Glashütte Original

The ultimate "bang for the buck"? (many pics)

 

From what I read here in the forum, but also in the other discussion groups, the GO Senator Perpetual is an extremely popular perpetual calendar, and chosen by many watch lovers. To a major part, this success is certainly based on its highly legible dial layout. However, I think it is safe to state, that another important reason for its popularity is the fact that it is offered in stainless steel as well, and therefore is among the least expensive perpetual calendars on the market.

The more astonishing it is for me, that the Senator's little brother, the Union perpetual, apparently has not been able to develop a similar desirability. The Union perpetual uses the very same perpetual calendar mechanism as the GO Senator, with the only difference that weekday and month are not displayed in windows, but - more conventionally - with small hands on subdials at 10 and 2. From a technical point of view, this construction even offers a slight advantage: due to the smaller mass that has to be moved (small hand vs. disk), bumps and shocks are less likely to cause maladjustments. Another, more important difference, is the use of the Union cal. 26 as base movement. This movement, while technically marvelous, cannot compete with the GO cal. 39's hand-applied finish, of course; but it is still a very beautifully made, solid and reliable in-house movement, produced on the very same machinery and assembled by the same watchmakers as the GO movements. And it should be mentioned, that the Union perpetual is substantially cheaper than its big brother with the Glash?tte Original label.

There are three variants of the Union perpetual:

From left to right: Perpetual Klassik, Diplomat black dial and Diplomat white dial




The "Klassik" has a grainy silver dial surface, while the Diplomat is smoother, seems more like white, but is also silvery


The "Klassik" looks very sober, or "German design", which normally is quoted here to be an important reason for the decision to purchase a GO watch. Unlike all GO perpetuals (excpet the new Senators with the cal. 100), the Union "Klassik" has luminous hands, which makes it a very legible watch for everyday use.




The "Diplomat" is a little bit more conspicuous, and looks very elegant, with its pink gold plated hands and numerals.




Last addition to the Union perpetual line-up was this striking black-faced "Diplomat", with rhodinized hands and numerals. Not many of them have been produced, and it simply looks gorgeous!



These pics of the watches' rear view proves that they need not to be ashamed: the movement finish is very nice, and definitely above what would normally expectable at this price point.



The only problem is that the Union perpetual has been discontinued, to make free valuable production capacities for the GO watches. This makes the complicated Union watches to be absolute rarities, and I am sure that in some years, they will be highly sought after.

I am sorry for the poor quality of the pictures, but I shot them with a somehow improvised setup at the dealer. Hope you like them nevertheless!

With best regards,
Marcus