GRIEB & BENZINGER - BLUE OCEAN PLATINUM

The BLUE OCEAN is a skeletonized monopusher chronograph based on a column wheel chronograph movement from 1926 housed in solid platinum with a guilloché platinum crown button. At 47 mm in diameter, this watch is a design statement on the wrist and, as usual, an absolutely unique piece in which countless hours have been invested in restoration, hand-skeletonization, hand-engraving, and guilloché in order to create this masterpiece of time. In typical GRIEB & BENZINGER manner, the historical movement within this oeuvre has been awakened to enjoy a new life.

The company’s typical blue platinum coating of the base plate has also found its way into this new unique piece. The base plate was first hand-skeletonized to its barest minimum and the case back hand-guilloché before being coated with the blue platinum developed by GRIEB & BENZINGER. Every single bridge and cock was hand guilloché, hand-engraved and rhodium or rose gold-plated. Even the wheels were guilloché, and the heads of all 34 steel screws were polished by hand and classically tempered a cornflower blue over an open flame.

The 26-jewel movement is outfitted with a Breguet compensation screw balance with blued hairspring.

A skeletonized dial with a rare Breguet frosted finish and overlapping displays in the characteristic GRIEB & BENZINGER style unequivocally shows the skeletonized movement and the blue platinum-coated base plate, another signature element of GRIEB & BENZINGER. Rings that seem to flow into one another, yet simultaneously display their functions in clearly defined zones, dominate the dial – which additionally shows the hours and minutes on an inner dial ring in addition to the separate displays for seconds and 30-minute totalizer at 3 and 9 o’clock respectively and the stop-seconds of the chronograph on a scale just inside the bezel.

www.Grieb-benzinger.com 

MB&F - Legacy Machine No. 1

MB&F - Legacy Machine No. 1


Max Büsser & Friends is launching a new line of watches called Legacy Machines. Büsser says they will be designed as if MB&F existed 100 years ago. Legacy Machine No. 1 combines classic elements like a round case and a superlatively finished movement with MB&F’s trademark over-the-top horological creativity (or at least an over-the-top balance wheel). Find several images, wallpaper, pricing, technical specifications, and a link to the movie inside. 


With its monumental central balance, completely independent dual time displays and three-dimensional power reserve indicator, Legacy Machine N°1 (LM1) pays tribute to the great innovators of traditional watchmaking, yet it is unmistakeably an MB&F Machine. At 44x16mm, the watch will fit a broader range of collectors.

Max Büsser says Legacy Machine N°1 was conceived when he asked himself “What would have happened if I had been born in 1867 instead of 1967?” The answer? He would still want to create wild, three-dimensional machines for the wrist, but there would have been no Star Wars or fighter jets to inspire him. Instead, he would have looked to pocket watches, the Eiffel Tower and Jules Verne. “What might my 1911 machine look like? It has to be round and it has to be three-dimensional: Legacy Machine N°1 was my answer.”
Legacy Machine N°1′s in-house movement reflects the talent of its creators. Jean-François Mojon and his team at Chronode (winners of the Best Watchmaker Prize at the 2010 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève) started with a blank sheet, while acclaimed independent watchmaker Kari Voutilainen took responsibility for the aesthetic design and for ensuring respect for tradition and fine finishing. The movement of Legacy Machine N°1 bears the names of both creators, and is the first caliber other than Voutilainen’s own to bear his name.

 Most watches displaying two time zones allow only the hours to be set. The twin displays of Legacy Machine N°1 are fully independent, so each display can be set to show any time. Büsser says this has not been done before.


The swooping, curving bridge supporting the massive balance wheel was inspired by the Eiffel Tower.


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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

The Legacy Machine No. 1 is available in 18k white gold or 18k rose gold, and it is priced at $92,000.
Click here to view the 4:45 Legacy Machine No. 1 film.
Technical specifications appear below.

Engine

Three-dimensional horological movement developed for MB&F by Chronode and created by Jean-François Mojon and Kari Voutilainen
Manual winding with single mainspring barrel
Power reserve: 45 hours
Balance wheel: Bespoke 14mm balance wheel with four traditional regulating screws floating above the movement and dials
Balance spring: traditional Breguet curve terminating in mobile stud holder
Balance frequency: 18,000bph/2.5Hz
Number of components: 279
Number of jewels: 23
Chatons: gold chatons with polished countersinks
Fine finishing: superlative hand finishing throughout respecting 19th century style; internal bevel angles highlighting hand craft; polished bevels; Geneva waves; hand-made engravings

Functions

Hours and minutes; completely independent dual time zones displayed on two dials; unique vertical power reserve
Left crown at 8 o’clock for setting time of left dial; right crown at 4 o’clock for setting time of right dial and winding

Case

Available in 18k red gold or 18k white gold
Dimensions: 44mm wide x 16mm high
Number of components: 65
Sapphire crystals:
High domed sapphire crystal on top with anti-reflective coating on both sides; sapphire crystal on back with anti-reflective coating on single side

Strap & Buckle

Black or brown hand-stitched alligator strap with gold tang buckle to match case
“Friends” responsible for Legacy Machine No. 1
Concept: Maximilian Büsser / MB&F
Product design: Eric Giroud / Eric Giroud Design Studio
Technical and production management: Serge Kriknoff / MB&F
Movement development: Jean-François Mojon / Chronode
Movement design and finish specifications: Kari Voutilainen

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www.MBandF.com