Glashütte Original Twentieth Century Vintage (1-39-52-09-02-01)

The Basics

Sometimes a backward glance can inspire a decisive step forward. The Sixties Iconic Collection is a tribute to the unforgettable design of iconic timepieces from the 1960s. The special collection comprises five colourful watches in the unmistakable style of the popular Sixties line from Glashütte Original. In the 1960s, all around the world, a new way of looking at life blossomed. Music, art, design and technology were filled with inspiration and innovative power, introducing an era whose unmistakable style was to have a decisive impact on modern life. In eastern Germany, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) at the time, one also sensed the echo of this attitude towards life. Today Glashütte Original pays tribute to this iconic era with a special collection, inspired by the design of the models of the time. The Sixties Iconic Collection comprises five elegant, colourful timepieces. They merge the unmistakable design of the sixties with exceptional dials in unique hues that give the models their names: Sixties Red, Sixties Brown, Sixties Golden, Sixties Grey and Sixties Aqua. All five models offer a delightful surprise in the form of a highly unusual dégradé effect on the dial, which is achieved using an extremely complex and time-consuming process in Glashütte Original’s own dial manufactory in Pforzheim, Germany. In this process the dials are first galvanised with great care; layers of lacquer are added by hand in a series subsequent steps. Throughout, the process is repeatedly brought to a halt to allow the result to be examined by an experienced set of eyes. In a final step, a further colour is carefully applied to this “canvas” using a special spray gun – this technique produces, depending on the angle, an individual colour gradient, known as the dégradé effect, which renders each watch unique. Three of the five elegant models in the Sixties Iconic Collection combine these unique shadings with a refined sunray finishing: With the Sixties Golden and the Sixties Aqua this results in a golden shimmer or a brilliant turquoise at the centre of the dials blending into a deep black, while the Sixties Red takes on an additional colour: here a luminous yellow changes to intense red. The subtle colour shading of the Sixties Brown and Sixties Grey models is enhanced by an elaborate imprint. This complex technique makes use of guilloche stamps, which, with the help of a 60-ton press, imprint their filigree pattern on the paper-thin dials. These stamps, known as “dies”, are a further example of extreme authenticity. Almost as old as the historic examples from the sixties themselves, they are tools, around 40 years old, from the archives of the Glashütte Original dial manufactory. They give the model with the brown-black dégradé effect a fine rhombic pattern, while the silver-grey model displays a structure evocative of dewdrops.

Below is a detailed look at Glashütte Original’s model 1-39-52-09-02-01 from Twentieth Century Vintage watch family, including the price, case details and movement features.