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| Union Watches |
The history of the Union watch manufacture began at the end of the nineteenth century in the tranquil city of
Glashutte located in Saxony's Osterzgebirge mountains. It was at this time that Johannes Durrstein, a watch wholesaler from Dresden, determined that in the years of great economic distress only very few people could afford to buy the very good, but also expensive original Glashutte watches. Durrstein envisioned selling
watches of the best Glashutte quality, with a most precise rate, at affordable prices.
After his idea for a less expensive watch fell on deaf ears in the established Glashutte companies, he quickly founded his own watch factory, the Prazisions- Taschenuhrenfabrik UNION Glashutte in Sachsen. Here he produced reasonably priced, precise Glashutte quality watches. He did without everything that would only make a watch more expensive, including
lavish cases made of precious metals and extreme movement finishings. By no means, however, was this a complete renunciation of every feature of fine watchmaking. As a sign of what the manufacture was capable of, watches outfitted with beautifully finished complications were produced in limited editions. Under Union's technical director of the time, Julius
Bergter, the most complicated watch that Glashutte has ever produced emerged in 1901:
The "Universal Watch" had more than seventeen different complications.
After a rather varied history, the traditional manufacture was reawakened in 1996. Watches have been manufactured under the name of Union in Glashutte ever since. As during Ourrstein's time, these timekeepers are striking in their timeless and classless visuals, setting high standards, however, in rate precision and functional quality.
The mechanical manufacture movements by Union are developed and produced in the Glashutte manufactory. Whether in the form of a perpetual calendar or "only" outfitted with a panorama date, all Union calibers are finely finished with skeletonized rotors, polished screws, and attractive decorations.
The newest collection, Diplomat, is represented by supreme simplicity. Finely contoured cases with clear design form a stylish frame for the timepiece's elegant dial, whose Arabic numerals stand out in a fine gold tone from the shimmering, silvery background. The red-brown leather strap made of Louisiana crocodile skin lends the watch a breath of extravagance.
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