Hands On: Glashütte Original SeaQ in 39.5mm
This year, Glashütte Original didn't pull any punches by bringing a new collection, the Spezialist, to their assortment during Swatch Group's Time to Move fair held in May 2019. The entire Spezialist collection revolves around sport style watches, a segment that in our opinion was well needed within Glashütte Original's offering. Many people are familiar with German cars offering a powerful assortment of luxury sport cars, but what about watchmaking? This is where I believe Glashütte Original has an opportunity to introduce Germany's watch manufacturing in a market that already regards German manufacturing as high quality. Today we're going hands on with the Glashütte Original SeaQ in the 39.5mm stainless steel case. 
On paper, the new SeaQ measures 39.5mm x 12.15mm thickness. However the watch itself wears very slim and tapered on the wrist with its low profile and compact dimensions. I'm wearing the variant of the SeaQ on the black rubber strap with Glashutte Original pin / tang buckle, however it also comes on a full stainless steel bracelet and fabric strap as well.
The SeaQ features a clean side profile with no crown guards and a screw down crown which helps feature the watch's 200m water resistance. There's also a nice detail of Glashütte Original's double logo featured on the crown.
The dial is a galvanic black with sunray finish and looks remarkable up close. Something that Glashutte Original excels at is their fine details in their movements along with their decorations. The bezel here matches the dial perfectly with its black ceramic uni-directional bezel with Super-Luminova on the arrow marker only. The font of the diving bezel is easily legible and clean.
Under a UV light you can see the Super-Luminova filled Arabic numeral markers, hour, minute and seconds hand. The Super-Luminova is incredibly bright especially with the contrasts from the black dial. You'll also notice the little illusion from the domed sapphire crystal at the 4 o'clock marker, a nice touch and addition than being a full flat sapphire crystal. Typically domed sapphire crystals are harder to produce than flat crystals due to the angularity of the dome.
The caseback of the SeaQ is a screwed-in closed caseback. If you count the number of waves on the caseback, both dark and light, you will notice is totals 20 waves for the 20 bar (200 meter) water resistance. I'll give you a second to count. The caseback also features the text "DIN 8306" which represents the German Industrial Norm for certified dive watches. This DIN 8306 certification is equivalent to the ISO 6425 standard (International Organization for Standardization). Some of the requirements under DIN 8306 include:
- Having an indicator of diving time (rotating bezel) with a measurement of 1 minute or at least 60 minutes
- Easily distinguishable minute markers on the watch dial
- Adequate visibility in total darkness (Super-Luminova)
- Being able to read the watch running in total darkness (Super-Luminova on the hour, minute and seconds hand along with the arrow on the rotating bezel)
- Magnetic Resistance of at least 4,800 A/m. Watch must be accurate to +/- 30 seconds/day despite being magnetized
- Shock resistance with a maximum change in rate of +/- 60 seconds per day
- Anti-corrosion and chemical resistance
- Strap or band sturdinessof at least 45lbs of force in either direction at the point of connection (Spring Bar or attachment point) without any damage to the watch or attachment point
Of course, the SeaQ wouldn't be able to produce the DIN 8306 engraving on the caseback without passing all of these qualifications so fret not this watch is great for your dive trips or simple swims in the pool (just make sure to keep the crown screwed in!)
Movement
Inside the SeaQ is the caliber 39-11. It is a Glashütte Original manufacture produced movement with a 40 hour power reserve. The movement itself is exquisitely finished with Glashütte's stripe finish (their variant of Cotes de Geneve) along with the iconic swan-neck fine adjustment.
Additional Details:
SKU: 1-39-11-06-80-06
Dimensions: 39.55mm x 12.15mm
Case: Stainless Steel
Crystal: Sapphire
Dial: Galvanic black with sunray finish with Super-LumiNova numeral and indexes
Strap: Rubber strap with pin buckle
The watch is available in our shop here:
https://www.caratco.com/products/glashutte-original-seaq?_pos=1&_sid=ccd381d20&_ss=r