🚨NWA🚨 Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer
I thought I’d write a NWA post about the watch itself if you didn’t want to read the whole post about my journey to Nashville.
I’ve started to get really fed up with my local Rolex AD. I’ve spent a good amount of time and money trying to develop a good relationship with them but they’re just not following through in a getting me the any of the Rolex allocations I want. I got treated better at Watches of Switzerland as a new customer than I’ve ever been treated at my local AD. I’m starting to see the benefit of shopping at a store that only sells watches and isn’t incentivized to sell you jewelry and or other crap that you don’t want in order to get “the call on your dream Rolex.
So, naturally I started looking at the used inventory at WoS and while I was at an event last week, I saw a couple pieces that peaked my interest. One was a Kudoke Piece Unique but after doing some research, I found out that anyone can order a custom Kudoke and that it would in fact be cheaper to order directly from the manufacturer than buy the item they had in stock.
The other watch I saw in the store was a JLC Ultra Thin Perpetual Calendar with moonphase. It’s a crazy cool watch-especially with how thin it is as it’s an automatic perpetual calendar watch in a 39mm case that’s only 9.2mm thick. It’s an insane amount of engineering for the money.
However, I had a few “issues”-one was the used asking price at WoS (I found a new unworn example on Jomashop for $14,995 that was 47% off the retail price of $28,500) The other was the small 38 hour power reserve. I fully understand that the thinness needs to come from somewhere, but if they could just bump it up to around 48 hours, I’d be so much happier. And it’s really only an issue because it’s a perpetual calendar-if I forget to put it on a winder, it might stop and then I’m gonna have to deal with setting it all over again. Lastly, for the money WoS was asking, I could get a used full gold JLC perpetual calendar on a strap that I’d much prefer to own because… it’s gold!
My trip to Nashville this weekend came at the perfect time. As I wasn’t too keen on the watches available through WoS, I decided to take the opportunity to shop at King Jewelers. If you ever need anything from Kings or the IWC boutique in Nashville, Danny is your man. He took care of me over the summer when I bought the PanoMaticInverse and he really came through for me. The man literally swapped out a defective GO for a brand new one still in the plastic bag. I will always trust him to take care of me and any of my family and friends. Nobody looks out for his customers like Jim Koonts. I can’t sing his praises enough.
I started checking out the GO case as it’s one of my favorite brands….and low and behold I see the 70’s Chrono and boy is that thing an engineering marvel. For the price of a SS Daytona you can buy a hand assembled column wheel chronograph with a vertical clutch, flyback mechanism & big date. 🤯🤯 And it’s all finished better than most anything in its price segment. It’s literally insane. The Swiss couldn’t touch the level of decoration on this movement for the money.
So, how did I land on this Senator Chronometer? I saw the movement in action. It makes setting your watch to a reference time extremely fast and easy. Glashütte Original is extremely well-regarded for its movements, and the manual winding caliber within the 58-01 isn't one to be discounted.
“In addition to being manufactured in-house, Glashütte Original sends its movements off for testing to the Thuringian Office of Weights and Measures to receive official chronometer certification. Each model of the 58-01 caliber undergoes a 15-day test run, and is subject to examinations in five positions and in three different temperatures to ensure its accuracy.
The 58-01 caliber movement itself is crafted with a unique mechanism for its stop-seconds functionality. Pull out the crown to set the time, and the seconds hand will instantaneously jump to zero and stop to efficiently coordinate with a reference time down to the second. The minute detent system also jumps the minute hand into position with a pleasant haptic click to ensure the minutes and seconds are in exact alignment.”
It was this functionality that sold me on the watch as I love setting my timepieces to the local reference time. It even has an am/pm indicator within the power reserve that turns blue between the hours of 6 PM and 6 AM. It’s a really cool and functional dress watch.
