Given all the research that Greubel Forsey undertook on Observatory timing competitions from the past, in understanding the factors that were important to escapement timing adjusters, would the Double Tourbillon Technique beat all comers if it was possible to assemble all the great watches and calibres over time? It is difficult to compare timing competition tests over time, however, from the formulas that Greubel Forsey found in the archives, if the timing data is entered and a score computed, the Double Tourbillon Technique would out score all! It is only a hypothetical, as there is always a degree of uncertainty in competition, but the results are illustrative of how escapement design and time keeping have moved forward.
Technology may have caught up with the tourbillon. The need for precision in the manufactured parts, that makes the tourbillon a more precise chronometric device, has only become possible in recent years through dedicated research by a number of firms. Although in the earlier Observatory competitions, the regular balance wheel would stand the same chance as the tourbillon, recent results suggest that the tourbillon now stands as a more precise escapement. I have heard this, not just from Robert and Stephen, but other watchmakers at other firms with complex tourbillon escapement designs. Correctly adjusted, the multi-axis tourbillon is the superior escapement.
As the latest MIH Chronometry Competition rolls around again, there is still resistance from the watch industry. Where are some of the ‘big guns’ of the haute horologerie world who make claims and yet are unwilling to enter an independent competition, where all rules are known, and where all the watches are on an equal footing? For all their concentration on decoration and technique, Greubel Forsey watches are also shown, against all the other watches entered, to be the reigning champions. Past glories are just that: yesterday’s news.
The competition is being held again this year and Greubel Forsey will submit a watch. They will take their chances against the other watches that are entered. This time around, and perhaps because of “unfinished business”, Greubel Forsey will enter the Quadruple tourbillon again. Only this time, it will be in the form of the Invention Piece 2 (http://ahci.watchprosite.com/show-forumpost/fi-16/pi-4839378/ti-734788/s-0/). When I interviewed Stephen about the watch, and from the initial tests at the EWT, he wondered if (with the second double tourbillon inverted), the IP2 watch would be slightly more accurate that the original Quadruple tourbillon. I guess Robert and Stephen have decided to put this to the test!
I have to confess that I believe that this is what haute horologerie should be about. Designing, inventing, and manufacturing watches that improve chronometric performance: not just on a one-off as the Observatory competition pieces once were, but in the general production of watches that are sold to collectors. In preparing for the 2009 competition, Jaeger LeCoultre learned in testing that the balance wheel in their watches had to be altered. This alteration then became part of their regular production. There was learning that was translated into regular production watches that improve chronometric performance. Watches do not have to be dull in design, the Greubel Forsey Double Tourbillon Technique is arguably one of the most impressive watch designs of the last decade, and yet for all the innovative design, this is still a watch that tells the time accurately. There is still innovation, but there is improved time keeping. Surely this must be the best of all worlds.
Andrew H