Moritz Grossmann Glashütte I/SA from 2008 to 2018. The manufacture’s first ten years justify a special edition of the BENU, the initial model of the new era. In the year 2018, its first decade, Moritz Grossmann celebrates the beauty des schönsten deutschen Handwerks. The BENU Anniversary kicks off the theme with three watches of exceptional beauty in exclusive limited editions: BENU Anniversary Lost in Space, BENU Anniversary Platinum and BENU Anniversary White Gold.
For the BENU Anniversary Lost in Space, Grossmann’s watchmakers engaged in a fascinating interplay with proportions. The extreme size difference between the diameters of the case and the movement produces a precious amount of space: creative elbow room, a filled space continuum or infinite spatial freedom. It’s your call. The BENU Anniversary Lost in Space comes in a limited edition of 26 watches, referencing 1826, Moritz Grossmann’s birth year.
The blueprint
For the BENU Anniversary Lost in Space, the manufacture is joining what are current opposites: the calibre 102.0 movement with a diameter of merely 26.0 mm and the case with a diameter of 44.5 mm. The calibre is attached to the case in a movement holder ring at the position of the winding crown and stabilised by four struts. These struts bridge the height difference between the case periphery and the movement holder ring with elegantly curved lines that resemble an architectural support structure.
The three-part dial looks like a planetary model and occupies the entire height of the case. The large dial disc with the depiction of the moon is a hand-cut relief engraving that owes its impressive plasticity to the curvature of the surface. The smaller BENU dial for the hours and minutes has a radiant white grand-feu enamel coating. At 7 o’clock, the subsidiary seconds dial takes the stage with its black enamel face. The smaller-scale hands exhibit the typical rhomboid shape. As extraordinary as the Lost in Space model may be, it is unmistakably a BENU.
Tech Specs
Movement
Manufacture calibre 102.0, manually wound, adjusted in five positions
Special features
Shock-resistant balance with inertia and poising screws / impulse pin integrated in rim / flat balance spring / balance staff with integrated safety roller / index adjuster with Grossmann micrometer screw / pillar movement with 3/5 plate / frame pillars and separately removable clutch winder / frame parts in untreated German silver / raised gold chatons with pan-head screws / remodified Glashütte stopwork with backlash / mainspring barrel with bilateral jewel bearings for optimised power management in the low-torque range / ARCAP train wheels / proprietary escapement with 18-tooth escape wheel
Functions
Hours, minutes, and subsidiary seconds
No. of parts
196
No. of jewels
26, of which 3 in screwed gold chatons
Escapement
Lever escapement
Oscillator
Shock-resistant Grossmann balance with 4 inertia and 2 poising screws, Nivarox-1 balance spring
Balance
Diameter 10.0 mm, frequency 21,600 semi-oscillations/hour
Power reserve
48 hours when fully wound
Operating elements
Crown in 750/000 rose gold for winding the watch and setting the time
Case dimensions
Diameter: 44.5 mm, height 13.8 mm
Movement dimensions
Diameter: 26.0 mm, height 3.45 mm
Case
Three-part, 750/000 rose gold
Dial
Three-part, black and white grand-feu enamel, Arabic numerals. cambered lunar disc with relief engraving
Hands
Manually crafted, hour and minute hands steel, annealed to brown-violet, small seconds hand stainless steel, polished
Crystal / display back
Sapphire crystal, antireflective coating on one side
Strap
Alligator leather with prong buckle in 750/000 rose gold