Pavonina – a brilliant tribute to women

Glashütte, February 2013

Glashütte Original celebrates women in all their facets with a completely new collection of feminine timepieces. The dazzling models in the "Pavonina" collection are as impressive and seductive as the contemporary, confident women for whom they were created.

Pavonina – from the Latin for peacock, pavoninus, evokes luminous bursts of colour and glittering beauty. The new models in the Pavonina collection from German watchmaker Glashütte Original are filled with light and rare beauty, mirroring the faceted diversity of women today. The design spectrum ranges from simple elegance to extra­ordinary opulence. In homage to the female gender, the collection is diverse and lively, full of strength and femininity at once.

The new collection celebrates the modern women who stepped onto society's stage in the 1920s. Having broken with the old clichés and constrictions, they were free to combine intelligence with strength, femininity and tenderness. Successful businesswoman, glowing belle of the ball, inspired artist or active athlete — a woman's life today is richer and more profound than ever before. To be a woman is to embrace changing roles and set new agendas, again and again over the course of time.

The timepieces in the Pavonina collection are ideal companions for these richly faceted women: endlessly feminine, fascinatingly beautiful and reliably precise. Glashütte Original has dedicated these models to the confident women who choose to experience their femininity to the full, with pride and with joy.

An enticing play of colours and softly flowing forms

The new models in the Pavonina collection from German watchmaker Glashütte Original exhibit a wonderfully diversity. Ranging from the simply modern through classic elegance to ornamental opulence, these feminine timepieces exhibit flowing forms and a fascinating array of well thought out details.

The eye-catching form of the Pavonina collection case dates back to the 1920s, when the distinctive „cushion“ shape was widely used with wristwatches, which had become very fashionable. Glashütte Original’s designers reworked the form slightly, adapting it to suit the contemporary woman and integrating flexible lugs in the case. The Saxon watchmaker has applied for a patent for this solution, which allows a perfectly snug fit between the watch and the wrist of the woman wearing it.

These graceful, 31 x 31 mm timepieces are offered in three different versions of the case: in coolly brilliant stainless steel, contemporary bi-colour combining stainless steel and red gold, and a warm, radiant 18 ct red gold.

Rich in fascinating detail, the dials are crafted in an elaborate, sophisticated process by the company’s own dial manufactory. From minimalist elegance to delicate, shimmering mother of pearl and glamorous motifs set out in diamonds, they reflect the brilliant, facetted diversity of women.

The cushion shape of the case is mirrored, with a pleasing variation in form and framed by fine guillochet finishing, in the centre of the dial. All models also feature a date window at 6 o’clock, and filigreed hands in red gold or stainless steel, depending on the case, mark the time of day.

With this new collection the Manufactory wraps a comprehensive selection of possible combinations around the wrist. The stainless steel models are offered with either galvanised silver or ruthenium dials.

For the lady who wishes to show her casually elegant aspect, hand-mounted cabochon indexes mark the hours. Those who are drawn more to sparkling glamour may prefer the model with 12 diamond indexes, whose radiance extends to the 44 diamonds enhancing the lugs.

The bi-colour models in the Pavonina collection are both playful and elegant at once. Offered with dials of extremely thin, shimmering mother of pearl or galvanised ruthenium, this timepiece presents a compelling mix of materials with its stainless steel case, red gold hands and lugs, and diamond-topped crown.

Another model offers the colour black paired with red gold in a truly classic and timeless combination. A mat black Louisiana alligator leather strap completes the elegant look and ensures a secure grip on the wrist.

A wonderful, elaborately decorated watch is the absolute highlight of the Pavonina collection: presented as a stylised peacock tail are an array of 98 diamonds, 0.38 carats in all, carefully set by hand on the precisely milled, mocca- or mother of pearl-coloured Colorit dial. Along the softly flowing flanks of the case are a further 114 radiant diamonds in the form of a open circle, while the ornate crown is topped with a 0.03 ct diamond.

This love of detail is equally apparent in the Pavonina collection bracelets. The delicate metal bracelet created in the Manufactory resembles a piece of fine jewellery: its individual links present a successul interpretation and variation of the cushion shape of the case. The metal bracelet is offered in stainless steel, red gold and bi-colour versions, the latter with alternating stainless steel and red gold links.

Rounding out the bracelet offering is a fascinating selection of coloured straps: shimmering satin in petrol green, violet or rich anthracite, or high-gloss patent leather in mocca brown and violet. The bracelets are fitted with a quick-change system that allows the wearer to equip her timepiece with the strap that best complements her attire.

All watches in the Pavonina collection feature the absolute precision and user-friendly comfort assured by the Calibre 03-01 quartz movement. An innovative feature offers three times the standard magnetic protection, shielding the sensitive mechanism from the influence of modern mobile electronic devices and thus enhancing the quality of the watch. The plate is decorated with the characteristic Glashütte striping, and the engraved logo appears in gold on the silver plate. The polished case back provides ample space for individual engravings and personal dedications.

Glashütte Original takes up an enduring tradition - A historical background

With the launch of the Pavonina Collection from Glashütte Original, the enduring and intense relationship between women and their watches begins a new chapter.

The 1920s were a time in which a new generation of women stepped onto society's stage: they earned their own money, went out alone, put on short skirts and wore their hair in a bob. Their emancipation was profound and prosaic at once. Instead of wearing "pocket" watches as a pendant on a necklace, many women switched to the more practical wristwatch, which had become very fashionable.

For hundreds of years, bracelets were considered an eminently female attribute. To wear a watch on a gold chain in one's vest pocket, on the other hand, was the mark of a man. Unlike their male counterparts, many of whom were reluctant to abandon the traditional pocket watch, women in the 20s were quick to see the advantages in wearing a watch on the wrist. They were, in a way, "wristwatch pioneers", and the popularity of their choice soon put pressure on watchmakers to meet increasing demand.

In 1927, Glashütte watchmakers began creating wristwatches, which were initially designed exclusively for women. Faced with the demand for delicate, feminine watches to be worn on the wrist, the watchmakers began to make much smaller movements. Soon a tradition had been established that called for the manufacture of special ladies' wristwatches, many years before the production of men's wristwatches began.

In the 1960s and 70s, the demand on the part of women for precise and fashionable timepieces had, once again, a significant impact on watch production in Glashütte. In time, wristwatches for women came increasingly to be seen as a combination of jewellery and a useful way to tell time.

As a rule, a lady owns a number of watches, after all, to be worn as jewellery and chosen to suit a particular outfit and occasion. At the end of the 1970s, the company VEB Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe, which had absorbed Urofa and a number of other companies, began making ladies' wristwatches equipped with quartz movements; they were easy to take care of and use, and were both comfortable and affordable.

With the launch of a new collection of ladies watches with quartz movements, Glashütte Original renews a tradition that is respectful of women's desire for smaller, easier to handle timepieces with more elegant cases.