Benzinger Handmade Watch – From Design to Finished Piece

Jochen Benzinger is the master of hand-guilloché, hand-engraved and hand-skeletonised watches. Every one of his watches is a unique timepiece, and the customer can personalise it with initials, a coat of arms or whatever he can imagine – within limits. Production is a maximum of 50 watches a year.

This report follows the making of a personalised watch, using the piece created for the “Fondatioun Kriibskrank Kanner”, a foundation in Luxembourg that helps children with cancer.

The design

For the Fondatioun project we chose the 3/4 Skelett model. The dial side was left as the standard 3/4 Skelett; for the movement side Jochen Benzinger first made a design, with the coat of arms of the foundation and the complete skeleton shaped as the mane of a lion.

The standard 3/4 Skelett model seen from the movement side, with rose-gold bridges and a blue barrel wheel — The 3/4 Skelett model: movement side

The standard 3/4 Skelett model seen from the dial side, with rose-gold bridges and a skeletonised dial — The 3/4 Skelett model: dial side

Hand-drawn design sketch of the movement side with the foundation’s coat of arms, colour marks and handwritten notes — Jochen Benzinger’s design with the coat of arms of the foundation

Hand-guilloché

A guilloché plate held in a clamp, close view — Hand-guilloché plate

A torch flame heating a small metal support on a bench — Fixing the dial on its support

A fine metal curl being cut from a rose-coloured guilloché plate in the lathe — Hand-guilloché dial

Hand-engraving and hand-skeletonisation

A movement bridge being hand-engraved, held with a tool — Hand-engraving of the coq

A watchmaker with glasses sawing a plate on a bench, black and white — Hand-skeletonisation of the plate

A hand with a tool working on a skeletonised movement plate, black and white — Hand-engraving of the plate

The finished parts

Separate movement parts in a compartment box, numbered one to eight — The parts after hand-guilloché, hand-engraving and hand-skeletonisation

The parts, after guilloché, engraving and skeletonisation by hand:

The plate, left as the standard 3/4 Skelett design, hand-engraved and hand-skeletonised
The barrel bridge, hand-engraved, hand-skeletonised and hand-guilloché, with the personalised skeletonisation of the lion’s mane
The wheel bridge with the coat of arms of the foundation, hand-engraved and hand-skeletonised
The minute wheel, hand-guilloché
The hour wheel, hand-guilloché
The cock, hand-engraved and hand-skeletonised
The pallet bridge, hand-engraved and hand-skeletonised
The barrel, hand-guilloché, hand-skeletonised and hand-engraved

The skeletonised movement plate with rose-gold bridges, red ruby jewels and silver wheels — The skeletonised movement

The finished watch

The skeleton watch seen from the back on an orange strap, lying on the colourful drawing of the foundation — A first preview of the finished watch

The finished skeleton watch with orange strap, on the foundation’s colourful lion drawing — The finished watch for the Fondatioun Kriibskrank Kanner

The report shows how much work goes into a watch as exclusive and unique as a Benzinger. More on the maker: Benzinger. Benzinger watches can be ordered through Watch Collector – get in touch.