Glashutte Original PanoReserve

Glashutte Original PanoReserve Review
I purchased this watch in September of 2005, and have been wearing it most of the time since then.

This watch is ref. 65-01-02-02-04. It is the stainless steel version (also available in rose gold and a limited edition platinum version) and has a silver dial.



Box/Packaging – It’s a very nice wooden box, with leather inside. The box has a hinged lid where the watch can be stored when not in use. It also has a drawer that contains a CD that is a “snap shot” of the GO web site. The wood box comes inside a plain white cardboard box.

Manual/Documentation – The manual for this watch is just for the PanoReserve model. The instructions come in several languages, and are clearly written.

Case/Strap – the stainless steel case is nicely finished. It is 39.4 mm in diameter, is highly polished on some surfaces, but matte finished on others. It’s an unusual combination, and it works well for this watch. The top surface of the case is all polished, as well as the area between each set of lugs. The two sides of the case are matte finished.



The back of the case is polished where there is steel. The case is about 11 mm high. The case back is screwed on and comes with a sapphire pane to allow you to see the incredible movement. The crystal is also sapphire, and is very slightly domed – there is no anti-glare coating, but this has not been an issue for me. The crown is a good size for me to make the daily winding of this watch quite easy. The time and large date are adjusted using the crown.

This is not a sport watch, so the water resistance is not spectacular by any means, with GO stating it has a rating of 3 atmospheres. In other words, try not to get it too wet when it’s raining outside.

The watch comes with a very nice strap – mine is labeled as American Alligator, but in the catalogue they are described as Crocodile, so not sure what this all means. My strap is matte black, and it is equipped with a deployant clasp. This clasp is a double deployant, and uses two pushers to open it. The pushers extend out from the sides of the strap when the watch is worn, and there are times when they dig into my wrist a bit. This is my only real complaint about this watch as at times it is not comfortable to wear, especially when I am using a mouse with my left hand and am resting my wrist on a cushioned pad. The deployant is not as sturdy as others I have seen, such as on my JLC. It has never come undone on its own, and I really don’t think it’s construction is a big negative. The deployant has the “double G” logo cast into it on the portion of the buckle that is exposed when wearing the watch.



Dial – GO dials are spectacular in my opinion, and this one is no exception. The silver dial has a matte finish in most areas, but the off center hour/minute track is brighter and more reflective, but not what I would call polished. The sub-seconds dial that is also offset and under the hour/minute track has the same finish. The two timekeeping tracks overlap each other for a very nice effect. The power reserve indicator has a finished area where there is printing to indicate the power level, but the sector that the hand moves over has some detailed machining that looks like rays emanating from the point where the power reserve hand is attached. The window for the large date is rectangular, and is nicely chamfered. All of the hands are a dark grey colour, and are highly polished. There is no luminous material on this watch, so not a watch to choose if you need to tell the time in the dark. There are applied markers on the hour/minute track that are brightly polished steel. Some of these are “missing” because of the sub-seconds track and power reserve indicators intersecting the minute track. Between those applied markers are black printed minute markers. The sub-seconds dial has Arabic numbers printed for 20, 40, and 60 seconds, and also individual marls for each second. The power reserve indicator has “AUF” and “AB” at the upper and lower positions, and 5 small dots in between to let you know approximately where the power reserve is at any given time.



More printing in black ink appears under the 12 o’clock marker, where the logo is, and the model is noted at 6 o’clock on the dial, as well as “Made in Germany.” The date window is marked with black text as well as the power reserve indicator.

The watch is a big date model, so in the lower right portion of the dial the cut out for the date reveals GO’s version of this complication. It uses two concentric date disks, but unlike many other manufacturer’s, most notably A. Lange & Sohne, GO does not put a vertical bar between the two disks to hide the gap. Instead, the gap is minimized, which requires a great deal of precision on the part of the manufacturer to ensure that the two disks do not bind against each other. The gap is very small, and resembles a fine hair between the two disks. I very much like this design as it has an uncluttered appearance. The date wheels have a white background with black lettering. Another feature of this date complication that I like very much is how single digit days are handled. Lange, for example, chose to show a completely blank space in the first digit “window” of their date display. In my view, this leaves it looking somewhat unbalanced. GO chose to have a “0” show on the first wheel, which makes the date look “whole.” I think this truly was the only choice for this watch, given the fact that there is no vertical bar between the digits.

