Horological Meandering

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The first steps of a new brand: M. Benjamin by Benjamin Muller

It is always interesting to discover the initial steps of a new brand. We try to understand the reasons behind the project, we wish to know the strategy and above all... we are very curious to discover the first watches. Will they bring something new ? What are the influences, where do the inspiration come from ? Are they compatible with the strategy ?

These are the questions I had in my mind when I met Benjamin Muller and his sales manager, Allan Casale to discover their new brand: M. Benjamin.

Benjamin Muller was born in 1975 in Besançon (France) and quickly moved into a jewellery and watchmaking atmosphere: he is the son of Jean Muller who created a luxury brand in the 80's (Bugatti) and who worked for jewellery brands like Mauboussin.

Benjamin Muller started his carreer in 1999 after having studied in different fields: watchmaking, jewellery, design and creation. He is not a pure watchmaker but thanks to his education and his first experiences inside his family's company, Benjamin got an excellent overview of the creation process of the watch, from the design perspective to the watchmaking details. Some watchmakers can create complex and innovative movements but they lack the creativity of a designers to enhance the beauty of their work. Some designers are able to draw stunning cases, dials, hands... but the watchmaking constraints can bring them to accept some concessions to convert the sketches into real things. Benjamin Muller has the will to handle all these sides which are required to create a successfully completed object. When he designs a case, he is also able to do some 3D works on the calibers to check the overall consistency of the project.

What are the objectives with his own luxury brand?

- First one is obviously to support his own project. When you work a lot for other brands like GP, Dior, De Beers, Louis Vuitton, Guy Ellia and so on... you have the feeling that the only way to progress, to make your ideas fully alive is to fly with your own wings.
- Second one is to offer products which have to follow the basic principle of luxury: they have to combine rarity, quality and a fine design.
- Third one is to propose watches with a strong visual impact but which doesn't have to be aggressive for our eyes... or full of gimmick details
- Last one is to create a full collection with different complications and decoration styles: versions of the upcoming watches will have sapphire plates, gems setting...

The first collection from M. Benjamin is named "Spyder". The idea with this collection, currently composed by two watches, is to manage to combine a powerful design with a quite delicate movement lay-out. It is this strange mix which makes both watches attractive.

The first watch of the collection is the Titanium Manual Tourbillon.





At first glance, we recognize what is the key feature of the watch: long and sharp lugs, like spider legs which are continiously extended "on the dial". In fact, the watch doesn't have 4 lugs but two rods like a car frame. The extended parts of the lugs become the main plates of the movement, they support it like an engine on the rods. There is no real dial here: the movement is the dial.





The Tourbillon, coming from Concepto, was redesigned by Benjamin Muller and Valérien Jaquet to get an exclusive architecture: you will notice that all the parts are located between the two rods which gives a sort of vertical lay-out feeling. In fact, this movement makes me think about a broader and more sportive evolution of the Golden Bridge one. The two bridges over the Tourbillon and the barrel are opposite and identical. We almost feel the same with the barrel and the Tourbillon.

The whole movement seems to be very light thanks to the specific work done on the parts: look at the barrel of the mainspring and the similar finishings of the Tourbillon cage. The Concepto Tourbillon, in this context, appears to be very simple and very complex at the same time.





The finishings are flawless and totally coherent with the design of the watch: I like the "traits tirés" decoration on some parts and the mix between the different decoration techniques.  I have however two regrets: I would have preferred a more opened Tourbillon cage to make it even more enjoyable for our eyes. Movement side, I would have like to see the upper bridge of the movement (which looks like a tentacule) taking on the shape of the barrel: I don't like it the way it overlaps the barrel. Anyway, nothing really wrong: I'm seduced by  the technical atmosphere of this movement combined with the thick and straigth lines of the two plates.

What about readability? It is obviously one of the most difficult sides of the watch. In order to preserve the view of the movement details, the hands were hollowed out. In some light conditions, the contrast between them and the movement is a bit too low to easily read the time. A very subtle red touch on the end of both hands tries to improve this. Hopefully, the decision to fill in the hexagonal part of the hands was forgotten. It would have spoiled the refined finishings of the movement.

The case is made of titanium to make it lighter and more comfortable. One of the key goals from Benjamin was to create a light watch despite its 44mm case and a thickness of 14,6mm (with the lugs).





