Greubel Forsey Balancier Contemporain – still GF, just more reasonable

More durable, less sophisticated, less ornate than Greubel Forsey’s mesmerizing decorative style. online luxury watch

Over the past few years we’ve seen two very different faces of Greubel Forsey: on the one hand, we’ve got very complicated watches with large cases and uneven shapes that look like a different watch. Boxer after a successful fight night. Its famous GMT is a typical example. On the other hand, GF also produces watches with round cases and simpler dials. Still the same maniacal obsession with the best possible finishes, but with less information and more traditional arrangements. It started with the Tourbillon 24 Secondes Vision (live picture here), which won the manufacturer the Golden Pointer, the top prize at the 2016 Geneva Grand Prix de la Horlogerie (GPHG). That same year we saw the Signature 1, which was even simpler in construction. This is the case with the new Greubel Forsey Balancier Contemporain.

For the Greubel Forsey Balancier Contemporain, the size of the case itself was a complex issue, as the original idea was to mount Greubel Forsey’s iconic balance wheel in a white gold body measuring just 39.6 mm in diameter and 12.21 mm high. in suit. – Manufacturing industry first.

In 2017, Greubel Forsey launched a completely in-house developed balance wheel with a diameter of 12.6 mm to ensure optimal timekeeping. The rim of the balance wheel is fitted with six gold simultaneous screws, which are recessed to guarantee optimum aerodynamic performance by reducing air friction. It is on the same principle that Jaeger-LeCoultre developed its own balance wheel, whose Darth Vader Tie-Fighter shape first appeared in the Extreme Lab 1 in 2007 and can now be seen in the Geophysical model. It also offers the added advantage of being easier to adjust by the watchmaker. This balance wheel was first launched in Balancier in 2017 by Greubel Forsey. But the 2017 Balancier is 43.5mm in diameter, and in watchmaking, 3.9mm is the whole world.

The mission of the Balancier Contemporain is to combine the large internal balance wheel with other elements in a harmonious way. A watch must be aesthetically pleasing and functionally effective, with visible elements and simple, instant time readings. It had to be built to GF’s standards: with the brand’s signature three-dimensional architecture for depth. Popular swiss watches

New distribution on the dial
Hours and minutes counter at 2 o’clock with blued-steel hands, hand-polished countersunk and flat-polished center, and a large aperture revealing the balance, gear train and three-dimensional tripod bridge. The power reserve indicator is located just below the 10 o’clock position, above the hand-brushed bridges.

The extremely slender blue hands and their pivots immediately remind us of the indications used in old timepieces. If we go further down, we find the small seconds register. The frosted bridge it sits on has a hole that allows the gilt barrel to show through. The balance wheel is placed above the mirror-polished bridges, and the long axis of the fixed balance wheel is black-polished and hand-chamfered. Depending on how the light hits it, polished surfaces can appear black. Pure decor madness!

Engraved case back
The hand-wound movement consists of 255 components, all crafted and decorated by hand. The balance wheel beats at a frequency of 3 Hz and achieves a power reserve of 72 hours through two fast-rotating barrels connected in series. But we can’t see it because it’s covered by another favorite design element of Greubel Forsey: the engraved text. Right in the center is a red gold plate with the GF logo and limited edition number. Around the plate and on the white gold bridge we find the Greubel Forsey creed engraved and repeated from the outer edge to the center, interrupted in the center by three cupola jewels in golden sleeves. The back of the case is secured by golden screws and is engraved with the brand and the name of the watch.

GF BALANCIER CONTEMPORAIN SERTI
The manufacturer has also launched a “Serti” version with a 41.6mm case. The larger size is due to the bezel paved with diamonds. What’s more, the stones feature a “mystery setting,” a technique patented by Van Cleef & Arpels in 1933, in which no prongs or settings are visible. In 1938, the VCA refined its technique to successfully set gemstones on curved surfaces.

It must be noted that although the case and lugs of the best Greubel Forsey Balancier Contemporain Serti are set with baguette-cut diamonds, and the hour and minute counters and small seconds are in mother-of-pearl, the skeletonized dial retains its technical Nature. The bridges above and below the balance wheel are finished with the same hand-brushed finish as the less ornate bridges, giving the watch a more even and less ornate look.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS – GREUBEL FORSEY BALANCIER CONTEMPORAIN
Case: Diameter 39.6mm x Height 12.21mm – 18k white gold, polished and brushed – sapphire crystal, front and case back – 30m water resistance
Dial: Multilayered gold, rhodium – black lacquered hour and minute circles
Minutes, small seconds and power reserve hands in polished blued steel
Movement: Manufacture hand-wound movement – 32.40 mm x 9.20 mm – 21,600 vibrations per hour – 72 hours power reserve – 33 jewels – 255 parts – hours, minutes, small seconds, power reserve indicator
Other details: Two quick-rotating barrels in series – built-in variable inertia balance with 6 gold averaging time screws
Titanium main plate, brushed and speckled
Nickel silver bridges, brushed and speckled, with polished chamfers
Black polished stainless steel balance wheel bridge
Strap: Hand-stitched alligator leather – white gold pin buckle