Taking great pride in this tradition, Glashütte Original has developed a series of high-end mechanical observation watches. The first, a limited edition in white gold honouring the memory of Julius Assmann and Roald Amundsen, the Senator Observer 1911, was presented in advance of Baselworld in 2012. At the fair itself later that year came a stainless steel version featuring elegant silver-grained dial.One of the finest makers of observation watches was Julius Assmann, whose Glashütte firm specialised in the manufacture of these handmade wonders. The precision and reliability of its observation watches – in particular under extreme weather conditions – made them indispensable instruments for navigation officers, pilots, and pioneering explorers such as Roald Amundsen, who took a number of observation watches with him on his legendary expedition to the South Pole.A highly precise and reliable pocket watch produced by the Glashütte watch company Julius Assmann caught Amundsen’s attention in 1910, and he purchased it at the German Naval Institute in Hamburg. One year later, Amundsen and his team were the first human beings to reach the geographic South Pole.
