The Value Proposition: The Mühle-Glashütte Panova Grau Is A Teutonic Treat

German design and engineering are legendary, thanks to countless brilliant examples from the Porsche 911 to the Barcelona chair. The superbly crafted Mühle-Glashütte Panova Grau watch isn’t an icon. But it still has many of the traits that make those things great, and it comes with a shockingly fair price tag too. To me, it has everything that's great about typical German design. It's pared down, with a strong focus on only what's necessary; it's clean and stylish, and it has a real sense of timelessness. No gimmicks. And at less than $1,000, it's an über deal. In watchmaking, it's tough sometimes to find real value for the money, when so often offering real value means a smaller margin. But I think it's just pragmatic to provide a decent value, even at the higher price ranges – something I've always appreciated about German watchmaking. Just ask Philippe Dufour about his Lange Datograph. Watch insiders know that tremendous horological value lies in Germany. Nomos and Lange in particular are often cited as great value picks on both ends of the price spectrum. Mühle-Glashütte isn't quite as celebrated, but after wearing the Panova Grau for almost a year, I really think it ought to be. I first came across Mühle-Glashütte on the forums in the early aughts, when the original model of the Rasmus caught my eye. The tough-looking Fricker case stopped me in my tracks, and since then I'd been watching from afar. I once tried on the SeeBattalion GMT at a European airport sometime in 2013. There was clearly a pattern with the sort of watches I was drawn to, but ironically it wasn't the beefy tool watches out of the Mühle-Glashütte range that I ultimately fell for. It was the Panova Grau, a simple time-only watch with tons of minimalist charm and an easy-wearing wrist feel. The simple grey (grau), orange, and white dial design is somewhere between a typical field watch and something clearly Bauhaus-inspired – playful and formal at once. It's thin, at 10.4mm, and that keeps the 40mm case feeling balanced on the wrist. It's also relatively light, something that can't be said of Mühle-Glashütte's divers. In order to maintain its fantastic lightness, I've fitted it on a ladder-style bracelet from Forstner Bands. The caseback now lays flat against my wrist instead of sitting atop the leather NATO it came on. Inside is the Sellita SW-200-1, a movement I personally adore. I've always been opposed to Swatch Group's decision to limit the supply of ETA-2824 ébauches to up-and-coming brands that might not have the capital to develop something from the ground up. It's on the consumer to sniff out the "zombie brands" that have stuffed an entry-level movement into their wares. There are plenty of brands that don't subscribe to that model, and we have Sellita to thank for allowing them to produce great watches at reasonable price points. Mühle-Glashütte produces an in-house movement for their Robert Mühle manufactory line – so, yes, they can do it – but if the Panova Grau used one of these movements it wouldn't be accessible to the many. From an ideological and pragmatic standpoint, there couldn't be a better movement to use in this watch. James recently compared the Black Bay line to the Porsche 911 model range. If we're going to continue the Teutonic automotive analogies, I'd say the Panova Grau is a lot like the Mercedes-Benz W123 300TD. The 5-cylinder turbodiesel engine inside these pared-down wagons is absolutely bulletproof, and it isn't abnormal to expect about 600,000 miles out of them without anything more than scheduled maintenance. There's a natural air of refinement to the wagon on par with typical stoic German design, and steadfast mechanicals match the sturdy looks. They're also surprisingly affordable on the secondary market. In short, they're a great value and they're easy to service – with handsome looks to boot. The SW-200 inside the Panova Grau can be serviced by any competent watchmaker, and the price point puts it into the affordable category. And I hesitate to call something priced at $1,000 "affordable," but the days of using the $200 grey-market Seiko SK007 as a benchmark for affordability are long gone. Even Seiko has made a conscious effort to shift its baseline upmarket. The Alpinist is the most apt comparison to the Panova Grau, and it's priced similarly. There's usually some sort of caveat introduced when writing about a value proposition (misaligned chapter rings and Microsoft Word fonts come to mind). But I personally can't identify one when it comes to the Panova Grau. It's got more than enough water resistance at 100m for my everyday life (and I've come to terms with the fact that I'm harder than most on my watches but I'm certainly not operating at the level of a Navy SEAL or some other amphibious commando), and I like the distinction that comes with owning a German watch rather than one from the usual suspects. And since the Panova Grau is the Mercedes-Benz W123 300TD, you'll have a superb and reliable watch that leaves room to save for a 911 – and I'm talking about the actual sports car, not the watch it's been compared to. The Mühle-Glashütte Panova Grau is €1,000(US buyers don't pay VAT, lowering the price). It's 40mm x 10.4mm. It features 100m of water resistance, and it's made from stainless steel. It comes on a leather or nylon NATO strap, but it's pictured here on a Forstner Klip 20mm bracelet. Photography by David J .Up there with Haribo gummies.