Grieb & Benzinger Blue Sensation

Special Features

Refinement and ennobling

All work undertaken on the movement, dial, and case is completed by hand by skilled craftspeople with decades of experience in the field of vintage watch restoration and refinement. Traditional ennobling techniques such as: engraving, skeletonisation, and guilloche patterning are added to historic movements (at times more than 100 years old) using restored watchmaking tools that are approximately the same age.

In this way Grieb and Benzinger timepieces retain their historic value and reflect the time-honoured, hand-finished quality of years gone by.

Guilloching

Guilloche is the evolution of the royal engine turning craft. Horological artists evolved the beautiful guilloch/rose engines from these turning lathes to create unique and striking patterns on watch dials. Even renowned watch creator, Abraham-Louis Breguet cut his characteristic dials using this traditional technique.

Even today, hand-guilloched dials remain unsurpassed in their noble appearance. This rare, historically important craft is in each and every movement and unique watch created by Grieb & Benzinger.

Engraving

Engraving is an art that is as old as humanity itself. Ever since humankind invented cutting tools, they have been used to add decorative elements to jewellery and special items. As such, the evolution of engraving began long before humans began to measure time on mechanical devices. Throughout history, the art of engraving became more and more varied and refined as technology forged new avenues for creation.

Albrecht Dürer elevated the art of engraving to new levels in the sixteenth century with his copperplate engravings and woodcuts. Using the same tools as Dürer, master ennobler, Jochen Benzinger, creates his artisanal masterpieces for Grieb & Benzinger with a historical soul and a design flair like no other.

Skeletonising

Skeletonisation is a decorative method that lends closed movements a new and individual character. Non-essential parts of the movement are removed using a goldsmith’s saw in order to allow a direct view into and through the mechanical watch movement. Each Grieb & Benzinger movement is skeletonised to order, by master ennobler Jochen Benzinger whose creative genius is unlimited. A view to the stunning movement treatment is afforded via a generous sapphire crystal, exhibition case back which ensure you have constant visual access to the beauty that beats within your Grieb & Benzinger timepiece.

Grieb & Benzinger cases

Only precious materials are utilised for Grieb & Benzinger cases. The platinum and gold cases of each unique timepiece are milled from a solid block of precious metal. The platinum alloy comprises high-quality 950 platinum (950 of 1000 parts pure platinum), while the gold is 18-carat (750 parts of 1000) massive gold. On average, more than one kilogram of precious metal is used for each watch case – depending on the size – to deliver the characteristic multi-part case with a platinum share of 110 to 200 grams. The gold share is 20 percent less due to the alloy. Regardless of the case material, it is a quality that can be felt on the wrist and appreciated with the eye.

Precious coating

Each finish has been designed with aesthetics in mind to ensure every Grieb & Benzinger watch is not only functionally perfect but also visually striking.

Platinum: All base plates of the platinum movements are coated with blue platinum in homage to the grand tradition of Charles Oudin, one of Breguet’s pupils. In this way the unmistakable character of Grieb & Benzinger’s Platinum watches is ensured. The combination of precious platinum and the platinum blue-coated movements creates a harmonious, cool contrast, which makes the uniquely decorated watches so coveted by watch collectors and enthusiasts. Grieb & Benzinger is worldwide the only brand using blue platinum to decorate watch movements.

Black PVD: Inspiration for the deep black PVD-coated base plates comes from nature and the contrast between molten lava and cooled, black volcanic rock. The colourful harmony between the warm gold and the deep black simultaneously enlivens and soothes to deliver a warm glow which enhances the sophistication of the black dial.

The dial

 At Grieb & Benzinger, each dial must simultaneously present the functions of the movement and be an element that reaches aesthetic perfection. It is thus imperative that it shows the time while revealing that the timepiece is a unique work of art by Grieb & Benzinger. Design aspects such as: skeletonised dials with overlapping displays and the regulator display are examples of typical Grieb & Benzinger watches.

Even dials made of solid, sterling silver are handmade in their workshop. Each silver dial is unique, hand-guilloched and decorated with characteristic Breguet patterns and finally embellished with the legendary Breguet frosted finish that today is used by Grieb & Benzinger as one of only a handful of makers.

To deliver something beautiful is a good start but to make it exquisite is our goal.

Breguet frost

One of the most important watchmakers of all time, Abraham-Louis Breguet provides the inspiration for the frosted finish of Grieb & Benzinger’s coveted Breguet-frost dials. The technique, mastered by Breguet, is unchanged from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries where the surface of the dial is treated with a combination of oxidation (open flame) and a special acid mix. The result is a silvery-white surface reminiscent of frost – hence the name.

In its day, the frost also served as a seal for the surface of the dial to protect the silver from tarnishing. The fascinating silver-white hue is a treat for connoisseurs’ eyes, which even with the aid of modern galvanic methods has never been reproduced. Today the original Breguet frosted finish is only achieved by a handful of watchmakers and Jochen Benzinger is one of the key members of this elite group. His skills are brought to the fore on Grieb & Benzinger timepieces.

Creation and handwork

In each of the unique Grieb & Benzinger timepieces beats the heart of a freshly interpreted historical movement. The filigreed moving components are deconstructed and restored down to the smallest detail.

Because they are decorated by applying galvanic coatings, the diameters, weights, and material strengths become modified. In order to guarantee perfect functionality of the movement, the wheels in charge of transmitting energy throughout the gear train must be adjusted and/or exchanged. This unique combination of vintage technology, the art of restoration, and the individual modification builds the creative base for the composition of each Grieb & Benzinger masterpiece.

The harmony of the whole

When deconstructing a complicated watch, each turn of the screwdriver drives the watchmaker deeper into the heart of the mechanical movement. The deeper one goes, the more seemingly similar levers and identical screws are found, and yet each one is impossibly different in length and fit, making it unique.

Master ennobler Jochen Benzinger steps in to create his magic and evolve the historic movement to a new level before delivering myriad individual parts back to his equally skilled counterpart for reassembly.

It is then up to Hermann Grieb, drawing upon many, many years of experience to reconstruct the decorated movement parts, perfectly adjusting each component in minute detail to bring them into perfect harmony.

Their insight, skill and creativity results in something very special as history is given licence to live on in renewed brilliance.