.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Based in the German city of Pforzheim, Jochen Benzinger is one of the great masters in the art of guilloche and engraving. A craftsman of the highest caliber, his work using traditional, often antique hand-operated turning engines to create watch dials is legendary. Benzinger’s dials have graced important watches for Chronoswiss, Glashütte Original, Moritz Grossmann, IWC, and several other watch brands that cannot be disclosed. Jochen Benzinger is also known for the engraving and guilloche work he has created for Fabergé over the last 30 years.
Four or five years after launching his own watch brand, Benzinger realised that it would be an advantage to design and make a movement worthy of the fine craftsmanship of the dial and case. To this end, he approached Richard and Maria Habring, of Habring², Austria’s best known watchmakers, with the idea of a potential collaboration. A partnership was agreed and the ‘GAP 1’ (German-Austrian Partnership) project came into being. For the design of GAP 1, Benzinger was inspired by the aesthetic of Abraham-Louis Breguet and George Daniels. Although also designed by Benzinger, the movement was constructed by Habring². The GAP 1 received high acclaim in the watch world for its classic design and exceptional finishing.
The present timepiece is the prototype for the new version of the GAP watch – GAP 2. This new model is technically even more sophisticated than the GAP 1 which was launched in 2022 in a limited edition of 50 pieces. According to Jochen Benzinger, the biggest challenge apart from the offset hours and minutes and the small seconds on the same axis as the date display, was the additional installation of a power reserve. Habring managed to install this power reserve via differentials and various additional gear chains directly below 12 o'clock. The technical development has also continued to the back of the watch with the elaborately skeletonized movement of GAP 1 giving way to a hand-guillochéd three-quarter plate caliber that gives the GAP 2 movement a calmer, more elegant appearance.
The beautiful dial features Benzinger’s traditional white frosted guilloché pattern, with blued Breguet hands, and pink gold-plated rings for the time and date displays. Benzinger says that it takes a full day of work for him to finish a single guilloché dial and to complete the decoration of the movement takes up to 80 hours.
Four or five years after launching his own watch brand, Benzinger realised that it would be an advantage to design and make a movement worthy of the fine craftsmanship of the dial and case. To this end, he approached Richard and Maria Habring, of Habring², Austria’s best known watchmakers, with the idea of a potential collaboration. A partnership was agreed and the ‘GAP 1’ (German-Austrian Partnership) project came into being. For the design of GAP 1, Benzinger was inspired by the aesthetic of Abraham-Louis Breguet and George Daniels. Although also designed by Benzinger, the movement was constructed by Habring². The GAP 1 received high acclaim in the watch world for its classic design and exceptional finishing.
The present timepiece is the prototype for the new version of the GAP watch – GAP 2. This new model is technically even more sophisticated than the GAP 1 which was launched in 2022 in a limited edition of 50 pieces. According to Jochen Benzinger, the biggest challenge apart from the offset hours and minutes and the small seconds on the same axis as the date display, was the additional installation of a power reserve. Habring managed to install this power reserve via differentials and various additional gear chains directly below 12 o'clock. The technical development has also continued to the back of the watch with the elaborately skeletonized movement of GAP 1 giving way to a hand-guillochéd three-quarter plate caliber that gives the GAP 2 movement a calmer, more elegant appearance.
The beautiful dial features Benzinger’s traditional white frosted guilloché pattern, with blued Breguet hands, and pink gold-plated rings for the time and date displays. Benzinger says that it takes a full day of work for him to finish a single guilloché dial and to complete the decoration of the movement takes up to 80 hours.