German design is not playful? Watch this funky watch!

After @Max discussed the straightforward side of German watches (which is the majority for sure) with us last week I want to show you today another side.

On the pictures you see my Glashütte Original Sixties 2019 Annual Edition with a black Nomos cordovan strap (the original light brown croc was to much ‘in ya face’). I bought it in November 2021 at my AD. It was not a very popular edition, so it survived 2 years in the window, and I got a nice discount.

Before I talk about the dial, let’s explore the rest. The case is completely polished and looks larger than a classic 39mm thanks to the 19mm lugs, with 20mm lugs the case would look smaller. The case is for my wrist perfectly balanced, the lugs are curved down which leads to a seamless hug of my wrist.

The movement… I don’t know what to say, how funky the dial is, so traditional is the movement. The case back is almost fully covered with a sapphire crystal. This let you see much more of the movement. It looks is so stunning, especially at that price. For me personally it is even a step above JLC. It is fully hand finished and flawless, the 21k gold rotor element and the gold-plated accents are building a perfect contrast to the rhodinated movement with its Glashütte-stripes. It has a traditional German architecture with a three-quarter plate and swan neck regulator. In every angle in the sun it is shiny and reflective. Which makes it hard to photograph but very pleasing for the eye (sorry for the bad picture, I tried my best. But my strength is clearly not that).

Coming to the main part: the dial. If you think awesome dials are coming only from Japan, don’t forget about the Germans 😊. This dial has so many aspects, I don’t know where to start. First it is completely made at Glashüttes own dial manufacturer located in Pforzheim (south-west of Germany, Glashütte which is in the east). It all starts with a 60 tons press which gives it the curved shape and the pattern. This press also produced the dials of the 60ies GUB era. Afterwards the dial is lacquered in orange, the gradient is then hand air brushed. In the next steps the hour markers are cut, the numerals, logo and minute track are printed and finally the lume plots are applied by hand. In total it makes this plane 3-hander dial so complex. The radial pattern promotes the gradient so ideally it almost looks organic. Thanks to this look the watch earned the nick name “Eye of Sauron”. The curved dial seconds and minutes hand are also promoting the gradient, sometimes it looks like a shadow. Additionally, you have the cut (and not applied) hour markers and printed numerals which both give another dimension to the dial. The numerals are very unique, never have seen this typeface before, but it fits to the whole aesthetic.

I love this piece, it is so different, I cannot stop staring at it!

At the end I want to thank @MarkHackman, @Watchcollectingstrategy and YoureTerrific for their Youtube videos about this watch that gave me the final push to get it (before the purchase I watched the 3 videos approx. 3-4 times 😂).