Moritz Grossmann – BENU Tourbillon Gold Limited Edition
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BENU Tourbillon receives
"The Judges Choice Award 2016"
Grossmann honoured with Starhill Gallery top award at "A Journey Through Time" 2016 in Kuala Lumpur.
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Dr. Bernard Cheong, Doctor, Horologist and Watch Collector
Christine Hutter, Founder and CEO Moritz Grossmann
Joseph Yeoh, Vice President YTL Land & Development and YTL Hotels and Properties
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The manufacture
Moritz Grossmann looks back on its successful participation in the
10th edition of "
A Journey Through Time"
2016 at the Starhill Gallery in
Kuala Lumpur and the special rankings of two models. The multi-day event is one of
Malaysia's most prestigious functions, attracting an exclusive roster of international watch and jewellery brands.
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The event's top award is the special highlight for the manufacture
Moritz Grossmann: The
BENU Tourbillon in white gold with a black dial was honoured with
THE JUDGES CHOICE AWARD 2016 "for the best unique and complicated timepieces of all nominations".
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Already last year, the
BENU Tourbillon in white gold with a argenté dial was awarded with the
STARHILL GALLERY WATCH WITH COMPLICATIONS IN MOVEMENT AWARD 2015.
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In two further categories, Grossmann debuts were nominated to the five best of the entries:
- The TEFNUT 36 with a billant bezel finished among the five best in the
STARHILL GALLERY FAVOURITE LADIES' WATCH AWARD 2016
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- The BENU Tourbillon in white with a black dial gold finished among the five best in the MINISTRY OF TOURISM & CULTURE MOST REVERED AWARD 2016
Totally reconceived: the manufacture calibre 103.0
The
calibre 103.0 movement of the
BENU Tourbillon represents a new concept with an array of surprising solutions. To translate into reality the aspirations of
Grossmann's watchmakers with respect to precision, efficiency, and aesthetics, classic principles of horological design were critically reviewed and pivotal movement functions optimised.
In particular, the
BENU Tourbillon is characterised by the following new developments:
- The Grossmann three-minute tourbillon according to Alfred Helwig
- The flying tourbillon cage with a V-shaped balance cock for which a design patent is pending
- The patent-pending stop seconds with a fine-hair brush
- The asymmetric-arm lever escapement
- The new configuration of the Grossmann balance and hairspring with an overcoiled terminal curve
- The newly developed mainspring barrel jewel bearing
- The brake ring on the fourth-wheel arbor made of guaiacum
- The ARCAP alloy for the going train wheels
- The patent-pending dual minute display with an extension of the minute hand
The Grossmann three-minute tourbillon with stop seconds
Amply dimensioned, the oscillator with the
Grossmann balance is integrated in a unilaterally suspended, “flying” tourbillon cage according to
Alfred Helwig (
1886-1974). The famous watchmaker strongly influenced the evolution of Glashütte as a stronghold of German watchmaking.
Alfred Helwig was a teacher at the German School of Watchmaking from
1913 to
1954; in
1920, he applied for a patent for the flying tourbillon. In
1922, he earned his master craftsman's credentials with a unilaterally suspended five-minute tourbillon. Originally, the tourbillon served the purpose of offsetting gravity-induced rate deviations in pocket watches that were worn vertically. Today, a well-formed tourbillon ranks among the genuine challenges for master watchmakers. As the author of the book entitled “Drehganguhren”,
Alfred Helwig was a source of inspiration for
Grossmann's calibre designers while they were developing their three-minute tourbillon.
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The tourbillon cage is freely suspended from a cantilevered, hand-engraved cock made of German silver. Its design is totally new, resulting in a distinctive manifestation of functional purity. The novel configuration of the tourbillon, which has an unusually large diameter of 16 mm, is beautifully showcased with a longer periodicity. Elaborately crafted, the upper part of the cage is a V-shaped balance bridge that requires only two posts, a significant hallmark for which a design patent has been registered.
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The lavish execution of the cage with two triangular posts is a prerequisite for an additional complication. For the watchmakers at
Grossmann, the ability to accurately set the time is a crucial precision requirement for a tourbillon mechanism. To reliably immobilise the balance, the stop device must bypass the cage frame posts. An elastic human-hair brush can easily glide past the triangular posts and gently brake the balance at the circumference of its rim. The patent-pending stop-seconds solution completes this impressive implementation of a
Grossmann timekeeping instrument (the patent application is endorsed by
SIGNO, an initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology).
