Pull the crown, press the button
By Marco Bellini, Zurich ·
Pull the crown on a Benu and the balance stops. Set the hands, let go, and the crown goes back on its own. Then press the small button beside it and the watch starts again. It's Grossmann's own hand-setting system, and it is exactly the sort of small mechanical idea I enjoy.
Christine Hutter founded the brand in Glashütte in 2008, under the name of a 19th-century Glashütte watchmaker. The caliber 100.1 is hand-wound with small seconds, built on a two-thirds plate in untreated German silver, with brown-violet screws and lots of hand finishing.
41 mm by 11.35 mm in gold. 30 m.
42 hours is the weakness. Wind it every morning, don't skip a day. And 35,000 to 38,000 USD invites the obvious comparison with a Lange Saxonia. The Benu is the more eccentric choice. I like eccentric.