In 2016, Glashütte Original introduced a new collection of watches called the Senator Excellence. One can consider these watches to be an offshoot of the larger Senator collection. It is difficult to tell solely from press photos, but the Senator Excellence watches differ by being more modern, elegant, and classic in appearance. To celebrate this new collection, Glashütte Original is introducing a new member to the collection. This is the new Glashütte Original Senator Excellence Perpetual Calendar Limited Edition. It only comes in white gold, it has bright blue heat-treated hands, but most of all, the highlight is its skeletonized dial, which shows off more of the Calibre 36-02 underneath.

Specifications

Brand: Glashütte Original
Model: Senator Excellence Perpetual Calendar
Dimensions: 42mm
Lug Width: 21mm tapering down to 18mm
Case Material: White gold
Crystal/Lens: Sapphire crystal
Movement: Calibre 36-02
Frequency: 4Hz
Power Reserve: 100 hours
Strap/Bracelet: Louisana blue alligator leather strap
Price & Availability: $37,500–$39,900 depending on strap/buckle options, limited to 100 pieces

Analysis

Because of the skeletonized dial, this new Senator Excellence Perpetual Calendar Limited Edition watch is a markedly different watch from the watch on which it was based. The regular Senator Excellence Perpetual Calendar is an elegant watch with very classic and simple styling, but this new model is much more modern in its presentation.

And if I were to nitpick, I’m not sure skeletonized is the right word to describe the dial. You see, where most of the dial is exposed, the movement itself isn’t really skeletonized to the same extent as say the Girard-Perregaux Laureato Skeleton watch. That watch is heavily skeletonized with exposed bridges that seemed to have been shaved down to the minimum. The Senator Excellence Perpetual Calendar Limited Edition, on the other hand, doesn’t show off any elaborate skeletonized bridges. Instead, what we can see in the dial cutout is the cover plate for the perpetual calendar module. Granted, it seems to be nicely decorated with guilloche, but I don’t consider it to be skeletonized, at least not in the strictest sense of the word. Nevertheless, there are openings in the cover plate that attempt to show off the mechanisms of the perpetual calendar module.

Summary

I think this is an interesting addition to the Senator Excellence collection. I have my reservations about this piece, mainly because of the skeletonization, but I can’t deny that its overall aesthetics are very different from the rest of the Senator Excellence watches. And for that, I think it might be appealing to some watch collectors. Who knows? And since Glashütte Original is only producing 100 pieces of this, it is going to be exclusive and that could be a huge selling point for some people. The Glashütte Original Senator Excellence Perpetual Calendar Limited Edition is priced at around $37,500–$39,900 depending on strap and buckle options. glashuette-original.com