Cool as Ice: Glashütte Original’s 2020 Sixties Editions Feature Glacier Blue Dials

Germany’s Glashütte Original began issuing special “annual editions” of its popular Sixties timepieces in 2018, most recently last year’s model with its dazzling burnt orange dial. The Saxon manufacture goes from fire to ice for the 2020 edition, unveiling two new watches — one a three-hand, the other a chronograph — with icy-bright “glacier blue” dials.

The dials of both new timepieces, like their fiery predecessors, are produced by skilled artisans at Glashutte Original’s dial making workshop in Pforzheim, Germany. The dial blanks are given their sunray finish before being pressed into the domed shape in which they receive a galvanic nickel coating. The dials are then sprayed with dark blue lacquer to achieve the darkest shade on their periphery, after which the entire surface is sprayed with a lighter blue lacquer. The dials are then fired in an oven to burn in the colors. The result is the gradient degrade effect that render each dial unique. Both the Sixties and the Sixties Chronograph are cased in steel, and feature the domed sapphire crystals, curved hands, and distinctly styled Arabic numerals that define the vintage-inspired Sixties collection.

The case of the three-hand Sixties model measures 39 mm in diameter, and houses the Glashütte Original in-house Caliber 39-52, which is self-winding and stores a 40-hour power reserve. The Sixties Chronograph — it is the first time this model has been used for one of the brand’s Annual Editions — has a 42-mm case and contains another in-house movement, the automatic Caliber 39-34, which offers the same 40-hour power reserve but also an integrated chronograph function. Both watches’ movements are visible through a clear sapphire caseback, allowing the wearer to glimpse traditional elements of Saxon horology such as the three-quarter mainplate with Glashütte ribbing and the swan’s neck adjustment, as well as the skeletonized rotor with its 21k gold weight.

Both of the Sixties Annual Editions for 2020 are mounted on brown Nubuck calf leather straps with light gray contrast stitching. The Sixties model retails for $6,700, while the Sixties Chronograph is priced at $8,300.