The Glashütte Original Senator line is a fundamental part of the brands catalogue for a long time. The Senator is not only important in its variety, ranging from time only models at the more affordable levels to the top high complications such as the tourbillon. The modern yet traditional aesthetics of the Senator is also at the heart of the brands DNA, being a timeless model that appeals to the watch connoisseur who likes traditional high-end watchmaking carefully evolving into modern times.
In 2016 Glashütte Original launched the Senator Excellence, an offspring line defined by a more contemporary, minimalist appearance. All in the Glashütte way, so with subtle yet significant changes, just enough to show a fresh alternative. The Senator Excellence also introduced us to the new Caliber 36 movement, featuring a silicon balance spring, 100-hour power reserve and optimized precision.
Over the years the Senator Excellence has evolved in a line-up of different models and complications. Let’s dive into two recently renewed models, the Panorama Date Moon Phase and the Perpetual Calendar.
Senator Excellence Panorama Date Moon Phase
The Panorama Date Moon Phase was originally introduced in 2018 and refreshed earlier this year. Aesthetically, the watch perfectly balances the fundamental clean and minimalistic looks with the two visible complications, the Panorama Date window with its unique seamlessly fitting numbers rings and the moon phase. The positioning of both complications, combined with the galvanic grey dial and the blue colouring of the indexes, hands and date window make this watch a very balanced one to look at. Especially in steel you’ll see a contemporary looking watch, that cannot be mistaken for any other brand than Glashütte Original. The mission of the Senator Excellence line is perfectly displayed here.
The caliber 36-24 that ticks inside benefits from the core features of this movement, being the already mentioned silicon balance spring and the comfortable 100-hour power reserve, and adds a moon phase indicator that can run for 122 years without correction when properly set. Excellent conversation material for the proud owner, I’d say.
Senator Excellence Perpetual Calendar
Moving up in the ranks we also tried the Perpetual Calendar. Slightly larger than the Moon Phase (42mm compared to 40), a Perpetual Calendar has traditionally more visual elements and functions to showcase, which might conflict with the minimalistic ambitions. Glashütte Original has a long tradition of tackling this challenge in a fantastic way. The Senator Perpetual Calendar models always benefit from clean, well-balanced propositions and the latest iteration is no exception. The long evolution has brought us fantastic looking dials where obviously a lot is going on without ever being messy or unbalanced. In the 18k red gold version with grey galvanic dial the whole appearance is a bit more classy, the steel version feels a bit more understated. If you’re lucky, you could even find the salmon dial limited edition..
The automatic caliber 36-12 is visible through the sapphire crystal case back and a feast for the eye of the connoisseur every time you look at it. The open-worked rotor allows an interesting and optimal view, including the hallmark swan neck.
The new iterations make the Senator Excellence Panorama Date Moon Phase and Perpetual Calendar both masters of evolution. Both carry the traditional watchmaking tradition and combine it with the minimalistic, contemporary “Excellence” approach of the brand, taken further to perfection. The updates are just enough to make it look new and still honor the looks of the previous version. The recently introduced strap variations add an extra dimension of freshness to that. Glashütte Original enthusiasts will never be disappointed and for those who don’t have the brand on the radar, this might be a good moment to change that…
