When you think of Russia, luxury watches are not one of the first thing that spring into one’s mind. More often than not, it’s brands from outside of the worlds largest country that introduce elements of Russia into their creations and the latest brand to do this is Germany’s Grieb and Benzinger.
We have liked many of watches produced by Grieb & Benzinger, all of their creations showcase the huge amount of work and artistic design associated with the brand, more famously the showcasing of their Guilloche skills and intricate skeletonised movements. The St. George watch continues with the skeletonised theme with the main protagonist visible in the centre of the double-eagle breast plate of the national coat of arms. For those that are not familiar with what Guilloche is, it’s a decorative engraving technique in which a very precise and pattern or design is produced. The St. George contains a number of these elements mainly visible on the blue base plate and the watch bezel.
A closer look at the movement shows St. George riding high on his steed defeating the dragon with his lance, this can be seen even without a loupe. A further attractive design element of the St. George is the dial cutaway positioned at 6 o’clock. This reveals a view of the blue platinum-coated base plate, a detail that was borrowed for this special edition from the brand’s exclusive Platinum line.
The St. George special edition model is limited to only seven pieces just in time for the Sochi Winter Olympic Games. The watch is housed in 18-karat palladium white gold case with the characteristic hand-guilloché bezel on alligator strap.
Luxurious Magazine has close links to Russia as our founder Paul Godbold is married to a Russian born ‘Brit’. We must mention that Russia has it’s own rich history of watchmaking, the most famous Russian watchmaking brand is probably Poljot which is still producing watches today, however these are now manufactured by coincidence in Germany. Perhaps the most prominent of the Russian watchmakers is Moscow-based Konstantin Chaykin.
Konstantin Chaykin, much like Grieb & Benzinger manufacturer watches (and in Chaykin’s case also clocks) for the high-end market. In the horological world, St. Petersburg born Chaykin is famous for the complex movements he has developed, especially for his astronomical clock ‘Resurrection’ with Easter calendar and Lunokhod watch. He is also the only Russian watchmaker who has become a member of the Academie Horlogere Des Createurs Independants.