Since 2018, Germany’s Glashutte Original has released Annual Editions — special timepieces from its vintage-inspired Sixties and Seventies collections that are produced for only the calendar year in which they are announced and are notable for bold and unconventional colorways and dial textures. Last year’s cushion-cased Seventies Annual Edition featured a lacquered purple dial, and this year the Saxon high-horology house returns to a violet-hued palette with the Sixties Chronograph Annual Edition 2026, which just dropped today.
The New Glashütte Original Sixties Chronograph Annual Edition 2026
The watch’s rich, luminous purple dial, with its distinctive embossed texture, is a product of Glashütte Original’s own fully owned dial factory (a relative rarity even in the world of luxury watchmaking), and each one requires more than a dozen artisanal steps. The base dial is formed from thin strips of bronze and then undergoes a milling process that forms the fine, parallel grooves that evoke the appearance of old vinyl record albums. After being domed and treated with a coat of galvanic gold, the dial is given a layer of translucent purple lacquer and then fired in a kiln. The indexes are then incised by hand into the dial surface, and the entire surface undergoes another protective lacquering process before the final application and kiln-firing of the numerals and logo, and the finishing touch of hand-set luminous dots.
Case And Wear
The 42mm stainless steel case is fitted with a sapphire crystal that follows the subtle curvature of the dial; sweeping just below the crystal are a pair of gold-plated hands that are also subtly curved in service of reading the time without distortion. The case’s fluted crown is topped with the brand’s double-G emblem, a motif also found on the rotor of the movement, which is on display behind a clear sapphire window in the caseback. The case is water resistant to 30 meters and measures 12.4mm thick and 48.5mm lug to lug.
Movement Details
Like all Glashütte Original watches, the Sixties Chronograph Annual Edition contains an exclusive movement, the self-winding Caliber 39-34, which is built on the German maison’s Caliber 39 base and enhanced with a chronograph module from Switzerland’s Dubois-Dépraz. It powers the watch’s central hour and minute hands, small seconds in the subdial at 3 o’clock, a central stop-seconds hand, and a 30-minute chronograph counter in the subdial at 9 o’clock. The 51-jewel movement offers a 40-hour power reserve, a 28,800-vph frequency, and a host of decorative finishes, including Glashütte striping on the traditionally Saxon three-quarter mainplate, bevelling on the plates’ and bridges’ edges, and polishing on the screws, along with the emblematic swan’s neck fine adjustment mechanism.
Final Thoughts
The Glashütte Original Sixties Chronograph Annual Edition 2026, with its stunning purple dial, is mounted on a black synthetic fabric strap, which fastens to the wrist with a steel pin buckle. As alluded to above, the watch is not a limited edition, per se, but Glashutte Original will not make the watch beyond the current year. It is available from May 2026 at boutiques and authorized dealers, with pricing yet to be determined.
For more information, visit the brand’s website here.
