This Retro Automatic Chronograph Refreshes a Coveted Dial and Packs an Impressive Movement

If there is one thing American zoos and watch fans have in common, it’s that we can’t get enough pandas.

While the adorable bamboo munchers are notoriously stubborn breeders, the monochromatic chronograph dials are multiplying like bunnies. (I’m done with the animal references now.)

Glashütte Original

Glashütte Original joined the panda party by applying a glossy white dial and snailed black sub-dials to its Seventies Chronograph Panorama line. The retro TV dial and integrated steel bracelet live up to the name and make a perfect frame for the coveted color scheme.

While many of the newer panda dials feel derivative of iconic examples like the Rolex Daytona and Hamilton Chrono-Matic (now Intra-Matic), GO provides a refreshing take with a dial that does a few things differently.

Glashütte Original

Along with the shape, the dial features a discrete power reserve meter, a brilliant proprietary date complication and one of the coolest chronograph counters I’ve ever seen. Yet, it all blends perfectly into the two-tone design theme.

Its complicated

GO introduced the Seventies Chronograph Panorama in 2014 with uniform brushed steel and brushed blue dials. Various colors have been introduced over the past decade, including two semi-pandas with blue and yellow dials holding black counters.

Glashütte Original

The first true panda in the line retains the original Seventies Chronograph Panorama design, which is defined by the inclusion of GO’s proprietary Panorama date complication.

Each digit in the beveled rectangular date window is on a separate wheel. The two wheels are seamlessly aligned, so the separation is barely visible, except when the date changes. It’s the type of minutia that watch fans live for.

Opposite the date window, below the GO logo, is a novel 24-hour counter for the chronograph. Rather than a traditional dial with a hand, like the 30-minute counter at three o’clock, it is a rotating wheel with a scale-style register.

Glashütte Original

GO brilliantly stuck a power reserve meter between 47 and 58 on the running seconds dial at nine o’clock. This type of discrete placement is the only way a power reserve meter should be handled.

Ready to race

GO’s impressive in-house caliber 37-02 automatic movement doesn’t just show off on the dial, it packs a 70-hour power reserve and a flyback chronograph complication.

Glashütte Original

Unlike standard chronograph complications, which require three clicks to restart the timer, the flyback variety does it in one. The stopwatch is activated and paused with the upper bumper, per usual, but the lower bumper can instantly reset it anytime.

GO leans into the retro auto racing theme of the Seventies ‘X’ Chronograph by providing an additional black rubber strap that resembles a car tire. It has polished stainless steel end-links and a brushed steel folding clasp.

Glashütte Original

With the number of options that have dropped this year, it feels like we’re approaching peak panda, but GO stands out from the crowd with the list of novel features included in the Seventies ‘X’ Chronograph.

This one belongs on the short list of best new panda chronographs, along with Oris’s mossy green take, Hanhart’s compact pilot and TAG Heuer’s golden meteorite dial.

Availability and pricing

The Glashütte Original Seventies ‘X’ Chronograph is available exclusively in the North American market from select authorized dealers for $17,900.

Glashüette Original

Glashütte Original Seventies ‘X’ Chronograph

Specs

Case Size	40mm
Movement	Glashütte Original caliber 37-02 automatic
Water Resistance	100m

• $17,900 at Exquisite Timepieces

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