The movement has a 3 days power reserve and a 3hz frequency. The Tourbillon does a full revolution every minute which allows to put the second indicator on the Tourbillon cage. The main wheels are visible dial side and contribute to give the feeling of depth.





It is when we put the watch on the wrist that the watch is becoming very convincing. The main design features unveil their useful and consistent side: for example, the lugs are not just a way to give a strong character to the watch. They improve the comfort on the wrist thanks to their shapes. They seem to wrap the whole wrist... the watch is a bit like an animal on its four legs.

The strange opposition between the two thick rods and the movement which has the appearance of lace gives a lot of charm: there is, as I said before, a mix between a powerful design and some delicate details which is very enjoyable on the wrist.

The 44mm diameter of the case is perfect here. Obviously, the watch is big. But a smaller watch would have been unbalanced due to the size of the lugs. Smaller, the watch would have lost its interest. Bigger, it would have been ridiculous.





The wrist hairs are visible due to the transparency on both sides of the watch. Hopefully, they remain discrete and they don't spoil the design.

Let's talk now about a very important design component: the strap. In fact, the white strap on the pictures is far from being the final version: it will be a honeycomb pattern leather (you will see it on the pictures of the Hour Minute watch) or a rubber with a full honeycomb openwork... they will be totally coherent with the overall style of the Tourbillon watch. So, please forget the unfinished white strap on the pcitures.





I have seen for several months different ways to use the Concepto Tourbillon: this Titanium Manual Tourbillon is maybe the most accomplished one with the most ambitious design work. A great achievement from Benjamin Muller which unveils its potential when the watch is put on the wrist.

This Titanium Manual Tourbillon is not coming alone: it also has a "small brother" if I may say that. Small? Don't sure if it is the right word: the Titanium Manual Hour Minute watch uses a similar case (diameter of 44mm and a thickness of 14,6mm with the lugs). At first glance, the watch is very similar to the Tourbillon version which is a good point for it... and maybe not for the Tourbillon one.





But when we have a closer look on both, the differences appear. In a few words, we can say that the Tourbillon watch is the most faithful to the aesthetical objectives pursued by Benjamin Muller: all the components are located betwen the two rods. These links between the lugs create a sort of frontier for the movement.





It is not exactly the case for the other version. Some wheels, some parts go beyond these limits. It is the reason why the rods are not solid but hollowed out. The movement is more spread. Other difference is the visual effect brought by the balance wheel located on the first layer, dial side: this balance wheel seems to be ready to escape from the watch! It contributes a lot to the fun. Aesthetically, the watch doesn't seem to be as balanced as the Tourbillon one (there is a contrast between the barrel and the balance and the links between the lugs are not as visible), everything seems to be a bit... busier while the Tourbillon watch has a very well organized lay-out. But this small mess becomes really enjoyable for our eyes.









Frankly speaking, even if I was impressed by the perfect designer work on the Tourbillon, I find the "simple" version more fun and maybe as attractive, for different reasons, than the Tourbillon. If we forget the price issue (The Tourbillon watch is roughly 4 times more expensive than the non-tourbillon watch), the choice between them would not be so obvious...





The simple watch also uses a Concepto movement which was specifically adapted for the needs of Benjamin Muller's timepiece (like the balance wheel dial side). It has a 4hz frequency and a power reserve of 2 days. There are also some common points with the Tourbillon movement like the specific "octopus" shaped bridge on the back.









With these two watches, the story of Benjamin Muller's brand only begins. Of course, he is still in the process of finding a distribution network, of getting the final versions of this duet (the pictured watches are prototypes) and.. of  receiving the first comments from the collectors, the ADs. Benjamin Muller is very confident about the future and his wish is to quickly be able to enlarge the collection with other complications like GMT or automatic Tourbillon and with other decoration techniques.

Both watches will be produced in LE with the following figures:

- 88 Titanium Manual Hour Minute
- 88 Black Titanium Manual Hour Minute
- 12 Tourbillon
- 12 Black Tourbillon
- 1 gems set Tourbillon





I wish him the best for his brand, the most difficult period starts now... I really hope that in a few years, I will come back to read this topic to compare the position of M. Benjamin with these initial steps. The way of thinking of Benjamin Muller, his creation process, the energy he put in his project deserve a lot of respect and... a successful development of his brand.

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