GRIEB & BENZINGER's Black Tulip Sabudha Imperial

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The avant-garde watchmakers of GRIEB & BENZINGER present a new signature bespoke watch to commemorate an auspicious occasion, the third anniversary of luxury magazine Simply Abu Dhabi.

Simply Abu Dhabi is the only English luxury magazine in the emirate of the same name. Its CEO, Arnie Hira, recently outed himself as a big fan of the German workshop known for bespoke horological masterpieces. “They supported our inaugural edition, and I have become a huge fan of their watches. So, as patronage to Abu Dhabi and to commemorate our third birthday, Georg Bartkowiak (CEO of GRIEB & BENZINGER) and I collaborated on a one-off timepiece – something that will never be reproduced.”

The result, the BLACK TULIP SABUDHA IMPERIAL, is an exceptionally decorated wristwatch inspired by the majesty, mystery and magic of the Middle East, and prominently spotlights a re-imagination of the most mythical jewel in the world. 

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This watch is the quintessence of GRIEB & BENZINGER`s singular philosophy: limited to a single, never-to-be-repeated piece, it is decorated using irreplaceable nineteenth-century guilloché tools and handmade with skills that cannot be found beyond GRIEB & BENZINGER`s workshop in Germany. What’s more, it is significant to the publication, tightly wrapped as it is in Middle Eastern culture and the mythology of Europe’s storied imperialism.

Estimated to fall well within the six-digit US dollar spectrum, BLACK TULIP SABUDHA IMPERIAL is a sumptuous hand-wound watch, whose open-worked design is influenced by Arabic style and in particular inspired by the artistry of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. The brilliance and sheer desirability of this solid rose gold wristwatch does not stop there: attention is drawn to the bezel set with black gemstones, which are not black diamonds, contrary to what might be expected. Black diamonds are actually very commonplace nowadays, so instead of black diamonds, the bezel is set with incredible black spinel gemstones, aligned perfectly with invisible settings and glittering with a deep, ethereal intensity. These very jewels, which are rarely if ever used in watchmaking, have a wonderfully smooth, clean surface.

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But what makes this gemstone even more precious, and what elevates the BLACK TULIP SABUDHA IMPERIAL wristwatch to even greater heights of wonder is the mythology surrounding spinel and the many priceless stones chronicled throughout history. The Black Prince’s Ruby is one of the most famous gemstones in the world. It is currently mounted, pride of place, upon Great Britain’s Imperial State Crown. And it is not a ruby, it’s a spinel.

As Simply Abu Dhabi is one of the only publications to be distributed to the Royal Palatial Homes and Offices of the ruling families of Abu Dhabi, it made sense to use gemstones with a royal association.

The price of this watch? A six-digit mystical as the watch itself …

www.Grieb-Benzinger.com

Grieb & Benzinger's Blue Whirlwind

This just in from Grieb & Benzinger -

GRIEB & BENZINGER proudly presents this fall's top highlight: the BLUE WHIRLWIND, the world’s first watch powered by a visible tourbillon movement by Patek Philippe based on a rare skeletonized tourbillon minute repeater caliber.

Courtesy of Grieb & Benzinger



The rare Patek Philippe tourbillon movement found its way to GRIEB & BENZINGER thanks to a hardcore watch collector and a happy coincidence. It took more than fifteen months from first touching Caliber RTO 27 PS for it to take on its final form – without knowing the kind of hype that this movement would create in 2011: this very same movement caused a giant sensation as it sold within a one-of-a-kind Patek Philippe Tourbillon Minute Repeater in stainless steel, which was donated to the ONLY WATCH charity auction in Monaco 2011. The result was literally sensational: the hammer fell at 1.4 million Euros.



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This sensational auction result inspired the masters at GRIEB & BENZINGER to create a breathtaking new wristwatch. This intense horological work took the artisans’ full attention since the fine guilloché on the plates and bridges necessitated moving original drillings by less than one-twentieth of a millimeter, and the movement needed to be carefully reassembled, adjusted, disassembled, and reassembled in order to guarantee full harmonious functioning of the great number of levers. This movement with 336 individual components not only includes a tourbillon, but additionally a minute repeater mechanism – making it one of the most complicated movements in the world.
This movement was completely modified in the style characteristic of GRIEB & BENZINGER: fully skeletonized, guilloché and engraved by hand. Even gear wheels were embellished with guilloché and the 12 finely guilloché bridges and cocks coated with rhodium and rose gold. As if that were not enough, an additional mysterious wheel, visible on the back side, replaces the original gold drive wheel for the tourbillon.

