Senator Rattrapante
Timekeeping in its most beautiful form
The Watch Quote™ - April 4th, 2008
The Glashütte Original manufactory presented an absolute highlight of the fine art of mechanical Glashütte watchmaking last year in the Senator Rattrapante. At Baselworld 2008, the Saxon manufactory presents another perfectly formed variation of the split-seconds chronograph.
Contrary to its predecessor, which was crafted in platinum, this version is currently being introduced in a more classic rose gold case. The domed, anti-reflective sapphire crystal reveals a look at the cleanly designed and structured dial of the Senator Rattrapante, with all relevant details able to be gleaned at a glance. The sweep hour and minute hands as well as the off-center stop second hand glide in shiny blue across the light dial. Should the wearer activate the rattrapante function, the red split-seconds hand begins to chase after its blue counterpart.
A red minute scale with numerals inspired by historical models completes the elegant look, building a sober frame around the artistically designed dial. The silver totalizers fit harmoniously into the entire picture of this noble timekeeper, which includes the panorama date so typical of Glashütte Original at 4 o’clock. The Roman numerals underscore and perfect the timeless look of this very special chronograph.
The sapphire crystal case back allows the fine finishing of the individual components and subgroups of manually wound Caliber 99 to become visible. On this manually wound caliber developed exclusively for the Senator Rattrapante, all important turned components—parts such as stems, pinions, and wheels—are jeweled. A technical progression is represented by the premier of the escape wheel being embedded between endstones.
Here the tip of the escape wheel pinion is embedded in a jewel, which lessens friction on the escape wheel thanks to its smaller surface. A thus steadier balance allows for stabilization of the amplitude. The design of the rattrapante tongs’ floating bearings is also technically demanding. They make a balanced division of energy possible for simultaneously opening both tong halves without having to lean on the rattrapante’s fourth wheel. This type of design is one of the highlights of the fine mechanics visible through this jewel’s sapphire crystal case back. Another remarkable characteristic of the Senator Rattrapante as a demanding manually wound chronograph is its flyback function. The great advantage of this is that the wearer is in a position to take a differential time measurement, reading the result directly without having to reset.
This exclusive timepiece’s manually wound Caliber 99 ticks within a solid, completely polished rose gold case 42 millimeters in diameter. The Senator Rattrapante is secured to the wrist of its wearer by an integrated black Louisiana crocodile skin strap with a rose gold folding clasp.
Glashütte Original represents a living, authentic manufactory, high exclusivity, traditional watchmaking since 1845, exclusive mechanical masterpieces, and “handmade in Germany.”
