The Art of Guilloché – A Day at Benzinger’s Atelier

On a Saturday – a birthday present to myself – I spent a day improving my guilloché skills at the atelier of Jochen Benzinger, one of the best-known master guillocheurs in the world. He works with rose engine and straight-line engine-turning machines that are more than a hundred years old, and has assembled a remarkable collection of them. Visiting the atelier is like walking into a museum. It is a pleasure to watch him at work, and a privilege to work on these machines myself. Jochen is generous with his time, and explains everything down to the smallest detail.

Guilloché evolved from the royal craft of ornamental turning. From the turning lathes, watch artists developed the guilloché machines with which Abraham-Louis Breguet also cut his characteristic dials. Dials guilloché by hand remain unsurpassed in their noble appearance, and this rare, historically meaningful art form can be found in all of Jochen Benzinger’s work. His dials are also finished with original Breguet frost, which other brands no longer use because the process is so time-consuming and complicated.

Hands of a guillocheur on a rose engine lathe, with a metal dial plate and shavings on the bench — A dial plate on the rose engine lathe

Here the aim was a moiré guilloché. Benzinger uses the moiré design on the dial of his “Subskription Moirée V”.

Benzinger Subskription Moirée V with a silver guilloché dial, black moiré lower half and Roman numerals on a black crocodile strap — Benzinger Subskription Moirée V, with moiré guilloché dial

A man seen through the large handwheel of an engine-turning machine in the atelier — At one of Jochen Benzinger’s rose engine turning machines

A man with glasses leaning close over an engine-turning machine — Finishing a “Strahlen-guilloché” design

A man working at an engine-turning machine among others in the atelier — At the straight-line engine turning machine

It is an honour to represent the timepieces of Benzinger, and to know this master guillocheur as a person. More on the maker: Benzinger.

The art of guilloché – a day at Jochen Benzinger’s atelier