Repairs

Glashutte Original tour to Germany September 2004

by Tim Jackson

Start of the Adventure - Sunday
Sunday afternoon on the 19th I departed SFO aboard Lufthansa bound for Dresden via Frankfurt, courtesy of the Swatch Group. They had organized a fleeting visit to Germany to do a factory tour in the town of Glashutte together with a couple of interesting extra tours.

Day One - Monday

I arrived in Dresden airport on Monday afternoon jumped into a taxi and headed into the center of Dresden to the Kempinski hotel situated in the heart of the historic Saxon capitol. I must commend Glashutte Original on their excellent choice of accommodations for their USA contingent. A quick shower and we convened in the hotel lobby for a walking/bus tour of Dresden.

The historic center is Gothic and Baroque is architecture, quite splendid compared to the remainder of Dresden, which after it was 85% destroyed at the end of WWII, was rebuilt in typical communist style, drab but functional.

One of the highlights was the brand new and very modern glass structure housing the assembly plant of the VW Phaeton, a car that although exquisite in every detail and hand assembled( I can attest your honor) will be a tough sell in the States due to its VW badge.

Don’t the marketing guys at VW look at what Toyota, Nissan and Honda have done for the States, namely Lexus, Infiniti and Acura. I don’t see many here acquiring a $85K Volkswagen!

Most would rather opt for a Merc, BMW or perhaps an Audi at that price level even though this car is certainly in their class with regard to performance, fit and finish. I digress, I’m meant to be telling of my watch factory tours and not cars

That evening was spent in a relaxed restaurant on the banks of the Elbe river dining on, you guessed it, sausages & roasted potatoes washed down with a good German beer. To bed after a nightcap in the hotel bar.

Day Two - Tuesday

The following morning, we jumped into a minibus for the ride down to the town of Glashutte. When one thinks of driving in Germany, the autobahn usually comes to mind, well this was the opposite, a narrow winding road through the forests and valleys of Saxony.

When we alighted at the factory some 30 minutes later, I was glad to be on terra firma. Having seen the pictures of this small town’s main road submerged under 3 feet of water during the massive floods of 2002, I was amazed to see how much has been rebuilt in such a short time. The GO factory lost some 60 days of production during this time. Thanks to a generous cash injection from Glashutte Original’s parent company, the Swatch Group, a renovated and upgraded 21st century glass and white structure stood before us.

On entering we were led into the atrium that is bright and airy with showcases showing off the rich history of watch making in Glashutte. We were greeted by two lovely ladies, Nichole and Stephanie who were to accompany us on our tour of the manufactory. The GO manufactory employs around 275 people, with room to expand.


We were given the royal tour from the tool making rooms up to the room where they assemble amongst others the highly specialized “Julius Assman 3” a skeletonised retrograde date, power reserve flying tourbillon! The room where the high complications are assembled was only occupied by 4 fellows working away diligently. If you ever wonder why these superb watches cost what they do, hang out here for ten minutes and it’ll open your mind as to why. These are akin to sculptors.


Now before I get letters and phone calls screaming about how it is that I can compare these guys, let me explain. Although they do not design the watches from an aesthetic standpoint, they are making magic. These high complications have around 350-400 parts, some of which have been painstakingly hand polished using a tin bar.


All checked and re-checked, cleaned and then sent off to the assembly stage for the master watchmakers to create the finished product. This is where the magic happens because one doesn’t just screw all the pieces together in the right order, wind the watch and watch it run, no it is far from that. Imagine this if you will, each little gearing mechanism and complication has to assembled, checked to make sure it actually functions, prior to adding the next part of the movement. In doing this, invariably parts don’t operate as they are supposed to, so the watchmaker has to tweak the parts, which might involve re-polishing by hand 4 or 5 individual parts until the particular mechanism does what it is supposed to flawlessly.

After the whole of the movement has been assembled and tested to make sure it operates in the required manner, it is then disassembled, thoroughly cleaned in an ultrasonic and then re-assembled, lubricated correctly and cased. This process can take 2 to 3 weeks depending on the type of movement, relative skill level and experience. I’ve seen this before in other factories, so it isn’t unique to GO.