I think it also helped that it was made of red gold as it’s one of my favorite precious metals. But it’s a very different color/hue to Rolex Everose. I actually thought it was yellow gold in the store because my reference point was my Everose gold Daytona. My negotiations were helped by the fact that I noticed they had two of the exact same watches in stock so I picked the one that was wrapped in plastic and negotiated as best I could. And I walked out with a screaming deal. Anyway, thanks for reading and have a great week ahead!
Thanks for reading and feel free to comment or ask questions.
Welcome! I’m @TheHoroSexual, a passionate collector and connoisseur of distinctive horology. My journey began with a Rolex Yacht Master 37, which ignited a lifelong appreciation for Rolex’s design lan...
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Congratulations 🍾
Congratulations 🍾
Thank you sir! I’m very happy with her
Wowow stunning piece, such a looker. Was cool to read your thoughts on this watch journey. How much were they asking for the JLC at WoS?
Your Rolex AD story seems so common these days it’s part of the reason why I’ve decided against the brand entirely. I have one piece from family but don’t think I’ll ever want to be disrespected and pay over inflated (even wrt luxury here) prices in this lifetime 😤😤
Wowow stunning piece, such a looker. Was cool to read your thoughts on this watch journey. How much were they asking for the JLC at WoS?
Your Rolex AD story seems so common these days it’s part of the reason why I’ve decided against the brand entirely. I have one piece from family but don’t think I’ll ever want to be disrespected and pay over inflated (even wrt luxury here) prices in this lifetime 😤😤
They were asking high teens. It would have been close to 20k with taxes. Way higher than comps.
Congratulations and have fun clicking and clacking your Senator. You don't even need to vote for the guy and once bought he stays bought! 😂
Congratulations and have fun clicking and clacking your Senator. You don't even need to vote for the guy and once bought he stays bought! 😂
Oh my God!!! That’s such a good joke!! I’m literally dying of laughter right now.
@TheHoroSexual so this was a brand new GO? Kings Jewelers allows haggling for brand new high end watches?! That’s amazing!! Great story!
@TheHoroSexual so this was a brand new GO? Kings Jewelers allows haggling for brand new high end watches?! That’s amazing!! Great story!
Yes, sir. It helped that he had two of them in stock. But, indeed, always negotiate on high-end pieces! Unless you’re at a branded boutique, negotiate!!! I mean, you’ve got nothing to lose, so why not ask?
Absolutely bloody fantastic!! Huge congratulations on the new piece. I was walking past a GO AD yesterday and thought of you. Had to snap a pic of the selection in the window
I really like the PanoMaticInverse and it's almost certainly from seeing yours on here all the time!
Well what a Journey, indeed, but I must say you’ve done very well with your choice an absolutely fantastic time piece WOW 🤩 it’s a one in a lifetime opportunity and I’m very happy for you enjoy it your a very lucky 🍀 duck 🦆 be happy be safe and remember to keep on ticking ⭐️⏱️💯 what class
Absolutely bloody fantastic!! Huge congratulations on the new piece. I was walking past a GO AD yesterday and thought of you. Had to snap a pic of the selection in the window
I really like the PanoMaticInverse and it's almost certainly from seeing yours on here all the time!
Aww thank you so much for taking the time to take those photos and for thinking of me. I’m super tempted to get the PanoInverse without the date because it’s so unique and its own right. I especially love the gold chatons on the dial side.
Well what a Journey, indeed, but I must say you’ve done very well with your choice an absolutely fantastic time piece WOW 🤩 it’s a one in a lifetime opportunity and I’m very happy for you enjoy it your a very lucky 🍀 duck 🦆 be happy be safe and remember to keep on ticking ⭐️⏱️💯 what class
Thank you so much for your kind and supportive comment. So grateful for all of you guys on here. I’ll see you on WRUW!!!
I can’t wait to see them I’m just as excited as you lol it’s truly a special time piece so happy for you …!!😊⭐️⏱️
I’ve been on your journey through Rolex to GO.