The asymmetric-arm lever escapement
Given the ambitious expectations imposed on a precise manually wound watch, the classic lever escapement was reworked for the
BENU Tourbillon. Because of the use of a pallet lever with unequal arm lengths on a shared locking circle, all entrance and exit adjustment points are on the same lever arm, and even slight deviations can be precisely rectified. The pallet lever is composed of two parts: a thin fork with a blade-type guard pin, fashioned in the manner of Glashütte pocket watches, and the lever body with the visible sapphire pallets. The deflection of the lever is limited by a pin at the extension of the fork, which significantly improves the lever's mass distribution and equilibrium.
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The Grossmann balance
The spatial configuration of the balance and hairspring in the tourbillon cage was optimised for the
BENU Tourbillon. The hairspring is attached upside down to the lower cage base beneath the
Grossmann balance, resulting in an even more exquisite balance bridge design. Optimised for artisanal manufacturing techniques, the design of the
Grossmann balance improves the adjustability of inertia and achieves high kinetic energy combined with minimised air resistance and the smallest possible mass.
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The number of screws in the balance wheel rim was minimised, and the bores in the rim are equidistant. This makes it possible to vary the moment of inertia by inserting screws with different head lengths in the bores. The
Grossmann balance interacts with a Nivarox 1 balance spring. Its terminal curve is overcoiled according to calculations performed by Glashütte regleur
Gustav Gerstenberger.
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The barrel bearings and the Glashütte stopwork
An extremely rare solution was chosen for the barrel bearings in the
calibre 103.0 movement. The bilateral jewel bearings are located on the ratchet wheel and main plate sides. A gold chaton on the ratchet wheel carries the upper jewel for the mainspring barrel and tastefully complements the traditional finissage of the ratchet wheel. As customary, the lower jewel is embedded in the main plate. The mainspring barrel arbor extends through the hollow core to the chaton in the ratchet wheel; the barrel is perfectly stabilised with a maximised distance between bearings.
A modified Glashütte stopwork secures the tension of the mainspring. After winding, it allows the ratchet wheel to reverse somewhat and slightly relax the mainspring. The stop click is firmly secured with the addition of a steel cover.
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Special facets of the wheel train
The train configuration of the
Grossmann three-minute tourbillon exhibits several unusual features.
To reduce the kinetic energy of the tourbillon and the exposure of the lever escapement to stress, the periodicity of the cage was extended to three minutes with an additional wheel.
The pinion for the seconds is segregated from the power flow of the wheel train and driven with reduced torque. To prevent arbor and seconds-hand backlash, the pinion is constantly braked by a spring.
Grossmann's watchmakers designed this function in a sustainable and maintenance-free manner by choosing guaiacum spp., an oily wood species, for the brake ring of the fourth-wheel arbor. It is classified as “rock-hard” and has good long-term tribological properties. This solution was inspired by the extremely dependable marine and tower clocks that
John Harrison (
1693-1776) crafted with great success in the
18th century. As a master carpenter, Harrison accrued considerable experience with various types of woods, especially the very durable ones he selected for his marine chronometers.
Grossmann's contemporary precision timepieces stand for
HERITAGE IN TIME beyond our era. It was also a key objective to preserve the beauty of the wheel train of the
BENU Tourbillon, with its precious decorations and polishes, by precluding oxidation and damage to coated surfaces. The train wheels are made of
ARCAP, a copper-nickel-zinc alloy coveted for its long-lasting brilliance. Crafted from beryllium bronze, the balance has a stately presence above the silvery going train.
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The unmistakable frame
The pillar movement with the main and 2/3 plates, a typical hallmark of
Grossmann watches, embodies the traditions of Glashütte pocket chronometers. A balanced ensemble of components in untreated German silver with different types of finissage and two pillar spacers constitutes the tiered calibre that accommodates the separately removable winder. The graceful engravings on the movement parts are all fashioned by hand.
The Grossmann winder with pusher
The watchmakers at
Grossmann addressed the requirements imposed on a manually wound watch by focusing on improved convenience and greater functional reliability. The
Grossmann winder with pusher incorporates a refined handsetting mechanism that eliminates two unwanted phenomena: it prevents the ingress of particles into the case during the setting process as well as unintentional hand position changes when the crown is pushed home again. When the user briefly pulls the winding crown out, this mechanism switches to the handsetting mode and stops the movement. Although the crown immediately returns to its home position, it can now be turned to precisely set the hands. Afterwards, the movement is restarted with the pusher adjacent to the winding crown without altering the positions of the hands. At the same time, this action switches the mechanism back to the winding mode.
