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Myself and the good lady were in Vienna for a couple of days this week, one of my favourite cities in general but particularly good for watch shopping, the main shopping area around St. Stephens is packed with high end jewellers and a number of the marques have boutiques as well.
After a wander around, I noticed GO had opened a boutique next to Breguet which was new to me – the last time I was in Vienna was about 18 months ago. I thought I’d stick my head in the door and have a look around.
We were welcomed by the staff, and looked at the various models on display. Although not in the market for anything in particular at the moment, I did ask about a replacement strap for my Panomatic Lunar (I bought it second hand, and it’s not on the OE strap which has always annoyed me a little). I mentioned that it was the 42mm model which seemed to confuse them as the current ones are all 40mm, various catalogues were consulted with no success.
At this point one of the staff came forward and asked if I had a picture of the watch, which in fact I did on my phone. He immediately identified it as the XL and after talking with the rest of the staff told me that wouldn’t have one in the store as it’s a discontinued model, but if I left my details he’d be happy to talk with the factory to see if they had any left in stock or could source one. Fair enough.
We got talking some more after this, as he could see that I was an enthusiast rather than some random bod walking in off the street. I should probably mention at this point I was dressed, shall we say, casually, as I was on holiday. Jeans, t-shirt, fleece and walking boots. I also hadn’t shaved for a couple of days, in fact I probably looked like a right slob.
We discussed the brand, and he introduced me to the new calibre they’ve developed with 100 hrs power reserve. Technically very impressive, although IMO not as pretty as the movement in my Pano.
He also offered me a gift in the form of a presentation DVD, where a number of customers from differing backgrounds had been invited to the factory in Glashütte. It turned out that one of the people involved happened to be Jocke of this very parish, I remembered reading the post about his visit and mentioned it. It turns out the guy I was talking to is the global retail manager for GO, who happened to be in Vienna for a flying visit; Jocke – if you’re reading this, Sebastian says hello and sends his best regards!
After this, I was also given a beautiful book about GO and its history, A4 size and an inch and a half thick thick, printed on some of the heaviest paper I’ve come across. I haven’t had a chance to dip into it yet, but I’m really looking forward to that.
All in all, we were treated like royalty and what I initially thought would be a 5 minute mooch around turned into an hour long visit, with a free glass of champagne to boot. This is the sort of treatment that makes you come back.
If you are in the vicinity, I would thoroughly recommend you take the time to visit..
Cheers,
Plug
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Nice to see that you were looked after. Top marks GO!
As a big fan of GO, and one who suspects that its reputation may well be on an upward trend (so I'm buying mine now), I'm pleased to hear you were treated so well.
I can't do the comparison against the Panomatic, but I feel the same way about the Calibre 36 (here in my Senator Excellence)Originally Posted by Plug
and the Calibre 65 (in my Panoreserve)
Unfair comparison, of course, as the 65 is a manual -- but the 36 is just not quite as pretty. I'm very pleased with the watch though.
The gentleman who conducted the tour I took of the factory in Glashütte confirmed that their straps are made by Hirsch. I'd just find a local dealer from here:
http://hirschag.com/haendler/?lang=en
Another option would be Kaufmann; in the last week I've discovered there is a stockist 10 minutes walk away from where I live and I have a feeling it's not going to end well.
https://www.kaufmann.de/en/dealers--service/
It sounds like you had a very pleasant visit and it's quite nice to speak to somebody with some knowledge at an ADs. I was in London this week and had 10 minutes of a bullsh;tting idiot making stuff up in the Omega boutique followed by a very pleasant exchange at the Knightsbridge Seiko store a couple of hours later; worlds apart.
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
Great you got a little nice welcome kit.
That book is a piece of history about Glashütte watchmaking.
You was lucky to run into Mr Sebastian Prinz the former CEO of the Glashütte Original Boutique in Dresden that is a
really nice guy.
I hope I will borrow a caliber 36 for some photo shooting in the future and made a review of it so we can dig a little
deeper in the Senator Excellence serie. There is some really nice features like the bayonet mounting of the movement.
100 hours power reseve with one barrel will icing the cake.
Or maybe it's likely that I'll add a caliber 36 to my collection suddenly.
Would a normal Hirsch croc fit the GO deployant?
OP - looks a nice set! I agree a bit with the new Calibre 36, but this was designed to allow better building of complications. And we've just seen the new perpetual calendar being released based on this calibre. Styling is a bit boring, so let us see if they offer different stylings and not just on the senator range.
Good point and I don't know; I imagine that someone must have asked them that question before, though.
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
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