Knowing the Germans’ penchant for fine mechanical crafts it is no wonder they create such works of art in these hallowed horological halls. Wow, my old English teacher would be quite impressed with my usage of the queens tongue, not to mention my mother who often laments the loss of my native (English, not British) accent. Ah well, how does that old saying go, you can please some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time.

Early examples of a pocket watch and a Marine Chronometer from Glashütte

Our next stop was across the street at the Alfred Helwig school of watch making, where Glashutte Original has it’s museum and watch making school. A three year course, 30 students per year with the “A” graded students receiving an guaranteed place in one of the Swatch Group’s many watch making factories. This is quite a popular option for the locals as it offers a possibility of working in Switzerland if gaining the required “A” at graduation.

I’m told the school receives around 150 applicants each year. We enjoyed a couple of meetings with their tireless worldwide director of sales Mr. Klaus Grentrup. A gentleman passionate about Glashutte Original watches and enjoying life.

We were shown a new version of the PanoMaticLunar in steel with a great blue dial and revisited the much anticipated and soon to be released PanoMaticCrono, this years talk of the Basel show. It contains a revolutionary self-winding mechanism that winds in both directions twin barrels at different torque rates depending on how much the watch is wound. Quite ingenious, saving wear and tear on the self-winding mechanism, and giving an optimal amount of power to the movement.

My Platinum Ltd. Edition Panograph next to the new PanoMatic Chronographs in Platinum and Gold.

I also revisited the next limited edition of one of my all time favorite watches the Senator perpetual calendar in platinum with a killer Prussian blue dial. I’m still working on my dear wife, Carrie for that one!
The new 2004 limited edition platinum Senator Perpetual Calendar with the stunning new Prussian Blue Dial

We then bid the fine folks at Glashutte Original and the town of Glashutte farewell and headed back to Dresden along that bumpy winding road. A formal dinner was that evenings’ event in the hotel. We were joined by Herr Grentrup again, Stephanie and Klaus (one of the European sales guys) for the splendid seven course meal. I was poured a lovely glass of red wine from the decanter with the delicious pork dish we were enjoying. Swirling it around my mouth, savoring it, I knew we were being treated to something quite special. On inquiring with our host Klaus Grentrup, he smiled and said ‘97 Brunello di Montalcino. The evening was rounded off with some of Scotland’s finest and then to bed.

Day three - Wednesday

A morning flight to Munich and a ride into the beautiful city courtesy of a taxi driver who thought he was another Michael Schumacher. I don’t think I have ever seen a turbo diesel Mercedes E300 driven with as much vigor. To describe it as quick doesn’t really give you the sensation, a more accurate description; driving with skilled impatience. He took the back roads into the city as the autobahn had some widening going on with a restriction on the number of lanes. Hello, I should have known when I saw the Recaro drivers seat!

We arrived at the Bayrischer Hof in central Munich in one piece I’m glad to say. A lovely old hotel, with rather quaint small but well appointed rooms. We re-convened for an Italian luncheon before being given a bus tour of Munich, prior to the main event Oktoberfest. If any of you have been you’ll understand my awe on entering one of the beer tents. We were taken to the Lowenbrau tent by Glashutte, which turned into quite an evening. No one behaves badly as there are local police and security guards ready to eject the offenders smartly from the premises, in efficient German style. “Order vill be obeyed” Given the amount of beer consumed by the attendees, this is quite an achievement. If ones goes to a professional soccer match in the UK, there are almost certain to be several fights!

The following morning was spent wandering around Munich picking up the requisite T-shirts for Fiona & Olivia, and Bavarian teddy bears all dressed up in Lederhosen, before I returned to SFO courtesy of Lufthansa. By the way I figured out why its called Lederhosen, basically “leather clothing” is a translation. Traditional Bavarian menswear includes a long or short pair of suede pants, hence leather trousers. Almost picked up a pair for myself, then thought perhaps not. I don’t think I’d actually wear them very much, which brings me back to watches.

I love wearing my Glashutte Original PanoGraph which I now have had for about 18 months, and it is still one of my favorite watches. I love winding it each morning prior to putting it on and am reminded of my grandfathers old Longines watch that he dutifully wound every morning in the regimented military fashion that comes from spending 15 years in the British army as an officer.

In this hectic world we live in, take a minute in the morning to wind by hand a fine mechanical watch, I think you’ll find it one of life’s great pleasures.