BRAND/JENAMA : GLASHUTTE GENTS WRISTWATCH
MODEL : SPEZIMATIC
MOVEMENT/ENJIN :SUPERB 26 RUBIES GLASHUTTE GUB MANUAL WINDING MOVEMENT CAL.69-1
ORIGIN/BUATAN : GERMANY
NO. SIRI/SERIAL NO. : 478284
CIRCA/TAHUN : 1970's
CASING/KEMASAN : 20 MICRON ROSE GOLD PLATED and STAINLESS STEEL BACK
FUNCTION/FUNGSI : HOUR, MINUTES, SECOND,DATE AT 3:00
DIAL: BRONZE FAIRLY PATINATED WITH BLACK STICK MARKER AND HANDS
CROWN: UNSIGNED GP CROWN
BEZEL: -
MARKINGS/TANDA JENAMA : DIAL, CASEBACK, MOVEMENT
BAND/TALI : GENUINE BROWN LEATHER BAND FIT 8" WRIST
HIDDEN LUGS SIZE: 20mm
BAND WIDTH: 20mm
LENS/CERMIN : ACCRYLIC CRYSTAL
MEASUREMENT/UKURAN : 36mm W/O CROWN X 42mm LUG TO LUG
WATER RESISTANT: NOT STATED
CONDITION/KONDISI : COLLECTORS' ITEM- EXCELLENT WORKING CONDITION AND KEEPING TIME
PRICE/HARGA:RM1300 (NEGOTIABLE)
LISTING: RM SOLD:
Brief History of Glashutte Watches
Glashutte
Original was created in 1845, when the German master watchmakers,
Ferdiand Al Lange, Julius Assmann, Ludwig Strasser, Johannes Durrstein,
Adolf Schneider, Strasser and Rohde, Ernst Kassiske settled in the
region of Glasshutte. These master watchmakers were awarded various gold
model at the world exhibition and international competitions, thus
creating the foundation and reputation of watching making industry of
Glashutte. In 1878, Moritz Grossmann founded the German School of
Watchmaking, hence building groundwork for more skillful watchmakers in
the region of Glashutte and transforming the region into a reputed
symbol of watchmaking excellence.
In
the beginning of World War II, the watch manufactories in Glasutte was
still in the production of military watches for the Navy and Air Force.
Later, in the last day of War World II, Glashutte was bombed from the
sky and the factories were badly destroyed. The reminding unaffected
factories merged and found the VEB Glashutter Uhrenbetriebe under the
rule of East German state.
HISTORY OF GLASHUTTER UHRENBETRIEB (GUB)
Compares
the pictures of Glashuette Original movements in older catalogues with
those printed in the recent ones, the different movement designations
are immediately evident: The older watches are equipped with the
movement cal. 10-30, whereas the newer ones have the cal. 39. However,
aside from the drastically improved optical finish, the two movements
seem to be the same: the same wheels and the same screws seem to be
located in the same places on both movements. So where are the
differences that justify that new designation, or is this just a try to
cheat, to pretend a new movement where there is none?
When the communist German Democratic Republic found its end as a souvereign state, the state-owned “Glashuetter Uhrenbetrieb” (GuB) was
busy developing a new selfwinding movement. Solid it should be, and
efficient. Before the works could be finished, the company was sold to
the French movement manufacturer France Ebauches SA. This company tried to save itself from bankruptcy by means of German know-how and the cheap labour in Eastern Germany. The
new selfwinding movement should compete with the Swiss movements
produced by ETA, and was therefore developed specifically with a high
momentum and maximum universality in mind. Before the short-time
owner of the Glashuette watch manufactory had to develop a new movement,
they found already a good movement in Glashuette: In 1978, the V.E.B.
("Volkseigener Betrieb" = People's owned company) Glashuetter Uhrenbetriebe (GUB) brought out their last completely new construction, the cal. 11-26, dubbed Spezichron.
This
Spezichron was modernized in several steps under control of first the
France Ebauches, then the Treuhand-Anstalt, and finally of Heinz W.
