Credits: Article and images by @ Revolution Watch Magazine. See the original article here - https://revolutionwatch.com/grail-watch-9-2-moritz-grossmann-x-kari-voutilainen-benu-37-rose-gold-golden-age/
Moritz Grossmann’s two collaborations with Grail Watch, namely the Benu 37 “Silver Bullet” and the Benu 37 “German Silver,” came about during my trip to Grossmann’s manufacture in Glashütte. There, inside a wonderfully sunlit room, I noticed a few pièce unique watches made for clients featuring dials created by Kari Voutilainen and his dial factory, Comblémine.
I’ve always loved guilloché à main or, as the English call it, engine-turned dials. It is my opinion that the most ravishing in the world are made by Kari at his factory where he has one of the greatest collections of vintage rose engine machines. When asked what our next Benu 37 could look like, I proposed something that was as clean and Zen reductionist as the Grand Feu Enamel Dial watch, but using different dial materials. For the Benu 37 “Silver Bullet,” we would create a dial from a massive piece of sterling silver. But for the second watch, I proposed a very special material that transforms in color over time — German silver. The idea reminded me of a conversation I once had with Aurel Bacs from Phillips Watches, who told me, “The beauty of vintage watches is that they all started as a uniform product, but time and the beautiful effect of age results in each timepiece becoming totally unique.”
I loved the idea of time transforming what was created as part of a series into an entity that is utterly singular. But I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be even better if the customer could be the person that brings about this aging process himself or herself? It was when I was looking at some older examples of Moritz Grossmann’s watches and marveling at the gorgeous golden patina that German silver adopts with time that the moment of inspiration hit.
To me, watches are the most wonderful objects; they require no power to run and serve you flawlessly with the energy you give by winding or wearing them. Because of this unique nature, I feel that watches enter into a symbiotic and mutually beneficent relationship with their wearer that no other object is able to achieve. It is a remarkably intimate and beautiful relationship.
Then I thought, well, how great it would be if each passing moment, day, month and year transforms the watch on your wrist into one that only you will have. And so our Moritz Grossmann × Kari Voutilainen Benu 37 “German Silver” is just that — a watch that is the chronicle of your life.
Credits: Article and images by @ Revolution Watch Magazine. See the original article here - https://revolutionwatch.com/grail-watch-9-2-moritz-grossmann-x-kari-voutilainen-benu-37-rose-gold-golden-age/