To mark a decade of the brand’s existence, Greubel Forsey has presented a Haute Jaoillerie version of its already impressive Tourbillon 24 Secondes Contemporain watch. This model boasts the brand’s third major landmark – inclined floating tourbillon with a reduced period of rotation. Moreover, the hand-wound caliber of the timepiece is with two superimposed and fast moving barrels. It secures three days of power reserve and at the same time leaves necessary space for the inclusion of a larger free sprung balance and a tourbillon carriage. The technical superiority is in this instance supplemented with multitude of precious stones that categorize the watch as a high jewelry piece. This is the first brand’s model of this kind. Greubel Forsey Diamond Set Tourbillon 24 Secondes is set in a white gold case and embellished with 272 baguette-cut diamonds of the highest quality whose overall sum measures to nearly 10 carats. This symphony of watchmaking and jewelry excellence will be sold at the price of around $830,300.
Greubel Forsey Diamond Set 24 Secondes Tourbillon Contemporain Watch Case
Unlikely Diamonds
This year, the high-end watchmaking brand that stemmed out of the joined vision of Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey marks ten years since its establishment. However, the collaboration between two watchmakers started as much as five years prior to the foundation of the brand, when they began preparations for the premier of Greubel Forsey on the watchmaking stage. The length of this period testifies about the approach that Greubel and Forsey had adopted and which includes the creation of top-notch innovative timekeepers. As a part of the commemoration of the major landmark in the brand’s history, the duo that runs the company selected to present a diamond set version of its Tourbillon 24 Secondes Contemporain, which is highly unusual for the brand that does not normally create watches with gem decorations. As a matter of fact, this is the first watch of that kind. The special version that Greubel and Forsey unveiled at the SIHH 2014 exhibition displays baguette-cut diamonds of amazing properties. These are stones that posses IF clarity and D-E color which is a quite good set of traits in the world of precious stones, since only a single per mil possesses these qualities after it is cut and polished. These sparkly decorations adorn a half of the watch’s dial which is actually the upper plate of its skeletonized movement (78 of them weighing 3.51 carats in total), its bezel (60 – 2.71 carats), lugs (80 – 2.74 carats) and buckle (54 – 0.75 carats). Once we sum all of the stones up, we reach the impressive total of 272 baguette cut diamonds whose weight measures to 9.71 carats.
Calibre GF01c with a Floating, Inclined and Accelerated Tourbillon
At least equally (if not even more) impressive as the lavish diamond decorations of the piece is the watch’s Calibre GF01c with 40 olive domed jewels placed inside gold chatons. It is a hand-wound tourbillon movement that operates at the frequency of 3 Hz and which is made with a large free-sprung balance with variable inertia and a balance spring with Phillips terminal curve and Geneva style stud. It is a complex movement of inventive design which incorporates 267 components in its construction in total, while 88 parts are used just for its main feature – a tourbillon complication. The tourbillon is inclined at the angle of 25 degrees and has a faster rate of rotation (24 seconds instead of standard 60 seconds) which are all the traits envisioned to successfully tackle the problems that usually impair the functioning of the feature. The tourbillon cage is feather light with the weight of just 0.39 grams, since it includes high-tech materials such as titanium and Avional in its construction. The tourbillon is held in place with the use of a transparent sapphire bridge which makes it look as if the carriage was floating in space.
Another important feature of the caliber is the use of two coaxial barrels placed in series which secures enough room to equip the movement with a larger and thus more reliable balance, as well as with a bigger tourbillon cage. The barrels are likewise with a shortened period of rotation (4.5 hours), while one of them is with a slipping spring, which all contributes to much better functioning. As for the power storage they supply, it measures to 72 hours.
Greubel Forsey Diamond Set 24 Secondes Tourbillon Contemporain Watch
Skeletonized Movement with a Lovely Navy Blue Coating
Caliber GF01c is skeletonized and visible from both sides. Its upper plate in white gold is completely covered with sparkly precious stones. Its lower plate, on the other hand, is made of titanium and it is frosted, spotted and with polished beveling. More importantly, it features a royal blue treatment which likewise gives the recognizable original naval blue shade to the watch’s face. This color was used when the model had its premiere, while it has been afterwards supplemented with another model with a gray-colored treatment for the movement and thus its dial. Since we touched the subject of the movement decorations, we should also say that its bridges in nickel silver are likewise spotted and frosted, as well as treated with nickel-palladium coating with polished bevels.
White Gold Housing and Moveable Lugs
The innovative movement of the gem-decorated commemorative Greubel Forsey watch is placed in a round white gold housing of medium size: its diameter is 43.5 mm, while the height is 15.2 mm. The timepiece includes a cambered sapphire crystal at the front, and another glass made of the same material on its rear end. The construction allows water resistance of 30 meters and it includes lugs with variable geometry which provide better comfort. Beneath the convex sapphire crystal, the watch has a chapter ring in the same material which includes a single Arabic numeral and hour markers. Among the indications on the dial, one can notice a 24 second display attached to the tourbillon, as well as small second and power reserve counters made of gold. The hour and minute hands are skeletonized and made of polished gold. For the strap of Gtreubel Forsey Diamond Set Tourbillon 24 Secondes Contemporain anniversary piece, the watchmaker chose a hand-sewn dark blue alligator strap that fastens with a folding clasp in white gold.
