While we are eager to discover, in just few days, the new Sixties Annual Edition 2019, we are delighted to share with our readers some pictures from the German watchmaker that describe a few of the twenty-five separate steps that are required to create the distinctive green dials of the Sixties 2018.
Introduced at Baselworld 2018, the green Sixties and Sixties Panorama Date - with their fascinating “retro” dial shading from a lighter centre to the darker, domed periphery - have been a huge success for Glashütte Original.
While we are eager to discover the new Sixties Annual Edition 2019 in just few days, we are delighted to share with our readers some new pictures from the German watchmaker that describe a few of the twenty-five separate steps that are required to create the distinctive dials of the Sixties 2018.
The design of the Sixties models was inspired to a successful watch produced by the then state-owned VEB Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe, the Spezimatic. Introduced in 1964, this wristwatch was manufactured from 1964 to 1979 and saw a large number of different versions and colourful dials.
These special dials are in-house produced in the brand’s own dial manufactory based in Pforzheim. Glashütte Original is one of the very few manufactories to make its own dials – and this critical element of timekeeping must meet quality standards not less stringent than those governing all other components of its watches, including the movements.
The first step in the production of a Sixties dial for the 2018 annual edition is the precise punching of the German silver blank.
The following step creates the elaborate embossed surface, with historic watches serving as a model. A 60-tonne press stamps the striking pattern onto the blank – the same process was in use more than 50 years ago in Pforzheim, when dials were already being produced there for the Glashütte manufactory.
The embossing punch used today, with its filigreed decoration, dates from this period.
Once the press has completed its task, the blank is cut to its definitive diameter, and a hole is inserted at the centre for the hands.
A second pass under a press lends the disc, which is only 0.5 mm thick, its characteristic domed shape. Whereas in the 1960s the domed profile served to mask the height of the movement, today this is a characterizing design element.
The subsequent steps in the process transform the semi-processed blank into the face of the timepiece. Several coats of green lacquer are applied to the previously galvanised dial before it receives its “dégradé” finish. This effect is achieved by spraying on black paint, with great care and in such a way that the dial perimeter takes on a much darker hue than at its centre, resulting in an individual colour gradient that renders each dial unique. The lacquered dials are then heated in a kiln to burn in the colours.
A diamond soon cuts through these layers to form eight of the twelve hour indexes. This renders the raw material visible once again, so that the hours in the Sixties Annual Edition are counted in German silver – and in white.
As was the case for the historic reference models, the numerals 3, 6, 9 and 12 are printed in white in the remaining gaps, using a pad printing process. The same holds true for the Glashütte Original logo and the logo-scripts “Glashütte i/Sa” (Glashütte in Saxony) and “Made in Germany”.
The final step in this elaborate process consists in the application of Super-LumiNova. Small dots are applied by hand to the hour indexes, which develop their luminous force in the dark. Together with the radiant bars on the hour and minute hands, they ensure that the Sixties models are perfectly legible by night as well.
The combination of modern methods and materials of the highest quality with style and details from the 1960s is certainly a perfect recipe to create dials of exceptional appeal. glashuette-original.com
While we are eager to discover the new Sixties Annual Edition 2019 in just few days, we are delighted to share with our readers some new pictures from the German watchmaker that describe a few of the twenty-five separate steps that are required to create the distinctive dials of the Sixties 2018.
The design of the Sixties models was inspired to a successful watch produced by the then state-owned VEB Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe, the Spezimatic. Introduced in 1964, this wristwatch was manufactured from 1964 to 1979 and saw a large number of different versions and colourful dials.
These special dials are in-house produced in the brand’s own dial manufactory based in Pforzheim. Glashütte Original is one of the very few manufactories to make its own dials – and this critical element of timekeeping must meet quality standards not less stringent than those governing all other components of its watches, including the movements.
The first step in the production of a Sixties dial for the 2018 annual edition is the precise punching of the German silver blank.
The following step creates the elaborate embossed surface, with historic watches serving as a model. A 60-tonne press stamps the striking pattern onto the blank – the same process was in use more than 50 years ago in Pforzheim, when dials were already being produced there for the Glashütte manufactory.
The embossing punch used today, with its filigreed decoration, dates from this period.
A second pass under a press lends the disc, which is only 0.5 mm thick, its characteristic domed shape. Whereas in the 1960s the domed profile served to mask the height of the movement, today this is a characterizing design element.
The subsequent steps in the process transform the semi-processed blank into the face of the timepiece. Several coats of green lacquer are applied to the previously galvanised dial before it receives its “dégradé” finish. This effect is achieved by spraying on black paint, with great care and in such a way that the dial perimeter takes on a much darker hue than at its centre, resulting in an individual colour gradient that renders each dial unique. The lacquered dials are then heated in a kiln to burn in the colours.
A diamond soon cuts through these layers to form eight of the twelve hour indexes. This renders the raw material visible once again, so that the hours in the Sixties Annual Edition are counted in German silver – and in white.
As was the case for the historic reference models, the numerals 3, 6, 9 and 12 are printed in white in the remaining gaps, using a pad printing process. The same holds true for the Glashütte Original logo and the logo-scripts “Glashütte i/Sa” (Glashütte in Saxony) and “Made in Germany”.
The final step in this elaborate process consists in the application of Super-LumiNova. Small dots are applied by hand to the hour indexes, which develop their luminous force in the dark. Together with the radiant bars on the hour and minute hands, they ensure that the Sixties models are perfectly legible by night as well.
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