Benzinger unique "Chinese Dragon"

Eye-catcher of this Benzinger watch is the legendary Chinese Dragon. Worshiped as a god and symbol of the Chinese emperors whose throne was therefore called dragon throne. Still today, dragons symbolize potent and auspicious powers, particularly control over water, rainfall, hurricane and floots. By the way: In China, they celebrated the Year of the Dragon in 2012.

• 750/000 18kt gold case made in Pforzheim, bezel and the srewed-in strap lugs carry 80 diamonds
• Hand-engraved, hand-guilloché and hand-skeletonized Unitas 6498  hand winding movement
• Hand-engraved, hand-skeletonized dragon motive in four colors, mounted onto the mother-of-pearl dial
• Flame-blued hands in the shape of leaves
• Hand-sewed white alligator leather strap with 750/000 18kt gold pin buckle

Benzinger unique "Coat of arms of the Netherlands"

The "Groot Rijkswapen" is the personal coat of arms of the monarch of the Netherlands, currently Queen Beatrix. The blue shield shows a golden lion with a crown, carrying a sword in his right paw and seven arrows, bound together, in his left. These arrows stand for the seven provinces of the Union of Utrecht. One can also read the French motto "Je maintiendrai" which means "I will maintain".

• High grade steel case made in Pforzheim with a diameter of 42mm, screwed-in strap lugs and sapphire glass on both sides
• Hand-guilloché , hand-engraved and hand-skeletonized Unitas 6498 handwinding movement
• Skeletonized crown-wheel and ratchet
• Going train bridge skeletonized by hand with lion motive
• Ground plate hand-guilloché and plated with black PVD
• Bridges, bars, spring barrel, cogwheels and screws plated with yellow gold
• Hand-guilloché and hand-skeletonized Sterling silver dial with the original "Breguet" frost finish and the Dutch coat of arms with view to the hand-guilloché black ground plate
• Flame-blued "Breguet" hands
• Hand-sewed alligator leather strap with double folding clasp

Benzinger unique "Mishal Kanoo"

Not all of the Benzinger unique custom made timepieces do have a famous story, happening or something alike in their background. In this special case for example, Benzinger was inspired by the future owner of the watch to create an exceptional one-of-a-kind timepiece. Mishal Kanoo is deputy chairman of the Kanoo Group, one of the largest independent, family owned group of companies in the Gulf region. Although playing a vital role in the groups development, Mishal Kanoo also finds time to cultivate his creative mind and interests. His passions are, among others, books, fast luxury cars and mechanical watches. And so Benzinger felt especially honoured to be chosen as designer of one of his collector pieces. Mishal decided in favour of a red gold three quarter skeleton which offered Benzinger the opportunity to display the prominent Kanoo Group logo on the dial, a black palm tree on a blue background.

• Hand-engraved, hand-skeletonized and hand-guilloché Unitas 6498 manual winding movement, two-color gold plated, with flame-blued screws and with customer initials
• Hand-guilloché and hand-skeletonized Sterling silver dial with printed company logo in the small second
• Hand-sewed alligator leather strap with double folding clasp

The way of an exclusive and unique handmade Benzinger timepiece: from the design to the watch

Jochen Benzinger is the master of hand-guilloché, hand-engraved and hand-skeletonized watches. All of his watches are unique timepieces and the customer does have the opportunity to personalize his own watch with his initials, coat of arms or whatever the customer can imagine [there are always limits ;)]. The production of Jochen Benzinger is at a maximum of 50 watches per year! With the following report, I will show you the process of a personalized watch made by Jochen Benzinger by reference to the watch we made for the "Fondatioun Kriibskrank Kanner" (Foundation to help children with cancer) here in Luxembourg.

For the project "Fondatioun Kriibskrank Kanner" we decided us for the 3/4 Skelett model. The dial-side (1) we left "standard" 3/4 Skelett and for the movement side (2) Jochen Benzinger firstly made a design (3) with the coat of arms of the Foundation and the complete skelet as a mane of a lion.

