and the top is polished as well. It gives a beautiful contrast. The crown has been signed with this embossed Glashütte Original logo.
The Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer is fitted to a Louisiana alligator strap and comes with a white gold folding clasp. The strap is available in a short size (reference 1-58-01-05-34-50) as well as in a standard size (1-58-01-05-34-30). It seems that the last two digits of the watch’s reference number changes when you make a choice for one of the two options. 
This beautiful blue dialed Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer retails for $32,200USD or €27,200 Euro (including VAT). More information and details can be found on the official Glashütte Original website.
More images below in our gallery
