Moritz Grossmann Benu watches

The Moritz Grossmann Benu is the Glashütte manufacture's founding collection of hand-wound watches in gold and platinum. Christine Hutter founded the brand in 2008 after acquiring the right to the name of Moritz Grossmann, one of the founding fathers of 19th-century German watchmaking, and the Benu was the first model the company presented, in September 2010. Its name comes from the Bennu, the bird of ancient Egyptian mythology, and stands for the rebirth of the Grossmann manufacture.

The first Benu ran on the manufacture calibre 100.0, wound by hand, with a separately removable clutch winding mechanism, a Grossmann micrometer screw for fine adjustment and hands made by hand. The opening edition of 100 rose-gold watches (MG-000001) sold out within six months. A white-gold edition of 50 (MG-000002) and a platinum edition of 25 (MG-000003) followed in 2012. All three use a 41 mm, 11.1 mm case with tapering lugs.

In 2013 the family grew in two directions. The Benu Power Reserve keeps the 41 mm case and runs on the hand-wound calibre 100.2, which adds a differential gear to drive a linear, two-tone power-reserve display in a trapezoid window between 12 o'clock and the centre of the dial, above a small seconds at 6 o'clock. It runs for 42 hours and beats at 18,000 vibrations per hour. Versions include rose gold with a silver dial, white gold with a silver or grey dial (one grey version with Roman numerals) and platinum with a grey dial.

The Benu Tourbillon, designed by Jens Schneider, moves up to a 44.5 mm, 13.8 mm white-gold case and the hand-wound calibre 103.0. Pulling the crown engages an elastic brush of human hair that halts the balance for precise time-setting, which made it the first watch to use a human hair as part of its movement. The silver-dialled version and the Benu Tourbillon Skylife are each limited to 50 pieces, and a black-dialled version to 10.