Glashütte Original

"In the flesh". GO novelties '06, pt. 4: Navigators

 

One the most vigorously expected novelties of this year's GO Basel lineup were the new Navigator watches. While Glash?tte Original is not primarily known for its pilot watches, which also are in a different price and quality range of all the inexpensive pilot watches on the market, the "Navigators" proved to enjoy steady popularity among the GO fans. Their high quality and marvelous movements put them onto the top of the pilot watches available.

It therefore is not astonishing that ever since GO presented the new cal. 100 movement, fans asked for a new Navigator series, using this wonderful movement. And here it is:

I am sure that this watch will become a best-seller, although I personally am not too happy with the placement of the panorama date window. The truncated 4 joins with the two large numerals of the panorama date, so that the observer might read three numbers instead of two. Since the company already had a centrally located panorama date window at 6 in the now discontinued Union watches, this might have been the more 'pure' solution, but this is only my personal taste.

These watches once again prove that press pics provided by the manufacturer only rarely show the watches how they really are. In the pics shown in the News Central, shortly before the fair, the Navigator watches looked inappropriately colourful, with bright blue hands and a strong contrast between the even numerals coated with Super Luminova, and the uneven ones printed in white. In reality, as you can see above, the difference between the numerals is not really apparent, and the blued hands have a nice dark blue, that offers the eye something to stare at and admire, but is not consipicious in a negative way.

Unfortunately, the other, design-wise more interesting Navigator watch failed to land on my photography tablet during the presentation, but I am sure that very soon, pics of it will be shown here. Its date-less, very classic and traditional pilot watch design is marvelous and rather unique. Only a few watches on the market have the small hour circle within the large minute circel, and these are inexpensive timepieces with standard movements, far away from the quality of the GO Navigator.

One other detail that should not remain unmentioned, is the prominent pusher on the case side at 8. this activates the unique instant second reset of the cal. 100, which leaves the balance running, therefore avoiding the typical drop of accuracy in systems that stop the balance in order to reset the second hand. While the classic Senators have a correction pusher that needs a sharp tip to be pressed, offering an easy-to-use pusher in the Navigator watches is a sign of GO's care for detail, and very authentic in the sense of a real pilot watch.

If the cal. 100 based Navigator watches conquer the skies, the following watch is to reign the upper Ionosphere, both due to its mechanical complexity and perfection, but also due to its price:







The pilot version of the PanoMaticChrono, the PanoNavigator, is a very bold statement, practically alone in the whole market. The only other luxury high-end pilot watch I am aware of was the limited IWC Big Flieger in platinum, but the PanoNavigator easily tops it. Cased into a massive 44mm platinum case, the watch is very heavy, and absolutely breathtaking. The dial is not really black, but a very, very dark green, with the luminous elements, especially the raised chrono second ring, enhancing the three dimensional appearance. The few people happy to get one really are to be envied!

Best regards,
Marcus