Glashütte Original epitomizes the origin of German watchmaking. Its history dates back to the 19th century in Saxony where the four founding fathers (Ferdinand Adolph Lange, Moritz Grossmann, Julius Assmann, and Adolf Schneider) wrote to the Royal Saxon government to open a watch factory in Glashütte. Their aim was to educate apprentices as watchmakers. The government obliged and today, 176 years on, Glashütte Original flourishes as one of the leading watch brands from Germany. 

Their journey has been tumultuous but even through the two world wars, Glashütte Original never stopped making watches. Originally known as Glashütter Uhrenbetrieb GmbH, the company was renamed as Glashütte Original after it was bought by Bavarian businessman Heinz W. Pfeifer in 1994.

In 2000, the brand marked two major milestones in its history — one was its acquisition by the Swatch Group and the other was the introduction of the PanoRetroGraph, the first mechanical chronograph with countdown function, sectoral 30-minute counter, and triple repeater gong.