Overall I find the dial to be well balanced, despite the offset timekeeping tracks. The power reserve indicator is the right size for this watch, and the big date is just superb. It is certainly not a classic look for a watch, but it’s a look that will become a classic in my opinion.

Movement – the movement on this watch is finished to a very high level (that is a huge understatement). In the Glashutte tradition, the watch features a massive ¾ plate, which is finished with very well defined and executed Geneva bars (not sure if Geneva bars would be the correct term for a German watch, but you get the idea). The movement features screwed gold chatons, a hand engraved balance bridge, adjustable mass balance, and duplex swan’s neck fine regulation. In every small place I look with my loupe, I see no flaws with the finishing of this movement. It is truly a work of art, and I am proud to wear it on my wrist.





The movement is GO’s cal. 36. It is equipped with 48 jewels, and oscillates at 28,800 vph. The movement winds very nicely, taking little effort and feeling quite smooth. The watch has a power reserve of approx. 42 hours, so the power reserve drops a little more than ½ over a 24 hour period. The big date changes right on midnight and is a quick change style, so with a loud click the date change is complete in the blink of an eye.

Click this link for a video of the date change:

Click here to watch GO-Date-Cgange

Regarding accuracy, I have found this watch runs a bit faster than I would like it to. Over the first weeks it gained about 9 seconds per day. Certainly nothing that is catastrophic in my view, but I had hoped for better. Since it is a new watch, I plan to keep an eye on it over the next few months, and if things don’t settle, I’ll consider sending it in for regulation. It is already starting to get better, with the most recent check over 5 days resulting in about a 7 second per day gain.

The Purchase – I must credit John (Atomic) for giving me the scoop on the shop in Toronto where we bought this. It was one place I had never been to before, and when he told me that one of the brands they sold was GO, I knew it had to be on my list when we went watch shopping the next time. My wife and one other couple were with us when we first went to there to see what they had. After viewing the selection, I fell in love with the PanoReserve model. I made a deal with my wife on the ay home that I would sell the Rolex I have to fund the purchase of this new watch. I can say that this is the first watch I have obsessed over – I literally had nights where I had trouble sleeping as I thought of ways to fund this watch purchase. I think eventually my wife had pity on me and agreed to buy the watch before we sold the Rolex.

The list price for this model was $10,260 Canadian. I called the store and spoke to the person who had shown us the watches, and asked if there were any discounts available on that model - I was told I could get 20% off the list price. We looked at our financing, and how much we could afford to spend with not having sold the Rolex, and we decided that $8,500 was it. I wish I could take credit for the final negotiations, but in fact I was away on business when my wife made the phone calls and finally ended up getting us the price we wanted.

To clarify, the list was $10,260 + 15% taxes, and we got this watch for $8,500 including taxes. I think the people who sold it to us knew we wanted it, and went the extra mile to help us out.

Summary – This is the watch that I wear the most. It’s early on in my ownership experience, but so far the shine hasn’t worn off this one! I am hopeful that the timekeeping will settle down, but overall I am thrilled with this watch. It is truly an exceptional piece at the price. GO are a true manufacture, and produce a very small number of watches each year – I’ve read somewhere in the area of 5,000 per year. To be honest, GO was not a brand I was initially drawn to when I first became interested in fine watches. However, I have grown to appreciate the beauty of their designs, and the excellence in their execution.

[Rockrolex]

Very nice watch, Al. Looks good on the wrist, too.

My only complaint about it is - it's mechanical. Given even the minimal complication of a date, it would bother me too much to reset both the time and the date every time I forgot to wind it and it ran down.

But wear it well and enjoy it. And great price - Jacqui should do all your negotiating for you.

[padi56]

Love it Al beautiful watch but must differ from Ed,don't mind a man
wind. In-fact IMO its make the watch more mechanical,and gives it
just a little bit more soul,and more a part of owner.Great review Al
thats my kind of watch,as for the time keeping side give it a few
months to bed in.But + 7 secs a day is fine in my books for a manual
wind.In my experience autos are generally slightly more accurate than
manual as the autos spring is kept nearly fully wound and tensioned whilst wearing.

I agree with Padi on this one. Al, you know I love GO... and I'm so envious!

Like any mechanical watch, it'll need a break-in period. If it doesn't reign-in some time after about six months, I'd think about getting it regulated.

Beautiful, beautiful watch!

