It began with light. Or more precisely, the absence of it. In the earliest days of Saxon watchmaking, long before artificial lighting and climate-controlled workshops, watchmakers in Glashütte would begin their day at sunrise. This instilled a respect for natural circadian rhythm that demanded patience and discipline.

That tradition persists today at Glashütte Original. If you visit the manufacture before dawn, you’ll see the same quiet rituals unfolding. The wooden benches are prepared for the day ahead and the scent of metal and lacquer hangs in the air. The company may have evolved technologically, but the essence remains the same. This is a story of time measured not in minutes but in centuries.

How the “Blue of Dawn” celebrates 180 years of Saxon craft

Before most of Europe is awake, the watchmakers of Glashütte Original are already at their benches. The world outside is quiet, but inside the ateliers there is a quiet hum of concentration. There’s something almost devout about these early hours and, for Glashütte Original, that very ethos has been distilled into a single, breathtaking timepiece: the PanoMaticCalendar “Blue of Dawn.”

Glashütte Original PanoMaticCalendar “Blue Of Dawn”

Launched to commemorate 180 years of watchmaking in the small Saxon town of Glashütte, this new model is no mere anniversary edition. It is a celebration of artistry, engineering and emotion. It is a milestone not just for the brand, but for the wider conversation around German watchmaking. In an industry that often defaults to Swiss provenance and celebrity-endorsed glamor, Glashütte Original offers an alternative rooted in integrity, self-reliance and astonishing craft.

For Glashütte Original’s CEO Roland von Keith, the connection between silence and innovation is more than poetic. “Our watchmakers start early because they want to,” he tells me. “The morning is their time. It’s when everything is clear.”

Roland von Keith, Glashütte Original CEO

This early-bird mentality goes beyond discipline. It’s rooted in a tradition that dates back to 1845, when Ferdinand Adolph Lange catalyzed Saxony’s horological revolution. Glashütte Original, the modern inheritor of that legacy, can lay claim to something few brands can: continuity. While names and owners have changed through wars and recession, watchmaking has never stopped. “That’s the difference with us,” von Keith says. “We didn’t disappear. We evolved. And everything we do today is built on that unbroken chain.” It’s not just a historical footnote. That legacy informs every design decision, every caliber sketch, and every training session for the next generation of watchmakers.

Inside the PanoMaticCalendar: design, complications, and movement

Revolution is proud to be the first publication to offer an in-depth look at the new PanoMaticCalendar, just ahead of its official release this autumn. That sense of premier is important. Not simply because of the access, but because of what the model represents: a next step, a new chapter, a confident declaration that Glashütte Original is not only listening to the market, but quietly leading it.

The PanoMaticCalendar is housed in a 42mm platinum case, measuring 12mm thick

The PanoMaticCalendar was first introduced in 2022 in two versions — a regular 42mm rose gold case model with a silvery dial and a limited edition 42mm platinum model with a partially skeletonized dial in galvanized black. But for this anniversary year, a new version that draws inspiration directly from the town of Glashütte itself has been created.

Von Keith hints at how closely held this project has been. “We’ve been developing this for years,” he says. “And when the idea finally came together — calendar, moonphase, Panorama Date, all in one — it wasn’t about packing functions into a watch. It was about making something elegant that fits life.” Even at first glance, the PanoMaticCalendar is unmistakably Glashütte Original: off-center dials, a Panorama Date and a devotion to balance. But look closer, and it reveals its own story, one that is both technically complex and emotionally resonant.

Self-winding Caliber 92-11

Housed in platinum, the 42mm case, which is 12mm thick, frames a skeletonized dial in the most poetic of hues: “Blue of Dawn.” The color is about more than marketing. It mirrors those early morning skies above the Ore Mountains, a soft gradient that lives somewhere between silver, steel and blue. Then there is the retrograde month display, tucked between 3 and 6 o’clock. It uses a curved sapphire window to isolate each month, one numeral at a time. Like the phases of the moon, which glow at 2 o’clock, the months unfold subtly and gracefully. To the left of the dial is an off-center hours and minutes subdial and overlapping small seconds and at 4 o’clock is the familiar Panorama Date.

This is not a perpetual calendar. It’s an annual calendar that asks for correction once a year, on March 1st. And that restraint feels appropriate. It doesn’t scream complication. It whispers craftsmanship.

Inside beats the Caliber 92-11, visible from both front and back. A silicon balance spring ensures resistance to magnetic fields and temperature swings. A 100-hour power reserve and 4Hz beat rate offer both stamina and precision. The movement is gorgeously finished: Glashütte stripes, blued screws and a rhodium-coated three-quarter plate.

Michael Moebius and the human connection to Glashütte Original

And yet, as compelling as the specs are, it is the soul of the watch that captures the imagination. That soul is echoed in one of the brand’s most devoted fans and unlikely advocates, and the person on this issue’s cover, Michael Moebius. Known for his hyper-realistic pop art — Marilyn Monroe blowing bubblegum, anyone? — Moebius is not a brand ambassador in the conventional sense. He’s not paid. There are no contracts. But as von Keith describes it, Moebius is “part of the family.”

“Celebration” by Michael Moebius (2023)

“Michael doesn’t just wear our watches. He feels them,” von Keith says. “He asks to visit the various departments, to meet the watchmakers, to tweak the moonphase to his liking. Once he even asked if we could make it ‘a bit shinier.’ And of course, for him, we did.”

Their friendship began when Moebius, searching for a timepiece that would honor his father, fell in love with Glashütte Original. Since then, he has not only collected the watches, but championed them, traveling with them, photographing them, talking about them with the kind of passion that money can’t buy. When Revolution magazine photographed him for the cover with the PanoMaticCalendar, it wasn’t marketing, it was a moment of alignment. As Moebius later told me, “The watch feels like a sunrise in my hands. It’s peaceful, powerful and poetic.”

