The PHAROS CENTURION IMPERIAL

Black has always been a fashionable color. It exudes confidence and elegance. One might say it is also the secret color of success. A platinum dress watch on a shiny black strap, a luxurious limousine, the magic black credit card…all are understated even though they remain obvious status symbols.

Photograph: Grieb&Benzinger

With GRIEB&BENZINGER's new creation, the PHAROS CENTURION IMPERIAL, one more impressive status symbol arrives on the scene: a glamorous, yet simultaneously understated luxury timepiece boasting an all-black appearance. Its cool black look is perfectly topped off by an expressive, eye-catching pavé-set bezel with 66 black Princess-cut diamonds. The totally blackened manually wound movement with its signature three-quarter-plate is decorated in typical GRIEB&BENZINGER manner, particularly exhibiting its beauty from the back: hand-guilloché, hand-skeletonization, and hand-engraving as far as the eye can see.

Like every GRIEB&BENZINGER creation, these watches are exceedingly rare; your neighbor isn’t likely to have one on his wrist.

The price tag for this black beauty, which is in the six-digit range, will ensure the natural selection of its owner – probably someone with a lot of other black in his possession already, like a certain black credit card…

PHAROS CENTURION IMPERIAL

Blackened manually wound movement, three-quarter plate fully skeletonized, guilloché and engraved by hand. Solid, completely blackened PD950 palladium case, 43 mm in diameter, black alligator-skin strap, bezel set with 66 black Princess-cut diamonds.

For more information:

Grieb & Benzinger

Grieb&Benzinger Blue Dragon Imperial

August 8th 2014 (8.8.2014) was a lucky day for a passionate Chinese watch collector who was born in the year of the dragon and therefore addicted to dragon collectables. After 8 months of waiting, a very special BLUE DRAGON IMPERIAL has been handed over to his lucky owner. A personal bespoke (time)piece of art, made with the best materials and full of personal meanings for the owner. The dragon has always been the symbol of imperial power – a symbol for happiness, peace, protection and destiny. And since 8 is the Chinese lucky number, this dragon project was blessed with triple luck.

The BLUE DRAGON IMPERIAL alludes to and combines Chinese mythology with the craftsmanship of GRIEB&BENZINGER, for which the workshop is famed. This outstanding watch impresses by its amazing skeleton dragon which is fully skeletonized out of the movement itself and majestically floats within the case. Historical handicrafts and fine skills are exhibited by GRIEB&BENZINGER within this BLUE DRAGON IMPERIAL watch: hand-skeletonization, hand-guilloché, hand-engraving and of course fine watchmaking.

The blue platinum coated movement is tribute to very rare historical Swiss watch making roots: Blue movements have mainly been built for the Chinese market in imperial China of the Qing Dynasty under Emperors Jia Qing and Dao Guang. GRIEB&BENZINGER is lucky enough to own one of these very rare original blue watch movements (made by Charles Oudin in about 1820) - the historical roots comes full circle.

As with every GRIEB&BENZINGER creation, this is an exceedingly rare timepiece. This bespoke BLUE DRAGON IMPERIAL comes in a solid 18K palladium-white gold case and a bezel set 66 finest Princess cut diamonds. The price tag hit the US $ six digit region, but this is not a big surprise realizing it’s again a bespoke handmade GRIEB&BENZINGER.

Photograph: Grieb&Benzinger

BLUE DRAGON IMPERIAL  

         

Fully hand-skeletonized manually wound movement, also guilloché and engraved by hand. Solid 18K palladium white gold case, bezel set with 66 high grade Princess cut diamonds, 43 mm in diameter, blue alligator-skin strap with solid 18K buckle.

For more information:

Grieb&Benzinger

PHAROS AL ARAB IMPERIAL

German high-end watch manufacturer GRIEB&BENZINGE´s bespoke timepieces for Middle East customers effectively spiked a tremendous demand in the Arab region. Following the BLACK TULIP SABUDHA and the GREEN INSPIRATION, the masters of GRIEB&BENZINGER have created another custom-designed timepiece for one watch connoisseur in the Emirates: the PHAROS AL ARAB IMPERIAL, inspired by the Arabian Sea.

Anyone who has ever visited the Arabian Sea has certainly fallen in love with its clear water shimmering in various hues of blue and the sparkling spots of sun beams dancing on the water’s surface. Even the iconic Burj al Arab has painted its various hotel floors in shimmering blue tones, with the tinge of turquoise reflecting the beauty of the water’s sapphire hues.

Paying tribute to this, one customer located in the Emirates wished to acquire a glamorous watch that plays with various shades of azure as well as the sparkling effect the sun provides when it touches the surface of water. And these wishes were the GRIEB&BENZINGER workshop’s command!

