For 2019 German Glashutte Original debuts not only a new series of sports watches but the fifth pillar in the brand’s timepiece families known as “Spezialist.” The first Glashutte Original Spezialist is the diver-themed Spezialist SeaQ which comes in two overall flavors for 2019 with the larger Specialist SeaQ Panorama Date which I will cover in this article, and also the smaller 39.5mm wide Glashute Original Spezialist SeaQ 1969 that will be covered in a separate aBlogtoWatch article. In many ways this Spezialist SeaQ Panorama Date watch is the spiritual successor to the similarly sized and also diver’s style Glashutte Original Senator Sport Evolution from over a decade ago.

The overall dial and bezel design of the Spezialist SeaQ Panorama Date is based on historic Glashutte-area sport watches produced by the then local watchmakers there under socialist control. Despite what you might think of state-owned and controlled watchmakers, the 1960s and 1970s were an era of wonderful aesthetic variety and fun in watch design. You can see late 1960s-era sport watches that the Spezialist SeaQ Panorama Date was based on at the watch museum in Glashutte. The specific watch that was the source of inspiration according to Glashutte Original was the 1969 Spezimatic Type RP TS 200. It is nice to see this attractive sport watch design return in high-end form for a new generation. It doesn’t perhaps have the distinctiveness of something totally new, but given the appeal of vintage-style sport watches in fancy skin as a modern watch, the Spezialist SeaQ Panorama Date will be a very successful product.

From a price perspective the Spezialist SeaQ Panorama Date is a rather high-end steel sports watch costing around what a Rolex Daytona does. What does Glashutte Original include in the watch to justify the first? To begin, this is the first sports watch to include the still fresh in-house made Calibre 36 automatic movement that boasts incredible performance, dependability, and longevity with its 100 hours of power reserve. Carefully tuned for accuracy in-house the Calibre 36 (here as the Calibre 36-13 with the time and big date indicator at 4 o’clock) is ideal for a sport-style timepiece. The movement operates at 4Hz with a silicon balance spring and features hand-finishing and decoration through-out.

The Spezialist SeaQ Panorama Date case is in steel with a new shape for the brand and is 43.2mm wide and 15.65mm thick. With 300 meters of water resistance this is a real diver’s watch and finally we have a rotating bezel from Glashutte Original with ceramic inlay. The scratch resistant black ceramic bezel design is handsome and timeless, but at this point in watch design history not particularly original. Where Glashutte Original will earn high-end watch respect is in the dial execution and legibility. It isn’t enough to recreate the look of a vintage watch, in order to charge this much money for it then you need to make it far better than the original.

The volume of luminant paint possible on the hands and hour markers means that the dial of the Spezialist SeaQ Panorama Date likely glows brightly after being charged in the dark. The overall design of the dial is charming with the easy to read numerals and large arrow-style minutes hand. To combine the high-end construction quality of a modern GO, with the Calibre 36 movement, and this fun, non-pretentious dial makes for a uniquely appealing product in 2019 from the high-end German brand. It goes to be seen which of the two Spezialist SeaQ watches do well, this larger SeaQ Panorama Date watch or the most vintage-style SeaQ 1969.

Two dial versions a long with a series of straps compliment the 2019 Spezialist SeaQ Panorama Date collection. Glashutte Original offers the steel watch with a traditional black or more trendy blue dial – both are solid choices and very legible. Glashutte Original also included an excellent new bracelet with its typical tight tolerances and micro-adjustment system in the deployant clasp. In addition to the hard-to-resist steel bracelet, the Spezialist SeaQ Panorama Date comes on a rubber strap or a textile strap – both entirely new looks for the brand. The full list of references for the SeaQ with the black dial are REF. 1-36-13-01-80-08 (stainless steel buckle, 18 mm),REF. 1-36-13-01-80-34 (stainless steel fold fastener, 18 mm). Models with rubber strap black: REF. 1-36-13-01-80-06 (stainless steel buckle, 18 mm), REF. 1-36-13-01-80-33 (stainless steel fold fastener, 18 mm). The blue dial references are REF. 1-36-13-02-81-08 (stainless steel buckle, 18 mm), REF. 1-36-13-02-81-34 (stainless steel fold fastener, 18 mm). Models with rubber strap black: REF. 1-36-13-02-81-06 (stainless steel buckle, 18 mm), REF. 1-36-13-02-81-33 (stainless steel fold fastener, 18 mm). Model with bracelet: REF. 1-36-13-02-81-70 (stainless steel bracelet).

Price for the Glashutte Original Spezialist SeaQ Panorama Date watch is 11,000 Euros on the textile or rubber strap with the standard buckle. 11,300 Euros for the watch on a strap with the fold-over deployant clasp, and 12,200 Euros for the watch on the steel bracelet. See more at the Glashutte Original website here.