Glashütte Original

It is designed as the new base movement delivering on 4 core requirements: stability; precision; power reserve and beauty. The thoroughly-revised technical implementation is loaded with delicacies which make the connoisseurs rejoice:

• Contemporary dimensions: 32.2mm diameter; 4.45mm height; 27 rubies
• 100h power reserve achieved with 1 large barrel with excellent performance features
• Newly developed regulator-free fine adjustment with enormous stability and optimal efficiency
• New regulator-free oscillation system (4 Hz) combined with the advantage of a silicon balance spring
• Regulation of the movement in 6 positions
• Bayonnet-like mounting system affords remarkable shock protection as well as ease of assembly

In terms of aesthetics, the Cal. 36 reminds us strikingly of the venerable Cal. 39 (something I really applaud) - particularly with a 3/4 plate. It has a wonderfully exposed manual winding train as well.

PuristSPro already had their hands-on quality time this impressive new movement!

When I had the privilege to take a first look at the movement a few weeks ago in Berlin I was not prepared for the depth and holistic vision GO afforded when creating this new movement. At least, rarely have I attended a presentation were so much emphasis was placed on tiny technical details, all backed up by data. This is very much after my PuristS' taste.

The message here is - there is so much to write about this new movement that I decided to walk you through the essentials in a bullet-point style, and go in-depth later some time after Basel.

Overview Calibre 36:
The Calibre 36 is an automatic movement with a central rotor which will be the cornerstone of GO's collection. In terms of its technologcial advancement it offers the most modern technology of all GO movements: A free-sprung silicon balance which beats at 4 Hz (28.800 vph) is driven by a single mainspring barrel storing sufficient energy for a 100h power reserve. The combination of the long power reserve and a fast 4Hz escapement is rather rare and remarkable (consider e.g. the Zenith Elite 6150). In terms of aesthetics, its resembles strikingly GO's lovely Cal. 39, most prominently due to its 3/4 quarter plate.


Stability:
'Stability' is a keyword for this movement and it is manifest in many aspects of the movement. In terms of performance for example, the overall gear train is fine tuned to facilitate a high rate stability, e.g through an optimised teeth shape at the mainspring barrel. Furthermore, the silicon balance spring is unaffected by magnetism and does not alter its performance with temperature. Silicon is also imune against corrosion. The freespring construction eliminates perturbances which originate from a classical regulator.



GO also made a point of reducing the number of components thereby reducing the entry points for defects. To illustrate this, an intermediate wheel in the manual winding train is mounted on a rocker. The wheel gets out of the way once the mainspring barrel is fully wound, thus eliminating the need for a click.

In the image below, it is the rightmost wheel from the triplate (the one with the specially slotted screw). Note the wide carved out area which allows the wheel to move vertically:



One aspect which rarely gets attention is how the interface between movement and case influences the robustness of the entire watch. GO came up with an ingenious solution which looks very familiar for all photographers amongst us: a bayonnet-like mounting system, which facilitates assemblage and offers larger contact surfaces between movement and case. Both add to the stability of the watch.



Power Reserve:
GO equipped the movement with a conveniently long power reserve of a full 4 days (or 100h). The energy is stored in only one single mainspring barrel. Still, and this is a remarkable feat, the movement records an extremely even isochronism, ensuring remarkably flat rate and amplitude curves, respectively, which only during the last 24h begin to deteriorate (but note the values, this is still excellent!). Certainly, this is a result of a careful design and tedious finetuning of the components:



What impressed me most is the holistic view GO applied when constructing the geartrain. Every tiny detail, each material, shape or component dimension has been optimised to yield this result. Just one example: the arbor of the barrel has a smaller diameter than usual, thus a longer mainspring could be mounted. The shape of the teeth connecting the barrel to the going train has been optimised with a view on utmost smoothness, even when one tooth connects to its correspondent on the other gear.


Beauty:
The new Cal. 36 comes is a very lively throwback to the late 1990s when the then just-resurrected manufacture in Glashütte made heavy use of its automatic Cal. 39. Even if this movement came in a rather conventional conception (48h power reserve, central rotor) it brought along all the characteristicts we associate with the Saxon way of creating fine movements: a 3/4 mainplate, Glashütte stripes, swan-neck regulator.



The Cal. 36 kept all this and improved upon.





One striking example is the openly laid manual windung train, which exposes the care GO applies in finishing all sides of the wheels and gears:




Position of the movement in the context of GO's line-up:
With its technical specification, its aesthetics and the price range it is obvious that this movement somehow represents the middle ground between the reverred movement Cal. 39 (aesthetics) and the more controversial Cal. 100 (extended power reserve, here doubled compared to Cal. 100). In fact, it is designed to replace both in the long term and thus will become the very foundation piece of the manufacture. This of course explains why such attention has been lavished on this movement.

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