 The artisanal work of hand-guilloché on detailed photos:

1- hand-guilloché plate
2- fixation of the dial on the support
3- hand-guilloché dial

The artisanal work of hand-engraving and hand-skeletonization on detailed photos:

1- hand-engraving of the coq
2- hand-skeletonization of the plate
3- hand-engraving of the plate

The different pieces after the hand-guilloché, hand-engraving and hand skeletonization:

1- The plate, left "standard" 3/4 Skelett design. Hand-engraved and hand-skeletonized
2- The pont de barillet, hand-engraved, hand-skeletonized and hand-guilloché. Personalized skeletonization with the lion's mane
3- The pont de rouage with the coat of arms of the "Fondatioun Kriibskrank Kanner", hand-engraved and hand-skeletonized
4- The roue de minuterie, hand guilloché
5- The roue des heures, hand-guilloché
6- The coq, hand-engraved and hand-skeletonized
7- The pont d'ancre, hand-engraved and hand-skeletonized
8- The barillet, hand-guilloché, hand-skeletonized and hand-engraved

1st preview!

And finally the finished watch!

I hope you enjoyed this little report of how a personalized watch by Benzinger is made. Maybe with this report you can better imagine how much work it is to make a watch as exclusive and unique as a Benzinger timepiece is.

Looking forward for your comments ;)

best Regards
Christian

Benzinger unique "Half-skeleton La Belle"

There are many mechanical watches on the market. Most of them need not be mentioned, some however, are worth being remembered. That is exactly what Benzinger wanted to achieve with this half-skeleton version in rose gold. The first custom-made movement Benzinger refined was for Martin Braun's "La Belle". Benzinger has once again built this watch for a todays customer in a more modern form. A homage to great watchmaking craft!

• 18kt rose gold case with diameter of 42mm, screwed-in strap lugs
• hand-guilloché dial with view to the open spring barrel and with the original "Breguet" frost finish
• flame-blued, leaf-shaped hands
• hand-engraved, hand-guilloché and hand-skeletonized manual winding movement
• flame-blued screws
• hand-sewed alligator leather strap with hand-made buckle in 750/000 18kt rose gold

Benzinger unique "Ulysse Nardin"

It was in 1846 that the Swiss watchmaker Ulysse Nardin started his own business as manufacturer of navy chronometer. These precise clocks that came in heavy, shock-resistant wooden cases and that were made for being used on ships helped seafarers a lot as they made reliable navigation possible. Nowadays, watches of this renowned make are part of every high-quality collection. With the re-designed and decorated model Benzinger pays tribute to this earlier talented watchmaker.

• High-grade steel case made in Porzheim with a diameter of 42mm, screwed-in strap lugs, sapphire glass on both sides
• Hand-engraved, hand-skeletonized Sterling silver dial with original "Breguet" style frost and with view to the hand-engraved and hand-skeletonized ground plate
• Flame-blued, pear-shaped hands
• Hand-engraved, hand-skeletonized and hand-guilloché historical Ulysse Nardin hand winding movement with screwed gold chatons and open screw balance
• Hand-guilloché and with blue platinum coated ground plate
• Hand-sewed alligator leather strap with double folding clasp

Benzinger unique "Phoenix Jump Hour"

The Greek mythology tells us about a bird with a colorful plumage and a tail of gold and scarlet. Near the end of its life it builds a nest of myrrh twigs that ignites. Both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix arises, reborn anew to live again. He so became a symbol of resurrection and immotality.

• High-grade steel case made in Pforzheim with screwed-in strap lugs and onion crown
• Diameter of 40mm
• Sterling silver dial engraved and engine turned by hand with phoenix subject
• Hand-engraved, hand-guilloché and hand-skeletonized Kasper 1415 manual wind movemend with ground plate covered with blue platinum
• Flame-blued screws
• Flame-blued middle second hand in a special shape