20 years of Union Glashütte

KMII

In 1996 Union Uhrenfabrik GmbH has been founded to form an entry level brand to Glashütte Original, with a collection of watches based either around the same cases as GO with ETA based movements, or alternatively with GO related movements with lower levels of decoration. In their heyday prior to 2008 they have produced some interesting watches, all the way up to tourbillons and perpetual calendars. In March 2008 the new range has been presented, which exclusively relied on ETA based movements and consequently had less of a relationship to the GO brand in terms of look and feel.

The watches seem to be discussed here quite rarely, even though I suppose that some must be with Purists. The first 12 years of the brand's existence have produced some quite cool pieces. I'll start with a limited edition series - the Julius Bergter Edition. Available as time only, time and date, chrono or a regulator (possibly more versions existed), it is a nice, understated, elegant watch, with an honest hand wound movement and traditional Glashütte elements.

From: Thepurists.com

Here the regulator version.

From: Uhrforum.de

And the movement side, with a swan neck adjustment, gold chatons, 3/4 plate...

From: Uhrforum.de

The mainstay of the production were automatics based around the Cal. 26, which was in-house (of sorts) and the watches were largely quite nice for the price level.

From: TP178.com

And, as said, there have been some models shared with GO in all aspects but the movement, such as this Titan Flieger watch, which was powered by a modified ETA 2824-2.

From: Uhrforum.de

Top of the range came the Johannes Dürrstein line, with the aforementioned PC and tourbillon models, based around Cal. 40 and 45 movements (likewise handwound), in rose gold and a cushion shaped case.

From: Chrono24.com

So all in all definitely some interesting pieces in the 20 years, even if the current collection leaves me a lot less excited. The watches are perfectly OK for a mid range offering but I feel that Swatch simply has very many brands competing for that end of the market and the differentiation at times suffers as a result. Still, some are reasonably well executed for an entry level watch, such as the no-date version of the Noramis.

From: Uhrenlounge.de

Would be nice to daydream about a Cal. 26 based 20th anniversary limited edition, though

And if you have any watches from the brand (or used to have them), do by all means share yours! Thanks for viewing

Comments:

TheMadDruid September 13th, 2016-08:12

Glad you thought to post this. I had been wondering what happened to this brand and you've filled in the missing pieces for me. I agree that back in its early days Union made some very nice watches. The first two you posted are exactly what I remember-very clean, simple and handsome di...

KMII September 13th, 2016-08:18

Glad you liked it, Padj! Some years ago (before PuristSPro) i have regularly been looking at the brand but then the appeal of the then current collection became less and less for me. Too bad I did not start with my hobby sooner - similar regret to yours

hs111 September 13th, 2016-08:22

Hello K !.. Interesting read & really so nice pic-examples.. 1Q: Are they just another Brand within Swatch Group, or a subset of Glashuette Original ? - In other words, do they just represent the entry level to GO or have they gone beyond that also ? Maybe naive Q\'s, but GO up to now has not been in my focus, whic...

KMII September 13th, 2016-09:11

It used to be the entry level of GO... Now it may well be more broad - i.e. Swatch group. But the number of their brands in the €1.000 to €3.000 sphere is getting quite large.

Dr No September 13th, 2016-11:58

Union also had limited distribution, at first confined . . . . . . to Germany and Austria, and then the EU, but never available in the western hemisphere, to the best of my recollection. I've never seen one in the metal, outside of the Museum during my visit in '08. Union was highly appreciated by our moderator eme...

KMII September 13th, 2016-12:09

Was just looking for some watches... And have accidentally seen that Union was 20 years old in the current iteration Too bad they chose the route they did in the crisis of 2008 but such is life... Thanks for your additional details - much appreciated!

Alkiro1 September 13th, 2016-08:34

This German brand offers a great price-quality ratio. And like all German watches, they are very well finished. The regulator is a very nice example of this great quality. Best wishes Alkiro

KMII September 13th, 2016-09:12

Sadly the best is in the past... Such as the regulator you mention. The new ones are OK but not all that exciting IMHO.

Alkiro1 September 13th, 2016-09:24

But we are lucky as we have the secondary market to find our dreams ;-) Best wishes Alkiro

KMII September 13th, 2016-09:58

True that :) But not very active for this brand, sadly...

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stromer

A short expedition into Glashütte waters

stromer

As you may remember from this or this heads up there is currently a special exhibition going on at the German Watch Musuem: Glashütte on Board . It is about the recent 130 years of building Marine Chronometers in Glashütte. Marine Chronometers attract me in a special way and so I had a good excuse to go again to the little town that is so dear to me. They have set a nice atmosphere for the exhibition.

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