Pfeifer, until it found its way as cal. 10-30 into the new watches of
Glashuette Original. Under control of the Treuhandanstalt, which, from
1990 to 1994, took over the former East German state-owned companies and
sought to bring them into the private sector, the movement cal. 10-30
was completed and used in a new and very cheap line of watches after
1993.
The Spezichron cal. 11-27 movement was the successor of the popular "Spezimatic",
which was produced from 1964 until 1980. Compared to the Spezimatic,
the new Spezichron was smaller and faster: 28,800 A/h, while the
Spezimatic only had 18,000. With that movement, the East German GUB
could compete with the common movements of Swiss origins. The Spezichron
was solid and accurate. Additionally, a version with weekday display
was made; it was designated cal. 11-27.
Yet
there were plans for more complications, which could not be based on
the trusted 10-30 movement; a new development was necessary. However, it
was neither economically feasible nor desirable to have completely new
cases and dials produced for the new base movement. Therefore, the
starting point of the effort was the condition, that the new movement
had the same dimensions, as well as the location of important parts,
such as the winding stem, must be the same as in the old 10-30.
Additionally, the planned new complication modules should have enough
space on the movement’s front.
All
elements of the 10-30 movement, which were tried and reliable, were
taken over into the new construction, above all the complete escapement
was transferred. Even these parts were refined, however, with the
addition of a swan neck adjustement, for example. The result of the
development was the new cal. 39 movement, which from the outside, looked
like the old 10-30. Yet of the originally 130 parts, only 17 remained
unchanged. The new movement had more jewels, a better adjustment, and,
above all, a better ability to wear additional complication modules.
With
the 10-30, every module had to be autonomous; that means, that each
module had to consist of an upper an a lower baseplate, so that the
final movement had four plate layers. The new cal. 39 movement was
constructed in a way that its upper baseplate could serve as the lower
base of the module, resulting in a “sandwich” of only three plate
layers. This saves space which can be used for more complicated modules.
Finally,
the optical qualities of the new movement were drastically improved:
skeletonized rotor, finely grinded wheels, angled plates and teeth, the
decoration work entirely done by hand. In spite of the still solid base
of a movement designed to compete with the ETA-workhorses, the
Glashuette Original cal. 39 without doubt is one of the finest
selfwinding movements on the market.
The
cal. 26 movement found in the watches of UNION/Glashuette, is based on
that cal. 39 movement, but is changed in two essential ways: It consists
of 12 parts less than its GO counterpart (mainly in the fine
adjustement area), and its decoration is mostly machine-made. This saves
a lot of money and enables UNION, to offer fine inhouse movements in
well-made, competitively priced watches.
This movement was the successor of the popular "Spezimatic",
which was produced from 1964 until 1980. Compared to the Spezimatic,
the new Spezichron was smaller and faster: 28,800 A/h, while the
Spezimatic only had 18,000. With that movement, the East German GUB
could compete with the common movements of Swiss origins. The Spezichron
was solid and accurate. Additionally, a version with weekday display
was made; it was designated cal. 11-27.
A
year later, in 1994, the company was bought by Heinz W. Pfeifer, and
immediately the cal. 10-30 was thoroughly revised in order to equip
high-class watches. More than 60 changes were made, until the movement,
which internally was designated cal. 10-30/2, was used for the then new
“Klassik”-line. However, the movement’s potential for refinement was
exhausted. It was used in all self-winding Glashuette Original watches,
including the chronographs, which added a chrono module to the base
movement.
Yet there
were plans for more complications, which could not be based on the
trusted 10-30 movement; a new development was necessary. However, it was
neither economically feasible nor desirable to have completely new
cases and dials produced for the new base movement. Therefore, the
starting point of the effort was the condition, that the new movement
had the same dimensions, as well as the location of important parts,
such as the winding stem, must be the same as in the old 10-30.
Additionally, the planned new complication modules should have enough
space on the movement’s front.