I have self respect, which means zero tolerance for the Rolex buying experience (you have to want something too much, and therefore be a masochist and mendicant - no thanks).
So while Rolex and GO make vastly different watches and are not in direct competition in any way, I was much happier without the industrial numbers, contradictory tool luxuriousness, ubiquity and public recognition of Rolex.
The GO that I had was/is both aesthetically and build wise unlike anything else at its price. This made for a personal experience. That’s just the thing one wants when spending that kind of money: zero public noise, lots of private satisfaction.
Congrats on wonderfull piece. It is both design and finishing masterpiece. Can relate to design heavily as I own this one:
https://www.watchcrunch.com/Mare0104/posts/wruw-2023-12-04-245b82af-aupukdql-263800
Can't beat a beautifuly executed marine chronometre design
What a beauty! Congrats.
I’ve fallen so hard for this brand. The value for money is just spectacular. They only charge 78 dollars per watchmaker hour. They’re literally right in the same league as Vacheron, Breguet & AP when it comes to the amount of hand finishing.
I had never seen this chart, or even knew these stats existed! Where did you get it? I would love to read more about this...already was a big GO admirer...now there is some math to back it up. Thanks!
What a beauty! Congrats.
Thank you Scott!
I’ve fallen so hard for this brand. The value for money is just spectacular. They only charge 78 dollars per watchmaker hour. They’re literally right in the same league as Vacheron, Breguet & AP when it comes to the amount of hand finishing.
Been screaming about that article into the void for so long, it's a great study in quality vs price! Nomos isn't shown on the chart, but discussed in the article, and a great honorable mention for having such high hours at such a low price
Congrats on the watch! The first time I saw a video of that time setting feature, my mind was blown -- similarly to the first time I set foot in King's not long ago. The selection in that place is way beyond what I'm used to. I didn't have much time to really dig into the inventory, but I had a quick chat with Jim, who was an absolute pro. He even handed me his personal gold Reverso to play with
Great write up. Thank you for sharing. Beautiful watch. Love the dial with the blue hands. Enjoy!
Glashutte are a solid house - nice one!
Been screaming about that article into the void for so long, it's a great study in quality vs price! Nomos isn't shown on the chart, but discussed in the article, and a great honorable mention for having such high hours at such a low price
I couldn’t agree more with your assessment. I think in the article they call it “Glashuttenomics” and they couldn’t be more on point. You get so much bang for your buck out of these German brands. I hope you’re having a wonderful holiday season. Cheers!! 🥂
Congrats on the watch! The first time I saw a video of that time setting feature, my mind was blown -- similarly to the first time I set foot in King's not long ago. The selection in that place is way beyond what I'm used to. I didn't have much time to really dig into the inventory, but I had a quick chat with Jim, who was an absolute pro. He even handed me his personal gold Reverso to play with
It’s so nice to hear that you’ve had a good experience with Jim and it wasn’t just a fluke with me. His passion for horology is so evident that he’ll geek out with you over neat horological features just like a fellow RedBar member. Btw, Jim was wearing that gold reverso on Saturday when I bought my watch!
Great write up. Thank you for sharing. Beautiful watch. Love the dial with the blue hands. Enjoy!
You’re very welcome. Thank you, Hector.
Glashutte are a solid house - nice one!
Thank you! They don’t get nearly as much love as they should, but I’m fine with that since it makes them significantly cheaper for me to acquire!
Your second GO! Starting to see a trend.. beautiful, traditional piece that complements your panomatic. Enjoy!
Your second GO! Starting to see a trend.. beautiful, traditional piece that complements your panomatic. Enjoy!
Thank you my friend. This is my first actual “dress” watch. I’m smitten beyond words.
Congrats - it’s a beautiful timepiece and I agree with your comments and sentiments around the Rolex AD’s now and others… gone are the times you could walk in have a nice conversation without being judged and purchase a watch… bring back the good old days🖤💛
Congrats. Great watch and beautiful movement.