Introducing Glashütte Original Enjoy A Purple Patch With The Sixties Chronograph Annual Edition 2026

As watch brands work their way around the colour wheel, lately purple has been getting much more of a look in. For their 2026 Annual Edition of the Sixties, Glashütte Original is joining in on the fun, giving the dome-dialled Chronograph special treatment. The irregular texture and bright colours have been winning combinations for a brand that’s usually quite reserved with its palettes. With a touch of gold from the hands and some intricate finishing, it really does work with the space-age typeface the model has defined as its own.

The dial starts off as a bronze blank, which then goes through stamping, milling, doming, and galvanic coating - in gold, interestingly enough - before it sees the first licks of purple. This process is now done in-house, and it’s a sign that GO is making the most of its shiny new dial manufacture that opened its doors in 2025.

The plum hue is actually thanks to a translucent, hand-applied lacquer, and those flashes of gold aren’t additional paint, but rather the raw colour of the blank beneath as the indices are hand-cut into the dial. Atop the stamped texture that has featured on numerous Annual Editions already sit two azurage-finished sub-dials, quite oversized but neatly nestling in between existing indices and not truncating any.

Speaking of size, the watch itself isn’t small in diameter, measuring 42mm across, but is remarkably thin for a modular, automatic chronograph (more on which shortly) at just 12.4mm. On-wrist, however, the size is kept in check by those stubby lugs that only reach out to 48.5mm, combining with the domed sapphires front and back for a pebble-like profile.

In terms of finishing, the case itself is quite simple and polished throughout, with small chamfers on the aforementioned lugs, and a set of pump pushers with no embellishment that would take away from the 1960s look. Speaking of the pushers, they actually sit ever so slightly above the crown, hinting at the modular movement set-up beneath.

Onto that curiously slim movement, then. The base, as it is for all the Sixties models, is Glashütte Original’s in-house Calibre 39, beating at 4Hz and offering a 40-hour power reserve, and sporting a lovely swan neck regulator and 21k gold rotor weight. For the chronograph, they turned to specialist supplier Dubois Dépraz, who has long supplied modules to other respected brands, too.

Though this isn’t exactly an ultra-sporty watch by modern standards (confirmed by a 30-metre water-resistance), GO has opted to pair it with a black woven fabric strap, finished with a steel pin buckle matching the mostly polished finishes of the case.

I’ve always had a soft spot for the GO Sixties in both time-only and chronograph form. While my personal preference for more reserved colours may sway me to one of the monochromatic variants, the quality of the brand’s dial work cannot be denied. In this particular model, I’m especially fond of the execution of those hand-cut grooves that act as stick indices. It was always a cool feature of the Sixties, but I find this to be a great way of showcasing the work that goes into the final dial product in a subtle, non-gimmicky way.

While I haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing this particular variant of the Sixties Chronograph in person, the model’s case was always a surprise considering how well it wore despite what its diameter may suggest. Another piece of evidence proving that lug-to-lug really is a metric that’s just as important, if not more so. I often find myself nitpicking the chrono pusher and crown misalignment with modular chronographs, as much as it’s something only a stickler like myself would really complain about, but GO has actually done a really decent job concealing them in what is quite a thin caseband.

My one sticking point is that of the movement’s presentation. Nothing to complain about in terms of finishing, but in such a large case, and with the domed sapphire caseback fully opening the back, it just looks so teensy with its 26-or-so-millimetre size. There’s really no way around it, though, and I do like the form factor of the case, which may not feel so silky on the wrist with a steel-ringed or closed caseback, so I’ll take it.

Brand: Glashütte Original
Model: Sixties Chronograph Annual Edition 2026
Reference Number: 1-39-34-08-22-04
Diameter: 42mm
Thickness: 12.4mm
Lug-to-Lug: 48.5mm
Case Material: Stainless steel
Dial Colour: Translucent purple lacquer
Indices: White Arabic numerals, gold relief stick indices
Crystal: Domed sapphire front and back
Lume: Luminous dots on dial and hands
Water Resistance: 30 metres
Strap/Bracelet: Synthetic fabric strap, steel pin buckle

Calibre: 39-34, in-house
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, chronograph
Power Reserve: 40 hours
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 4 Hz
Jewels: 51
Chronometer Certified: No

Price: A$14,650
Availability: TBC 2026
Limited Edition: No

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