As the watch name so aptly states, the PanoLunarTourbillon has the time, moon phase indicator, tourbillon, and big date indicator (which is panorama date in Glashutte Original lingo). It is worth pointing out again, that because Glashutte Original owns their dial maker, they see to little details such as proper color matching. What this translates to much of the time is that the date discs have a perfect match to the colors of the rest of the dial. It is a minor, yet important touch in the pursuit of pure refinement– and isn’t that a huge part of what high-end watches are all about?

Part of me would have said that some of that empty space on the dial under the big date indicator would have been great for a power reserve indicator. Though I won’t say that because this tourbillon-based movement is an automatic. It doesn’t quite use a micro-rotor, but we will say a 3/4 rotor, just like the hallmark 3/4 movement plate found in a lot of German-made watches. The movement is the calibre 93-02 automatic with a 48 hour power reserve, and you can see it through the sapphire crystal caseback window.

Another piece of text that is going to cause controversy is the large label on the movement that says “flying tourbillon.” In a sense this is one of those pride things because Glashutte Original is German and a German watchmaker invented the flying tourbillon. Having said that, it feels like labeling on an automobile indicating something about the engine such as “Fuel Injection.” The watch is just supposed to have a flying tourbillon, blatantly saying it isn’t really a good use of space. Maybe this area on the movement under the rotor would have been a perfect spot to put the model name and reference number?

Did you notice that the watch contains 48 jewels and two diamonds. Yeah, I’ve never seen it written out like that before, as I was pretty sure diamonds are jewels as well. The two diamonds are somewhere in the movement but I can only account for one. That one seems to be in the middle of the tourbillon assembly. I wasn’t able to spot the other. Perhaps you can find it for us?

This year, the PanoLunarTourbillon is only available in 18k rose gold. It is possible that Glashutte Original will release the watch in 18k white gold next year, or thereafter. In rose gold it looks beautiful, and is available matched to either a black or brown alligator strap. Many will be really happy with the size of the case. There are a lot of large tourbillon watches out there, but the PanoLunarTourbillon is just 40mm wide. That isn’t small, per se, but it does offer the dimensions of a dress watch. Plus at about 13mm thick, the case is substantial enough to look great at 40mm in width.

The ref. 1-93-02-05-05-04 PanoLunarTourbillon is a fine timepiece and great example of what Glashutte Original represents today. Having said that, it is a brand of many talents and the “Pano” collection is just one of their strong product pillars. With the tourbillon, this piece is no doubt going to be among the more expensive of the Pano timepieces, but it does make for an elegantly restrained flagship piece. Price is $117,400. glashuette-original.com