Baselworld/SIHH

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SIHH 2010: Greubel Forsey

Greubel Forsey presented three impressive and exotic tourbillons – though each is a variation of an existing model – at their SIHH debut (no doubt thanks to Richemont’s 20% stake in the company). When I first encountered GF when it was established some years back I thought their watches appeared rather aimless in design. Yet the company has miraculously created a house style of sorts, such that all GF tourbillons do look like GF watches.

The three new watches presented this year further continue that distinctive style of wonderfully intricate and nerdy looking timepieces that further boast an extremely fine level of decoration.

The first was the Tourbillon 24 Secondes. Though the model was introduced some years ago, this updated version features a new dial as well as a new triangular tourbillon bridge. The dial is blackened solid gold and multi-tiered with several lines of text as is Greubel Forsey tradition. However the real point of interest is the tourbillon cage which makes one rotation every 24 seconds, giving the watch a frenzied air that is somewhat lessened by the seconds hand that travels at a leisurely pace.

The second remarkable piece shown was the rose gold version of the Double Tourbillon Technique which was originally launched in white gold. Double refers to the twin axes of the tourbillon.

This watch has no dial, save for sapphire on the perimeter of the face, instead GF has thrown the dial side open and exposed the intricacies of the movement. As a consequence the watch has a remarkable sense of depth, and when viewed sideways the perception of depth is compounded by its height since it is fairly thick. I particularly like the three legged bridge that supports the hands, which has a remarkably architectural feel to it.

Lastly, the Invention Piece 3 was presented in a platinum case. This is actually a variant of the Tourbillon 24 Seconds Incline, clad in a wholly different dial and with a 24 hour time display instead of the usual 12 hour.

This watch looks like it has the entire contents of the British Library on its dial and back. The text on the rear can be specified by the owner and as such I will not publish photos of the back in the interests of privacy. Aztec or Mayan hieroglyphics come to mind when one looks at the mass of letters on the dial.

There are several things I like about GF watches. I like their quirky design; the use of high quality materials, notably on the dial; and the out of the box thinking that goes into each watch. In particular, GF also uses frosted finish on the movement to great effect.

Close-up of Double Tourbillon Technique GF02s  

Their watches are amongst the most expensive tourbillons out there, but they are so different a peer comparison is difficult. Though I doubt their tourbillons provide a significant improvement in timekeeping versus conventional tourbillons or even a plain lever escapement, but they represent a tremendous amount of creativity executed attractively.