The making of the Blue Symphony by Grieb & Benzinger

The Blue Symphony by Grieb & Benzinger is built around an original Patek Philippe minute repeater movement.

Case and dial

The case is solid platinum, 49 mm in diameter, with a platinum weight of 130 grams. It has an anti-reflective domed sapphire crystal and a flat sapphire crystal on the back, a hand-guilloché bezel and a screwed-in caseback. The crown is solid platinum inlaid with a blued steel application. The strap is navy blue alligator with a platinum buckle. The dial is hand-skeletonised sterling silver with an original Breguet frosted finish.

Close view of the guilloché bezel and the blue crown of the Blue Symphony — The hand-guilloché bezel and blue crown

Movement

The 36-jewel, manually wound movement is based on a Patek Philippe minute repeater made exclusively for Tiffany in New York around 1887. The compensation screw balance with blued Breguet hairspring beats at 18,000 semi-oscillations per hour.

In typical Grieb & Benzinger manner, the historical repeater, with its two polished steel hammers and two gongs, has been given a new life. The movement was disassembled completely, restored and modified to include a regulator indication, and the original transmission wheel was replaced by a “mystery” wheel with a specially made glass inlay. All strike train parts, levers and springs were polished and bevelled.

The base plate was first hand-skeletonised and hand-guilloché, then coated with the blue platinum developed by Grieb & Benzinger. The visible spring barrel was skeletonised by hand. Every bridge was hand-guilloché and coated with rhodium and rose gold, as were the wheels, and the heads of all steel screws were polished by hand and tempered a cornflower blue over an open flame.

Caseback of the Blue Symphony with blue and silver movement on a navy strap — The movement seen through the caseback

Close view of the engraved caseback lettering and the blue-screwed movement with a ruby — The engraved caseback and movement detail

Grieb & Benzinger watches can be ordered through Watch Collector – see Grieb & Benzinger or get in touch.