There are a few places in the watch world that carry the same weight as Glashütte. Tucked away in a quiet valley in eastern Germany, this town has produced some of the most disciplined, refined, and soulful watches you can find⌚🇩🇪
And with their latest release, Glashütte Original has taken it to another level and painted it in the color of dawn. The PanoMaticCalendar “Blue of Dawn” is the newest twist on the brand’s already impressive annual calendar line, and while it’s not a watch most of us will ever casually stumble across on someone’s wrist, it’s the kind of piece that makes you stop scrolling, zoom in, and sigh a little 🌌✨
Why This Watch Matters
Annual calendars aren’t casual complications. They sit somewhere between a simple date function and the far more complex perpetual calendar 📅 In plain English: this watch automatically adjusts for the varying lengths of months, and only asks you to correct it once a year - at the end of February. It’s a smart middle ground.
Basically, Glashütte Original is selling an experience. The asymmetrical dial layout - the brand’s signature - looks like someone took a classical dial and nudged the elements off center just enough to feel modern, daring, and somehow balanced at the same time. Add to that the oversized Panorama Date, the moonphase 🌙⭐, and now a retrograde month indicator, and you’ve got a dial that’s both busy and deeply satisfying to stare at.
The Colour of Dawn 🌅
The star of this new release is the dial. Limited to just 150 pieces, the “Blue of Dawn” edition has a skeletonized layout that opens up the mechanics underneath. This specific shade of blue isn’t your everyday sunburst dial - it’s tinted, reflective, and paired with heat-blued screws 🔵🔩 that almost make the whole thing glow from within. The moonphase disk, with its tiny constellation of stars, fits right into that mood.
Some might say skeletonized watches risk becoming unreadable, but Glashütte dealt with that by adding white gold markers and lume dots. It’s still legible, but make no mistake: this is a piece more about beauty than raw practicality.
Platinum at a Price 💎
The case is platinum, which explains part of the price: €40,300💶 It’s a large figure, no doubt, and firmly places this watch in the “collector or connoisseur” bracket rather than something for the casual buyer. Platinum carries a certain weight (both literally and symbolically) that makes it also means the watch feels even more special, but most people won’t ever get to handle one.
Is it worth it? Compared to other annual calendars in platinum or even white gold from Swiss brands, the pricing is surprisingly competitive. For a watch that looks this striking and comes from a town with such a rich heritage 🏛️, the logic is clear. Still, it’s a number that makes you wonder what the steel version would feel like - and whether Glashütte will ever go there.
The Engine Inside ⚙️
At the heart of the watch is Glashütte Original’s in-house calibre 92-11, an automatic movement with a very generous 100-hour power reserve. That’s over four days of running time ⏳ - impressive for a complication of this type. It also packs a silicon balance spring, which adds modern reliability to the old-school mechanics.
Flip the watch over and you’ll see what makes Glashütte so respected. Stripes across the bridges, hand-engraved balance cock, polished bevels - it’s the kind of finishing that looks almost clinical in photos 📸 but in person is anything but. German finishing has a slightly different flavour than Swiss: it’s precise, structured, and proud of its engineering bones.
The Catch ❗
Not everyone is going to be convinced. The asymmetrical dial is divisive - some find it bold and refreshing, others think it looks slightly… off. Skeletonised dials can feel too busy for people who like clean lines. And then there’s the price: no matter how you slice it, €40,300 is serious money 💰 for an annual calendar, even in platinum.
On the flip side, that’s also what makes this release special. It’s not trying to please everyone. It’s a statement piece from a brand that quietly builds some of the most thoughtful watches around, and doesn’t shout about it as loudly as its Swiss neighbours.
Final Thoughts 💭
The Glashütte Original PanoMaticCalendar “Blue of Dawn” isn’t a watch that needs to justify itself. It exists for the small circle of collectors who love German watchmaking and appreciate the mix of mechanical cleverness and striking design.
It won’t outsell a Rolex Day-Date, nor is it meant to. It’s more like the Eine Kleine Nacht Musik 🎶 next to an AC/DC concert 🎸: refined, intentional, and deeply personal. Whether you love it or find it over the top, it’s the kind of release that reminds you why the world of watches is so much more than telling the time.
Price: €40,300
Availability: Limited to 150 pieces.