In hand-skeletonizing the base plate, the team at GRIEB & BENZINGER journeyed to the edge of what is possible and is proud to have created the world’s first visible skeletonized tourbillon based on a Patek Philippe movement. After the skeletonization and guilloché, the base plate was coated with blue platinum, a signature element of every single unique GRIEB & BENZINGER piece that was developed by the firm.

Courtesy of Grieb & Benzinger

The skeletonized Sterling silver dial in striking regulator style was embellished with a rare Breguet frosted finish created using the classic method, which is only presently practiced in this manner at GRIEB & BENZINGER.
These numerous details once again show that the complicated masterpieces of GRIEB & BENZINGER are more objets d’art than watches. The artisanal crafts carried out by hand here cannot be copied in an industrial way and are thus only to be achieved by the talents of the masters at work at GRIEB & BENZINGER, who work with these long-forgotten techniques every day. Months, at times even more than a year, have been spent by the time a one-of-a-kind GRIEB & BENZINGER Platinum piece has been completed.
With the BLUE WHIRLWIND skeletonized tourbillon minute repeater, GRIEB & BENZINGER has created another breathtaking collector’s item that proves its special position within the industry. Who other than these masters of their crafts in this special workshop would have the courage to modify such a movement?
With its solid 43 mm platinum case created in typical GRIEB & BENZINGER style, BLUE WHIRLWIND is not only a design statement on the wrist, but more an objet d’art for only one single lucky collector worldwide able to pay the price of US$ 850,000 net (650.000 € net; 775.000 € incl. 19% VAT).

The fact that all GRIEB & BENZINGER Platinum timepieces are one-of-a-kind – which will allow their value to increase over time – puts the price into perspective, for in comparison to the auction price paid for the steel version in the fall of 2011, this ultra-exclusive timepiece by GRIEB & BENZINGER could almost be called a bargain.

www.Grieb-Benzinger.com

The “making of” a $ 450,000 GRIEB & BENZINGER masterpiec​e!

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This amazing new GRIEB & BENZINGER is based on a gorgeous base movement originally made by Patek Philippe for Tiffany in about 1890. With a diameter of only 36.5 mm, this tremendous assembly of complications including a minute repeater and a split-seconds chronograph is rare in such a small movement. Keeping in mind that this movement is already about 120 years old, it is doubtlessly a sensation and tribute to historic watchmaking.

To see the video, click here -

www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1KjirKprNk


This extraordinary, complicated watch well displays the intense workmanship associated with the hand-engraving and guilloché as well as the hand-skeletonization modifications of plates and bridges which are also finished with rose gold or rhodium coating. Every single component must be treated and restored, some had to be entirely replaced and, of course, they all had to be reassembled to form one functional unit after treatment. The detailed restoration of the more than 400 components of this movement required intense attention and took more than 6 months. Taken comparison to the production of new movements, the treatment in the GRIEB & BENZINGER workshops is so intensive that it comes even close to a brand new production than just a restoration. And in fact it is not just restoration – it`s art at its finest.

A signature element of every single GRIEB & BENZINGER PLATINUM is the blue platinum coated base plate. This is to honor famous Abraham-Louis Breguet student Charles Oudin who has already built movements with blue base plates about 1820. The GRIEB & BENZINGER workshop is proud to own one of these rare original blue Oudin movements.


Since there were a striking amount of timepieces with blue base plates supplied by Swiss watch manufacturers (through Bovet and Charles Oudin among others) to imperial China of the Qing Dynasty under Emperors Jia Qing and Dao Guang, the BLUE DANUBE also symbolizes these historical roots.



The dial is another highlight and signature element of the BLUE DANUBE. Skeletonized by hand and with a rare Breguet frosted finish it unequivocally shows the connoisseur the technical prowess needed to turn such an historic movement into a new masterpiece.



The BLUE DANUBE is once again a breathtaking collector’s item: a minute repeater split-seconds chronograph in typical GRIEB & BENZINGER finish – a real one-of-a-kind watch. In a solid 43 mm diameter case, this unique timepiece is not only a design statement on the wrist but again the heaviest platinum watch of its kind worldwide and of course a piece of art for only one lucky collector worldwide for 350.000 € / US$ 450,000 (net).


 www.Grieb-Benzinger.com

This is GRIEB & BENZINGER's latest - the  BLUE OCEAN! 

Courtesy of GRIEB & BENZINGER

This is a skeletonized monopusher chronograph based on a column wheel chronograph movement from 1926.  It is housed in a solid platinum case. GRIEB & BENZINGER has brought this historical movement life.