The amazing result: the PHAROS AL ARAB IMPERIAL comes in a solid 18K rose gold case with 66 Princess-cut diamonds set in the bezel. This is a timepiece that catches the eye alone by virtue of its amazing appearance: Arabic numerals on the regulator-style upper dial combine with a handcrafted, guilloché, blue-coated base dial that changes color as sun beams touch it. Sparkling royal Princess-cut diamonds cast their reflective beams on the bezel.

The manually wound movement features a three-quarter plate and a blue platinum coated base plate. All parts are decorated in typical GRIEB&BENZINGER manner, which also shows off its beauty from the back: hand-guilloché, hand-skeletonization, and hand-engraving as far as the eye can see.

As with every GRIEB&BENZINGER creation, this is an exceedingly rare timepiece. The price tag of this 18K rose gold watch is approximately € 82,000.

Photograph: Grieb&Benzinger

PHAROS AL ARAB IMPERIAL

Two-part dial, blue hand-guilloché base dial, manually wound movement, skeletonized, guilloché and engraved by hand. Solid 18K rose gold case, bezel set with 66 high grade Princess cut diamonds, 43 mm in diameter, blue alligator-skin strap with solid 18K rose gold buckle.

For more information:

Grieb&Benzinger

Grieb and Benzinger The Green Inspiration

The GRIEB&BENZINGER masters have been commissioned with a very special timepiece for a watch connoisseur in the Middle East as personal gift for the holy month of Ramadan: the GREEN INSPIRATION.

Since releasing the BLACK TULIP SABUDHA IMPERIAL in 2013 for Simply Abu Dhabi Magazine, the brand has caught the attention of watch connoisseurs in the Middle East, who have rightly recognized and warmly welcomed the German workshop’s concept of bespoke production for demanding customers.

This latest inquiry from a Middle Eastern connoisseur has honored the masterful German watch experts as the meaning of the gift was quite impressive. Paying tribute to this distinguished commission, the watch material and colors for this timepiece were very carefully chosen, putting distinct emphasis on the color green in the center of the design. Green is the traditional color representing Islam.

This timepiece comes in a solid platinum case with the typical GRIEB&BENZINGER hand-guilloché bezel and a black alligator strap with green stitching. The eye-catching, two-part dial is extraordinarily deep: Arabic numerals on the upper hour scale with green dots marking the hours combine with a handcrafted, guilloché, green-colored base dial whose color shifts ever so slightly as the sun’s rays touch it.

As with every GRIEB&BENZINGER creation, this is an exceedingly rare timepiece. The price tag of this 950PT platinum watch is approximately € 65,000.

Platinum watch GREEN INSPIRATION

Two-part dial, green hand-guilloché base dial, manually wound movement, fully skeletonized, guilloché and engraved by hand. Solid platinum PT950 case, 43 mm in diameter, black alligator-skin strap with solid platinum PT950 buckle.

For more information:

Grieb and Benzinger

Grieb & Benzinger Centurion and Centurion Imperial

GRIEB&BENZINGER presents two new bespoke platinum creations: the CENTURION and the CENTURION IMPERIAL.

The Centurion.

The Centurion Imperial.

As so often the case with GRIEB&BENZINGER’s masterful skeleton watches, these new creations are the result of inspiration from an ambitious watch connoisseur looking for incredible, understated skeleton watches that nonetheless proffer value and handcrafts, but in an “invisible” way. Naturally, they are imposing in a mechanical sense, but the casual observer will already be impressed with their cool looks.

The interesting collector request inspired GRIEB&BENZINGER`s CEO and creative whirlwind Georg Bartkowiak to transfer the brand’s bestseller ― the BLACK TULIP ― into a never-seen-before platinum execution. The classic BLACK TULIP already stunning as it is, has been transformed into a glamorous, yet simultaneously understated, high-end timepiece boasting an all-black appearance. The idea of the totally understated value of solid Platinum (PT950) beneath a blackened surface in combination with pure hand-skeletonization appealed to this client’s ideal of discreet taste. A lavish, almost cheeky, way of expressing understatement that is as-yet unmatched in the world of luxury timepieces.

Making it even cooler, the masters of GRIEB&BENZINGER combined this understated look with an expressive, eye-catching bezel pavé-set with 66 red diamonds in the exclusive Princess cut to create a second watch.

The CENTURION is remarkable in its understatement, though it remains highly valuable. The dramatic CENTURION IMPERIAL is perfectly topped off with a bezel set with red Princess-cut diamonds. Like every GRIEB&BENZINGER creation, these watches are exceedingly rare.

Skeleton Watch CENTURION

Blackened manually wound movement, fully skeletonized, guilloché and engraved by hand. Solid, completely blackened platinum PT950 case, 43 mm in diameter, black alligator-skin strap with solid platinum PT950 blackened buckle. 

Skeleton Watch CENTURION IMPERIAL

Bezel set with 66 red Princess-cut diamonds.

Photographs: Grieb&Benzinger