The asymmetric look of the Pano watch family is an acquired taste – as are other timepieces of this ilk. I would say that the best use of this design concept is to prevent the watch and its wearer from looking boring. A lot of dress watches are boring, and when worn with a basic suit and tie can sometimes end up looking even more boring. Here, you have an undeniably conservative watch, but one that has character and personality – which is really how I like to sum up the larger Glashütte Original brand, even if this particular Glashütte Original PanoMaticLunar model illustrates that fact better than some other of their watches.

Attached to the case is a good-looking and traditionally designed black alligator strap with a matching 18k red gold folding buckle. Here, you’ll find one of the more interesting and welcome/frustrating features of most Glashütte Original watches. And that would be the small screw-down cap that goes over the buckle pin which secures the strap. I can’t say that I’ve had a strap slip out of a buckle and open up, but Glashütte Original makes doubly sure that the buckle and strap are tightly connected. It also makes re-sizing the strap particularly fun when trying to see if a key or knife you have at hand (unless you happen to carry a set of small screwdrivers with you) fits the flathead screw that you need to undo in order to resize how the watch fits.

The Glashütte Original PanoMaticLunar has a lot of “watch nerd” cred to it, even though it isn’t one of the most talked-about collections out there. In fact, I think part of the appeal is the relatively good value as well as the niche nature within a niche brand that is nevertheless part of a major group. Honestly, it may not be my first choice in Glashütte Original watches, but I’ve come to really enjoy wearing this reference 1-90-02-49-35-30 Glashütte Original PanoMaticLunar watch as a formal timepiece. Price is $23,900. glashuette-original.com

Necessary Data
>Brand: Glashütte Original
>Model: PanoMaticLunar 1-90-02-49-35-30
>Price: $23,900 USD
>Size: 40mm wide, 12.7mm thick
>Would reviewer personally wear it: Yes.
>Friend we’d recommend it to first: Frequent wearer and fan of dress watches looking for something out of the ordinary and reliable.
>Best characteristic of watch: Especially in steel, the Pano series feels like a good value given the in-house movements and original designs – especially when compared with the competition.
>Worst characteristic of watch: Too much superfluous text on the dial. Some might feel that case is too thick.