The hallmarks of the Moritz Grossmann brand
The
BENU Tourbillon also unites the traditional characteristics of
Grossmann-style horological prowess with modern watchmaking elements and the typical features of the new brand:
• Pillar movement with 2/3 plate and frame pillars in untreated German silver
• Hand-engraved 2/3 plate and tourbillon cock
• Wide horizontal Glashütte ribbing on the 2/3 plate
• Modified Glashütte stopwork with backlash
• Separately removable clutch winder
• Raised gold chatons with pan-head screws
• Screws annealed to brown-violet
• White sapphire bearing jewels
• 3-band snailing on the ratchet wheel
• Manually crafted steel hands, annealed to brown-violet
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Technical Data
– BENU Tourbillon Gold Edition
Versions:
Reference:
MG01.G-02-A000004 -
Argenté Dial
Limitation 50 watches
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Reference:
MG01.G-02-A000779 -
Black Dial
Limitation 50 watches
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Movement
Manufacture calibre 103.0, manually wound, adjusted in five positions
No. of parts: 245 (wheel train
186, cage
59)
No. of jewels: 30, 4 of which in screwed gold chatons (wheel train 17, cage 13)
Escapement: Lever escapement
Oscillator: Grossmann three-minute tourbillon with stop seconds; shock-absorbed
Grossmann balance with 4 inertia and 2 poising screws, suspended Nivarox 1 balance spring with No. 80 terminal curve,
Gerstenberger geometry
Cage diameter: 16.2 mm
Cage speed: 1 revolution in three minutes, anti-clockwise when viewed from dial side
Balance diameter: 14.2 mm, frequency 18,000 semi-oscillations per hour
Power reserve: 72 hours when fully wound
Functions / features
Flying three-minute tourbillon with screw-secured driving wheel and V-shaped balance bridge (design patent pending)
Sweep minutes, off-centre hours and seconds with stop seconds, replacement of the missing minute scale segment from 25 to 35 minutes with a separate scale swept by the extension of the minute hand on the opposite side (patent pending)
Stop seconds at the balance wheel rim with a pivoting fine-hair brush (patent pending)
Asymmetric-arm lever escapement with counterweight and lever banking pin
Grossmann balance with suspended balance spring, adjustable with poising screws in the rim
Newly developed mainspring barrel jewel bearing
Brake ring on the fourth-wheel arbor made of very hard, oily guaiacum
ARCAP train wheels
Grossmann winder with pusher to deactivate the handsetting mode and start the movement
Modified Glashütte stopwork with backlash
Pillar movement with 2/3 plate and frame pillars in untreated German silver
Hand-engraved 2/3 plate and tourbillon cock
Broad horizontal Glashütte ribbing
3-band snailing on the ratchet wheel
Raised gold chatons with pan-head screws
White sapphire bearing jewels
Separately removable clutch winder
Operating elements
Crown in 750/000 white gold to wind the watch and set the time,
pusher in 750/000 white gold to start the movement
Case dimensions:
Diameter: 44.5 mm, height: 13.8 mm
Movement dimensions
Diameter: 38.4 mm, height: 7.1 mm
Case
Three-part, in 750/000 white gold
Dial
- Black Dial
- Solid silver, three-part, with Arabic numerals
Hands: Hand-crafted, steel, annealed to a brown-violet hue or stainless steel
Crystal/display back: Sapphire crystal, antireflective coating on one side
Strap
Hand-stitched alligator strap with butterfly clasp in 750/000 white gold
Limitation 50 watches
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Moritz Grossmann Uhren:
Moritz Grossmann, born in Dresden in 1826, was deemed a visionary among Germany’s great horologists. In 1854, his friend Ferdinand Adolph Lange persuaded the young, highly talented watchmaker to establish his own mechanical workshop in Glashütte. Apart from building a respected watchmaking business, Grossmann was committed to political and social causes. He established the German School of Watchmaking in 1878. Moritz Grossmann passed away unexpectedly in 1885, after which his manufacture was liquidated.
The spirit of Moritz Grossmann’s horological traditions sprang back to life in 2008 when trained watchmaker Christine Hutter discovered the venerable Glashütte brand and had it re-registered. She developed concepts and was inspired by the vision of reviving Grossmann’s legacy more than 120 years later with a particularly exquisite wristwatch. And she convinced private watch enthusiasts to support her in making this dream come true. On 11 November 2008, she incorporated Grossmann Uhren GmbH in Glashütte.
At Grossmann, gifted watchmakers are preserving traditions without copying historic timepieces. With innovation, superb craftsmanship, a combination of traditional and contemporary manufacturing methods as well as precious materials, they have created an “Origin of a new time” with their watches.
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PRESSE KONTAKT
Rainer Kern
Leiter Kommunikation
Telefon: +49 35
053 32 00 20
Fax: +49 35
053 32 00 99
rainer.kern@grossmann-uhren.com
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