Glashütte Original is a German producer of luxury watches founded in 1994 by the

privatization Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

of VEB Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe (GUB), an

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

conglomerate formed in 1951 from the

watch A watch is a timepiece carried or worn by a person. It is designed to maintain a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is worn around the wrist, attached by a watch strap or another type of ...

companies based in Glashütte. Glashütte Original uses its own movements, and has 10 proprietary movement innovations. Glashütte Original is currently owned by

The Swatch Group The Swatch Group Ltd is a Swiss manufacturer of watches and jewellery. The company was founded in 1983 through the merger of Allgemeine Gesellschaft der Schweizerischen Uhrenindustrie, ASUAG and Société Suisse pour l'Industrie Horlogère, SSIH ...

History

Origins

Glashütte Original has roots dating back to 1845 when watchmakers Ferdinand Adolph Lange (of A. Lange & Söhne fame), Moritz Grossman, Julius Assmann, and Adolf Schneider came to Glashütte to manufacture watch parts and pocket watches. They chose this area for its proximity to Dresden's already established clockwork fame. The work of these founders led to innovations that became signature components of Glashütte watchmaking and are continued to this day, such as the Glashütte three-quarter plate, gold lever wheels, and chatons, all developed in 1865 and all increasing timekeeping precision. After successfully petitioning the

King of Saxony This article lists dukes, electors, and kings ruling over different territories named Saxony from the beginning of the Saxon Duchy in the 6th century to the end of the German monarchies in 1918. The electors of Saxony from John the Steadfast ...

for a business loan, Moritz Grossman founded the German School of Watchmaking in the town of Glashütte in 1878. Various independent watchmakers rose to prominence in the town of Glashütte, aided by the constant influx of talent from that nearby School of Watchmaking. Known for their high quality, Glashütte timepieces grew in popularity until

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the depression caused by

hyperinflation In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real versus nominal value (economics), real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimiz ...

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that followed, which dramatically affected sales. The issue worsened when

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

broke out, leaving the town of Glashütte in rubble after a devastating bombing in the final days of the war, which leveled the town.

GUB-Era

201210303 Glashuette Spezichron-11-27 diagonale Frontansicht 2012

In addition to the wartime destruction, the

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in 1949 meant that the town of Glashütte was now part of communist

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. With many wartime reparations mandated by the

Western Allies Western Allies was a political and geographic grouping among the Allied Powers of the Second World War. It primarily refers to the leading Anglo-American Allied powers, namely the United States and the United Kingdom, although the term has also be ...

, the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

seized much of the remaining watchmaking machinery from Glashütte. Under this

(also known as the German Democratic Republic, or GDR) government the only horological company allowed to operate was the state-run VEB Glashütte Uhrenbetriebe (GUB), formed in 1951 as a forced collectivization formed by all seven of the horological companies of Glashütte. Among these seven companies, UROFA and UFAG (now Tutima) and A. Lange & Söhne (resurrected by the great-grandson of Ferdinand Adolph Lange in 1990) were the most noteworthy, with A. Lange & Söhne having provided timepieces for royalty and dignitaries around the world. While Western watchmakers were developing technology related to and weighing the impact of the

quartz crisis The quartz crisis (Swiss) or quartz revolution (America, Japan and other countries) was the upheaval in the watchmaking industry caused by the advent of quartz watches in the 1970s and early 1980s, that largely replaced mechanical watches aroun ...

of the 1970s and 1980s, GUB, significantly insulated from capitalist market demands by the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were countries connected to the So ...

, instead continued to focus on traditional mechanical movements. Some of the mechanical movements (calibers) produced during the GUB era are: * Automat (GUB 67 and GUB 68) 1960-1968 * Spezimatic (GUB 74 and GUB 75) 1965-1979 * Spezichron (GUB 11–25, GUB 11–26, and GUB 11–27) 1979-1985 * Spezimat (GUB 10–30) from 1990 (some products with this movement were released under the labels Glashütte Original or Union Glashütte)

Post-Reunification

After the reunification of Germany and the return of

market economics A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production, and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand. The major characteristic of a mar ...

to the former East Germany, the remaining components of Glashütter Uhrenbetrieb GmbH (GUB) were registered as a private business once again in 1990. In 1994, Heinz W. Pfeifer bought the now tiny company of 72 employees, renaming it Glashütte Original and bringing back the traditional Glashütte watchmaking handiwork. Having succeeded in this effort, in 2000 the reinvigorated Glashütte Original was bought by the

Swatch Group The Swatch Group Ltd is a Swiss manufacturer of watches and jewellery. The company was founded in 1983 through the merger of ASUAG and SSIH, moving to manufacturing quartz-crystal watches to resolve the quartz crisis threatening the tradition ...

, the largest watch group in the world. Even today, due to its unique history in the watchmaking world, Glashütte Original is known for making nearly 95% of all components in-house. Since 2002, Glashütte Original has also run the Alfred Helwig School of Watchmaking to keep the Glashütte tradition alive. This school is named after the Glashütte-based watchmaker, Alfred Helwig, who invented the flying

tourbillon In horology, a tourbillion () or tourbillon (; " whirlwind") is an addition to the mechanics of a watch escapement to increase accuracy. Conceived by the British watchmaker and inventor John Arnold, it was developed by his friend the Swiss-Fr ...

in 1921, a major horological innovation that can be seen on extremely high-end timepieces.

Name

Glashütte is the German town where the watch factory is based. It is pronounced . By German orthographic convention, this would be written ''Glashuette,'' if an umlaut ''ü'' is not available, but it often appears internationally as ''Glashutte''. The modern name "Glashütte Original" is a reference back to the early days of watchmaking in the Glashütte region. In an attempt to sell inferior movements for a premium price, less renowned watchmaking areas were adding the term "System Glashütte" to their timepieces and often simulating traditional Glashütte decoration and finishing work. As a response, the watchmaking houses in Glashütte started inscribing the word "Original" to their watch movements and clockwork to indicate that a given timepiece was really from Glashütte.

Products

The products offered by Glashütte Original now includes five model ranges, each subdivided into different models. These model series are: * Senator * Pano * Specialist * Vintage * Ladies Each Glashütte Original wristwatch is provided with an exclusive four-digit serial number. This contributes to exclusivity, since a maximum of 9,999 pieces per model are possible, as well as prevents counterfeiting where, in the event of theft, a specific timepiece can be returned to the original owner. File:Glasshuette MG 2608.jpg, The Senator Sixties model File:Glashutte Original Senator Navigator Panorama Date.jpg, The Senator Navigator model with traditional Glashütte Panorama Date File:Glasshuette MG 2613.jpg, The Panomatic Lunar model File:Fotothek df roe-neg 0006734 029 Glashütter Herrenarmbanduhren GUB Kaliber 60 auf.jpg, GUB-era models from the 1950s (Cal. 60) File:Verkehrsmuseum Dresden - Luftverkehr - VEB Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe - Flugzeugkabinenuhr Kal 409 - DSC4931.jpg, GUB-era desk clock from the late 1950s

References

External links

Glashütte websiteArticle about Glashütte Original and review of Senator Perpetual CalendarAn article about Glashütte Julius Assmann 4 timepieceGlashütte Original Seventies Watch
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glashutte Original Companies established in 1845 Watch manufacturing companies of Germany Watch brands The Swatch Group Companies based in Saxony German brands Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge

Original Originality is the aspect of created or invented works that distinguish them from reproductions, clones, forgeries, or substantially derivative works. The modern idea of originality is according to some scholars tied to Romanticism, by a notion t ...

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