[BruceS]

It's a beautiful watch! Saw one on a bracelet at a TZ lunch. I didn't even know they came that way. I prefer them on strap like yours

Originally Posted by BruceS

It's a beautiful watch! Saw one on a bracelet at a TZ lunch. I didn't even know they came that way. I prefer them on strap like yours

My buddy Alex had a GO pilot watch for a while. It surprised me cuz it was actually pretty small for a pilot watch. Nevertheless, the piece was beautiful and was also on a bracelet. While I prefer GOs on straps, the fit and finish of this bracelet was second to none, including the platimum bracelet I saw on a GP Worldtimer.

[JJ Irani]

Beautiful watch complimented by some superb pics, Al. That GO does looks truly elegant and very, very classy.

It also makes us very happy to see YOU so happy!!

Thanks for all the nice comments, guys. They are very much appreciated.

Yes Ed, my wife (who was very timid about negotiating price on anything when we first met) has grown to be a tiger when it comes to getting a discount on something. She did a great job on this watch, at least in my opinion.

As a matter of fact, when we went to the store to pick-up the watch, the person who sold it to us said that I should bring Jacqui along to negotiate any large ticket item we might want to buy........

Regarding the hand wound movement, this is one reason why I wanted this watch. Like Peter, I feel that the hand winding ritual each morning kind of brings me closer to the watch in a way. More of throwback to the era before autos, and a few seconds each day to pause and appreicate the fact that I am lucky enough to own such a piece. In other words, not at all something I see as a negative.....

And the really cool thing about your GO (or even your JLC) is that you just know, even if you meet up with a group of WIS', you'll not likely see anyone else with the same watch on their wrist.

[pensivedoc]

Beautiful, just beautiful. I must say: me covet.

Jason

Originally Posted by pensivedoc

Beautiful, just beautiful. I must say: me covet.

Jason

Thanks Jason - I'm wearing it today!

[pensivedoc]

Just color (perhaps colour for you) me

[mailman]

Beautiful watch and great review Al.

[padi56]

The more I look at it the more I like it,thats my kind of watch

[worktolivelife]

EXQUISITE WATCH!!!!!!!!! really mate no back slapping bull***t

Thanks fot sharing!
steve

Thanks Steve - glad you like it. It was worth every penny!!

[mailman]

Beautiful watch Al

[Bane_of_your_life]

Exquisite!!! How's the accuracy now? Seriously thinking of getting this bad boy

[Cru Jones]

Originally Posted by Bane_of_your_life

Exquisite!!! How's the accuracy now? Seriously thinking of getting this bad boy

you realize this thread is SEVEN years old and the poster apparently has been erased from the forum, right?

[FeelingTheBlues]

Originally Posted by Cru Jones

you realize this thread is SEVEN years old and the poster apparently has been erased from the forum, right?

...Does that mean he won't tell us how the accuracy is?

Originally Posted by Bane_of_your_life

Exquisite!!! How's the accuracy now? Seriously thinking of getting this bad boy

If I may, I am pretty sure that, given the fact it is a watch from a very good brand who makes high quality watches, it is pretty accurate!

[dddrees]

Originally Posted by FeelingTheBlues

...Does that mean he won't tell us how the accuracy is?





If I may, I am pretty sure that, given the fact it is a watch from a very good brand who makes high quality watches, it is pretty accurate!

Yep, I would have to think NOT!!!!

[FeelingTheBlues]

Originally Posted by dddrees

Yep, I would have to think NOT!!!!

Blimey!

[dddrees]

Originally Posted by FeelingTheBlues

Blimey!

It's about time you got it!!!!

[FeelingTheBlues]

Originally Posted by dddrees

It's about time you got it!!!!

What's seven years in one's life? If you ask me I don't think it took me that long...

[dddrees]

Originally Posted by FeelingTheBlues

What's seven years in one's life? If you ask me I don't think it took me that long...

Yes Carl, it does appear that your a quick study.

[Bane_of_your_life]

Originally Posted by FeelingTheBlues

...Does that mean he won't tell us how the accuracy is?





If I may, I am pretty sure that, given the fact it is a watch from a very good brand who makes high quality watches, it is pretty accurate!

Check out the iwC Portuguese Authomatic with in house movement... So your reasoning doesn't always hold true furthermore the OP states his watch was initially running +9 a day hence not very accurate during wearing in period.