“Marilyn Monroe Pink Bubblegum” by Michael Moebius (2017)

Moebius’s artistic journey — from East German childhood to American success — mirrors the very evolution of Glashütte Original. Both are rooted in discipline, but also deeply emotional. That shared origin makes their alignment not just credible, but inevitable.

This poetic sensibility doesn’t come from nowhere. Glashütte Original is one of the few true manufactures in the luxury sphere. Around 95 per cent of each movement is made in-house. The brand even has its own dial manufactory. “That’s a huge advantage,” von Keith says. “If we want to change a color, a texture, even a finish, we don’t have to wait on anyone. We walk across the hallway.”

It also means that when inspiration strikes, it can be acted upon. Some dials are inspired by Dresden’s skyline. Others reflect Glashütte’s mining heritage with frosted copper and iron ore textures. The team thrives on this blend of old-world technique and contemporary design. “We don’t just create watches. We tell stories,” von Keith explains.

The in-house dial capability also allows for more ambitious experimentation with materials and techniques. Silver-plated by friction (an almost forgotten craft), sunburst finishes, intricate printing are all not just possible but actively practiced.

Glashütte Original’s growing global footprint

Von Keith is candid about the brand’s direction. After a few years of consolidation, Glashütte Original is returning to its roots in complications. “When I joined, I asked: ‘Where are the complications?’,” he says. “The drawers were full of beautiful ideas. The watchmakers were waiting for the green light. So we gave it.” The PanoMaticCalendar is just the beginning. More pieces are in the pipeline, each exploring a different facet of mechanical poetry. Tourbillons, unusual regulators, even GMTs with a twist. All are on the table. “We’re not reinventing ourselves,” von Keith clarifies. “We’re refining ourselves.” This direction is also a strategic nod to collectors and connoisseurs who want more than timekeeping. They want ingenuity. They want story. And Glashütte Original is determined to deliver.

Glashütte Original’s manufacture in the traditional heart of Saxony

That refinement also includes the next generation. The Alfred Helwig School of Watchmaking, run by Glashütte Original, is integral to this vision. Here, students undergo a rigorous three-year training that includes movement construction, dial finishing and complications assembly.

“We don’t just train watchmakers,” von Keith says. “We create artists, engineers and storytellers.” Students rotate through departments, learning not just how things are done, but why. Even dial making, a skill often outsourced or forgotten, is taught in-house. The goal is clear: to ensure the brand’s DNA is carried forward not just in machines, but in minds.

In recent years, the school has expanded its intake and upgraded its facilities, creating a pipeline that not only supplies Glashütte Original, but reinforces Germany’s position in global watchmaking. Alumni have gone on to lead projects across the Swatch Group and beyond.

While Germany remains its home, Glashütte Original’s global footprint is growing. The United States has become its second-largest market. Part of this success is thanks to enthusiasts like Moebius. Another part is the work of passionate teams on the ground. “The U.S. appreciates our honesty,” von Keith says. “They see the value. They see the work. And they respond to the authenticity.”

The brand has also invested in strengthening its North American presence. New points of sale, tailored client experiences and digital marketing all play a role in cultivating a fresh, younger audience. There’s also a cultural openness in the U.S. that von Keith believes plays in Glashütte Original’s favor. “They don’t come with the same Swiss-centric preconceptions. They’re curious. That curiosity is a door we’re ready to walk through.”

If most calendars exist to remind us of what we owe time, the PanoMaticCalendar dares to suggest what time owes us: a moment of reflection, a pause in the rush, a return to our inner rhythms. This is a timepiece not designed merely to display the date but to deepen one’s relationship with it. As von Keith puts it, “There’s something profoundly personal about knowing what day it is, not from a phone screen but from a mechanism made by human hands.”

The philosophy behind the PanoMaticCalendar taps into a wider movement: a growing awareness of analog experiences in a digital world. In a time when most of us swipe and scroll to know the hour, watches like this one offer a counterpoint. They slow us down. They ask us to look closer. They offer beauty, not at a glance but over time.

Within the constellation of Swatch Group brands, Glashütte Original occupies a distinct orbit. It is German, first of all, a point of both pride and differentiation in a landscape dominated by Swiss marques. But more than that, it’s a brand that has cultivated a unique form of independence within the group structure. “We are supported, but never steered,” von Keith explains. “The Hayek family understands that our strength is our individuality.”

That individuality has led to bold moves, from reviving complications shelved for decades to opening new boutiques in emerging markets. It’s also what has earned Glashütte Original the respect not just of collectors, but of peers across the industry. There’s a quiet confidence here, a refusal to overstate or overhype. Everything, from its vertical integration to the minimalist marketing, speaks of substance over show.

So where does the PanoMaticCalendar sit within the pantheon of Glashütte Original? Is it a milestone? A symbol? A quiet revolution? Perhaps it is all of these things. But more than that, it is a reflection of the people who make it and those who wear it. It speaks of sunrises, of silence, of hands that craft with intention. It is a tribute to time not just measured, but felt.

“We make watches in the early morning,” von Keith says. “And with this one, you can feel that morning in every tick.”

Tech Specs: Glashütte Original PanoMaticCalendar “Blue Of Dawn”

Movement: Self-winding Caliber 92-11; 100-hour power reserve
Functions: Hours and minutes; small seconds; moonphase; Panorama Date; retrograde month
Case: 42mm × 12mm; platinum; water-resistant to 50m
Dial: Skeletonized “Blue of Dawn”
Strap: Blue Louisiana alligator leather or blue synthetic fabric
Price: USD 43,800
Availability: Limited edition of 150 pieces worldwide