Benu 37, 'Silver Bullet' Voutilainen Dial, White Gold

The Benu 37 ‘Silver Bullet’ is a 6-piece limited edition collaboration between Moritz Grossmann and Kari Voutilainen. Its dial is a single piece of sterling silver, stabilized to prevent oxidation and ensure a lasting bright silver tone, paired with an 18k white gold case. The ‘Silver Bullet’ combines Voutilainen’s guilloché mastery with the traditional Glashütte watchmaking Moritz Grossmann has championed. This model is a hybrid Saxon-Swiss small production experiment with perfect proportions and one of the most beautiful dials in all Moritz Grossmann. 

Moritz Grossmann, both the man and the company, have remained at the center of Glashütte watchmaking. While they produce a much smaller volume than A. Lange & Söhne (around 500 watches per year) the modern brand led by Christine Hutter has been pivotal in maintaining the German watchmaking style that its namesake helped to develop. Their focus on in-house movement manufacture, traditional manufacturing, and classic finishing techniques over mass production via outsourcing is totally uncompromising.

The ‘Silver Bullet’ was the first of a 3-release sequence of limited edition collaborations between the two manufacturers. The first of which, the 'Silver Bullet’, gets its name from the monochrome aesthetic of its sterling silver guilloché dial with white gold case. The second and third in the sequence brought an untreated German silver dial and movement to allow patina, paired with steel (20 examples) and rose gold (3 examples). 

Dials were made by Kari Voutilainen's Comblémine manufacture. Created with vintage rose machines turned by hand, each features three distinct sections of engine turning pattern. Arabic numerals are each black polished and applied, in a font which is a slightly more contemporary take on the Breguet numeral. The handset is heat-purpled, a tone more difficult to achieve than pure blue. This sterling silver dial is cased within the 37mm Benu proportion, broadly considered one of the brand's best. 

All feature Moritz Grossmann’s in-house manual calibre 102.1 with a three-fifths plate construction, polished gold chatons, purple heat treated screws, white sapphire jewels, hand engraved balance, and broad stripes. The sailing on the ratchet wheel and engravings are particularly difficult to execute. 

The collaboration was a natural pairing to start; Voutilainen and Moritz Grossmann have maintained traditional manufacturing as a pillar of their identities. Production of the ‘Silver Bullet’ was small, but not merely to create artificial scarcity. The principles of both its dial and movement construction are simply not conducive to mass production. Ms. Hutter has publicly stated her aim to create 'simple but mechanically perfect watches'. Indeed, it is so here. This Benu 37 is a masterful celebration of the handcraft that, though left behind by many modern manufacturers, remains at the core of these independent watchmakers.

This Benu 37 is in excellent condition. Even light hairline scratches are sparse and visible only in harsh light. The dial and hands are immaculate. It comes on original strap and pin buckle, with full set, running well in spec on our timing equipment.

This example is modelled on an average-sized 7-inch wrist.