The Brand

Time past

As the son of Gerald Benney, the hugely influential goldsmith, Simon has been an artist all his life. Some of his most treasured memories are of pottering around his father's strange workshop, a magpie's hoard of mysterious objects and arcane implements.

In the same way as a Swiss Master Watchmaker learns his apprenticeship by forging the very tools he will later use, Simon's patient father meticulously guided his son's hand, honing the skills, and nurturing the imagination. To develop his abilities still further, Simon studied at the renowned Gemological Institute of America in Santa Monica, graduating top of his class.

Today, Simon has achieved an extraordinary three royal warrants - with a portfolio of equally regal commissions to match - and, still young enough to dream, has turned his passion, his creativity and his celebrated eye to the passing of time.

Time future

Simon is proud of being a self-made man but his greatest rewards are those of personal realisation. Unsurprisingly, he is a passionate advocate for our country's world-leading creative industry.

But for a man so profoundly rooted in the British milieu, his true motivation is for grasping every opportunity the future presents. He rather create than critique and far rather participate than spectate.

Perhaps this is why Simon has recently completed the deadly Marathon des Sables - six desert marathons in seven days - a process which demanded the blind commitment, attention to detail and, it should be said, endearing eccentricity that he brings to the creation of the watches themselves.

As ever, he is pushing traditional boundaries with the air of a modern English gentleman.