Glashutte Original - Strutting their Stuff
WORLDTEMPUS - 13 February 2013
"Pavonina" is Latin for peacock, and it is a rather fitting name for this new line of watches designed just for women. As Glashutte Original is a brand that normally caters to the horological needs and desires of men, it seems fitting that this peacock now provides something for its lovely peahen - and thus the female is celebrated.
The new age of cinema coincided with an age of burgeoning emancipation for women in Europe, and thus 1920s style was chosen as the base design era for the Pavonina, which is at home in a cushion-shaped case crafted in stainless steel or 18-karat rose gold. It was in this age that practical clothes entered the stores, women entered the workplace, and decorative little luxuries began to take on a new meaning. Pavonina fulfills many of these same criteria even today.
Women were the era's trendsetters, propagating the new look of wearing a watch in places other than the vest pocket: at first on pins, brooches and chains around the neck, then finally on the wrist. Shaped cases emerged to reflect the new trend and showed without a doubt that these housings were created specifically for use as a wristwatch since often during this era small pocket watches simply received soldered lugs through which a leather strap was looped to bind it to the wrist. The cushion-shaped case is thus a distinct product of its era.
In fact, when Glashutte finally entered the modern age of the times, it did so when UFAG/UROFA (which eventually became Tutima) jumped from pocket watch movement production straight to ladies wristwatch movement production in 1927. Men's wristwatch movements were only added after that.
Timepieces made for the female wrist came to embody both precision and decorative elements that made them also feel like jewelry. In the 1970s and 1980s Glashutter Uhrenbetrieb (Glashutte Original's forerunner and parent company) began using quartz movements of their own design and manufacture, which placed it squarely in the midst of another horological trend of global stature for the Saxon company.
During those years, naturally, the Saxon maker combined the two trends to make practical, useful, decorative and precise wristwatches for women. Today, this idea is relaunched.
Relaunch
The Pavonina thus concentrates on being decorative with its many styles and retro-styled cushion-shaped case; being easy to handle with its time-and-date display and quartz movement; being practical with its small case size; and being beautiful with its precious metals and diamonds. The numerous references launching the line reflect the same diversity with which women are endowed.
The most elaborate reference is the one that brings us back around to the peacock. Taking a feather of this elegant bird as its inspiration, the sumptuous dial embellished with 98 diamonds is reminiscent of a stylized peacock tail. The softly flowing lines of the case encompass another 114 diamonds.
Glashutte Original launched the Pavonina during Berlin's film festival, the Berlinale, where the Saxon brand was the co-sponsor for third time. Prices for Pavonina begin at 3,900 euros.