Striking Crafts Skill

An old crafts skill in a new light: a touch of nostalgia is evident in the guilloche dials or cases, as they have been popular since the old days. Manufactured by hand, they stand for absolute exclusiveness, while modern technology still does lend assistance in their production.

Guilloche by hand is a traditional, complicated crafts skill

Expression of masterful guilloche art: "Le Reveil du Tsar" by Breguet with different patterns. The main dial with 'Clous de Paris', the hour dial with 'Satine circulaire', the minute display with 'Pique releve', the auxiliary dial at 9 o'clock with 'Vieux Panier' and 'Decor flame' and white 'Pave de Paris' at 3 o'clock, as well as 'Grain d'orge circulaire' on the small second dial at 6 o'clock

Master piece by Cartier: "Montre Rotonde de Cartier". The hour display is located on an engraved display in the lower half. Hand-wound movement

The name of this old profession speaks volumes: Guillocheur can be translated as 'line engraver', which is a short and sharp description of this craft. After all, the guillocheur originally an independent line of profession, generally requiring an apprenticeship lasting several years - decorates metal with regular, interwoven lines or lined patterns, which he cuts line for line in dense, very precise intervals using an engraver. This particularly complicated and high quality engraving technique was popular even in the old times. In the 18th century, for example, pocket watch lids with guilloche were particularly coveted. At the end of the 18th and the start of the 19th centuries, the legendary watchmaker Abraham Louis Breguet then made the guilloche dial one of his trademarks. This has remained the symbol of Breguet wristwatches until the present day. But other beautiful things also draw on guilloche techniques. For example, a metal surface with guilloche beneath translucent enamel has strong charisma - found among other things in jewelry created by Faberge or in exclusive writing implements.

An all-round perfect aesthetic look: "Prince" by Rolex with guilloche movement and dial. Yellow gold case with decorated sides. Hand-wound movement

Discerning watch making in modern design: "Assioma Multi Complication" by Bulgari with domed case made of platinum, guilloche dial, automatic movement, tourbillon, perpetual calendar, two GMT time zones and a power reserve of 64 hours

The dial of the mechanical "Agathon" by Faberge is a small masterpiece: a second, enamel-plated disc is installed in the guilloche, silver dial in order to display seconds

Precise handicrafts against …

This aesthetic look has been achieved using the same technique since the 18th century the most important resource is an engraving tool, driven by mechanical gears and controlled by hand. These 'machines' generally consist of one section to hold the work piece and a holder for an engraver made of steel, hard metal or diamond. The work piece is processed by movement against the engraver or simultaneous counter-movement of the two parts. Within this framework, the form of the pattern is defined by a plate or track-shaped template; its profiles are traced and transferred to the work piece. Although this sounds relatively uncomplicated, it requires a high degree of skill and experience on the part of the guillocheur. After all, the term 'machine' is misleading, as it is not driven by electricity, but instead by hand using a flywheel or a crank. "It is actually a tool," says Jochen Benzinger from Pforzheim, a qualified gold engraver who performs guilloche work in his Pforzheim based business according to old crafts skills "Pressure by the engraver on the work piece is also controlled by hand, whereby it is always important to find the right depth. In addition, the engraver is removed and reapplied by hand. Accordingly, the pattern rosette or cartridge are only of assistance in the creation of the shapes. However, due to the high degree of hand work, this template is no guarantee for absolute evenness," explains Benzinger. The guillocheur moves the engraver one step to each cycle in order to work forward from the outside to the inside, thread for thread - this is the name for cutting in guilloche work. In this framework, the pattern template is displaced each time by hand. This degree of manual work can lead to tiny irregularities, but this ends identity to a surface that has been subjected to laborious, manual guilloche work.

Masterpiece from the Studio of Jochen Benzinger with hand-guilloche and hand-engraved manual winding tourbillon movement and hand-guilloche dial

A machine as a tool: old rose engine guilloche machine in Jochen Benzinger's studio

A hand-driven machine helps Jochen Benzinger during guilloche. The Pforzheimer has specialized in the old craft

Jochen Benzinger uses gentle pressure with his hand to guide the engraver over the dial he wishes to guilloche

A view of the details: Jochen Benzinger applies guilloche to a dial

… Comfortable technique

Conversely, modern technology has provided significantly more comfortable means of achieving a guilloche look: dials can be stamped, pressed or rolled, or processed with decorative cutters or with diamond gloss cut. The Swiss watchmaker Paul Gerber manufactures the dials on his high quality watches internally and cuts guilloche patterns using a CNC machine. Within this framework, he finds it particularly important to achieve the typical guilloche effect: "If the dial is viewed from different angles, there is a constant array of different sparkle elements," Gerber enthuses.

Watch with three-dimensional moon by Paul Gerber. A six-millimeter, brilliant-encrusted lunar body displaying the moon phases shines over the guilloche dial

The Swiss watchmaker Paul Gerber produces his own dials. He uses a CNC machine for the guilloche work.

However, there is no match for the unprecedented beauty of dials with guilloche work by hand. Indeed, the popularity of this technique is on the rise: students at German and Swiss watch making schools are revealing growing interest in the old craft. The Convention Patronale de I'industrie horlogère suisse (CP) in La Chaux-de-Fonds has responded to this and is now offering a matching, 18 month course. Companies such as Breguet or Fabergé are particularly proud in stating that the dials on some of their models were processed by hand. However, their numbers are limited: even a skilled guillocheur could only manufacture around one dial per day, explains Jochen Benzinger. Guilloche work alone, without the preparatory and finishing work, takes five to six hours. Experts would recognize these surfaces, manufactured in loving and time-consuming work, under a magnifying glass due to the tiny shadows - the places where excessive pressure was applied to the engraver - or due to tiny mistakes in application. "That is part and parcel of the look of a dial with manual guilloche work," says Benzinger enthusiastically. Stamped dials on the other hand are identified by the hard edges on the ends and an excessive degree of perfection.

www.gerber-uhren.ch

www.jochenbenzinger.de

www.bulgari.com

www.faberge.de

www.rolex.com

www.cartier.com

www.breguet.ch