Sporting icy blue dials, this Glashütte Original Sixties Annual Edition & Sixties Annual Edition Chronograph are both particularly cool.

The yearly vintage-style debut that teams the German-based member of the Swatch Group with historic dial designs from its in-house dial manufactory in Pforzheim, Germany, for the first time presents the same dial color simultaneously on both the time-only model and the chronograph model.

This year’s cooler hue may be less eye-popping than the previous green, silver, and (especially) orange-dialed releases into the collection, but the 2020 Sixties Annual Edition and Sixties Annual Edition Chronograph retain all the vintage-era design cues that have made the series a hot hit for Glashütte Original. 

The pure 1960s design here continues, utilizing domed sapphire crystals, curved hands and characteristic Arabic numerals Glashütte Original found in its own archives.

But it’s primarily the dial on both these models that enthrall collectors, and Glashütte Original’s attention to the actual 1960s-era tooling of the dial-making process ensures that these dials seem to glow with a handcrafted cut and finish. Having witnessed the process at the Pforzheim facility, I’m can attest to the labor and attention to detail the dials receive.     

At the dial-making facility, technicians first give a sunray finish to the dial blanks, after which they are pressed into their domed shape and then coated with galvanic nickel. That perfect dégradé effect on each dial starts with a spray of dark blue lacquer to give them a dark edge.

Then the dial is given a coat of ‘glacier blue’ lacquer, a process that gives each dials its own color gradient. After being oven-heated to burn in the colors, one worker cuts the dial’s individually incised indexes (using some of the original tooling). Technicians then transfer-print the numerals and add SuperLuminova highlights on each hour marker.

In-house movement
    As with previous models, Glashütte Original’s latest Sixties Annual Edition is fitted with the excellent in-house Calibre 39-52 automatic movement. The new Sixties Annual Edition Chronograph is powered by Caliber 39-34. The three-hand model is a 39mm polished steel case watch; the steel-cased chronograph measures 42mm in diameter. The domed sapphire crystal caseback on both models offers a clear view of each watch’s movement.

As is usual with all this brand’s calibers, the movement is built with a three-quarter plate, a swan-neck fine adjustment, Glashütte stripe finish and a skeletonized rotor with 21-karat weight. The straps are brown-grey nubuck calfskin with contrasting stitching and pin buckle. Prices: $6,700 for the Sixties annual edition and $8,300 for the Sixties Chronograph.

Specifications

Glashütte Original Sixties Annual Edition 

REF. 1-39-52-14-02-04

Movement: Caliber 39-52, automatic winding, hour/minute/second (central), polished steel parts, polished screws, plate/balance cock/rotor with Glashütte stripe finish, beveled edges, skeletonized rotor with 21-karat gold oscillation weight, swan-neck fine adjustment

Case: 39mm by 9.4mm steel with two sapphire crystals, 
anti-reflective both sides

Dial: Glacier blue, varnished with dégradé effect, white Arabic numerals, diamond-cut hour markers with luminous dots
 and (partially) hands

Strap: Calf leather strap nubuck brown-grey

Glashütte Original Sixties Chronograph Annual Edition

REF. 1-39-34-04-22-04

Movement: Caliber 39-34, Automatic winding, hour/minute (central), small second (off-center), second stop, chronograph with stop second (central) and 30-minutes-counter, polished steel parts, polished screws, plate/balance cock/rotor with Glashütte-stripe finish, beveled edges, skeletonized rotor with 21-ct gold oscillation weight, swan-neck fine adjustment

Case: 42 mm
 by 12.4 mm
 steel, two sapphire crystals, 
anti-reflective both sides

Dial: Glacier blue, varnished with dégradé effect, white Arabic numerals, diamond-cut hour markers with luminous dots
 (partially on hands).

Strap: Calf leather strap nubuck brown-grey