A Closer Look at the Greubel Forsey Grande Sonnerie
While watchmaking is increasingly reliant on technology and automation, and many complications (including perpetual calendars, tourbillons and rattrapantes) have been successfully mass-produced, the creation of a Grande Sonnerie remains an ancient ritual. Like the minute repeater, the Grande Sonnerie’s unchanging complexity in construction, assembly and regulation defies any attempt at industrialization, requiring a deft hand and a keen ear. high quality watches replica
In 2017, Greubel Forsey unveiled one of its most stunning watches, the Grande Sonnerie, with its 24-second inclined tourbillon. Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey had met at Renaud & Papi (now Audemars Piguet Renaud & Papi), one of the industry’s leading minute repeater makers, and had long yearned to create a repeating watch. It took them 11 years to complete the watch, and in typical Greubel Forsey fashion, it decisively improved the complication. Combined with the brand’s dedication to finishing, the Grande Sonnerie is one of the finest watches of its kind currently in production.
A Grande Sonnerie is sometimes called a table clock because, like a mantel clock, it strikes the hours and quarters one by one, in other words, automatically without the wearer having to start it. Since it strikes the hours at a regular interval, it requires a lot of energy, so a dedicated barrel is required. The striking wheels of such watches can almost always be set to one of three modes: Grande Sonnerie; Petite Sonnerie, which only strikes the hours one by one; or Silent. high quality fake watches
In contrast, a minute repeater only strikes the hours, quarters and minutes when it is needed. As a result, the tension required to strike the gong each time is far less than in a Grande Sonnerie, so it usually requires only a small auxiliary spring that stores energy when the spring slide is pulled or a button is pressed. Once released, the energy is released to power the striking wheels. By design, Grande Sonnerie watches are often also minute repeaters, which can strike the hours on demand or in passing.
The dial of the Greubel Forsey Grande Sonnerie features a small 72-hour power reserve indicator at five o’clock for the chronograph mainspring and a dedicated 20-hour power reserve display at two o’clock for the grande sonnerie. A subdial at three o’clock indicates the sonnerie mode, which can be adjusted via the selector button at four o’clock on the case. The hammers and gongs of the striking mechanism are visible through an aperture between 10 and 11 o’clock.
In addition to its sound quality, the watch features the brand’s signature complication – a fast-rotating 25° tilted tourbillon, located between seven and eight o’clock. The basis of the tilted tourbillon in a watch is to ensure that the regulator is never in the most extreme position – completely vertical or completely horizontal, thereby avoiding gravity pulling it completely downward and thus reducing rate variations. This is further enhanced by the high-speed cage, which completes a rotation every 24 seconds instead of the standard 60 seconds. To reduce the load on the transmission gears, the cage is made of titanium.
It is worth noting that the Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Symphonia Grande Sonnerie 1860 watch launched in the same year features a simpler movement variant. As such, the two watches are similarly constructed, with components contained within three bridges, with the majority of the striking mechanism located on the back plate rather than on the dial side. Therefore, unlike most striking replica watches for sale, where only the hammers and gongs are visible on the back plate, the striking mechanism is partially visible on the back of the watch, with the barrels located on the second bridge.
All mainsprings are wound via the crown. Turning the crown clockwise winds a pair of stacked, coaxially mounted mainspring barrels for chronographing, while turning the crown counterclockwise winds the sonnerie barrels. In addition, the sonnerie watch also features an automatic winding mechanism, which is wound via a platinum oscillating weight visible on the back of the watch.
Also visible on the back are a pair of cams pivotally mounted on the movement’s central axis – a quarter snail with four steps and a minute snail with four arms, each with 15 steps – which are responsible for translating the movement of the hands into sound. As the center wheel rotates once an hour, it controls the rotation of the minute snail and the quarter snail. The quarter snail has a pin that advances the teeth of the 12-hour star wheel fixed to the hour snail. Each snail cam is sampled by a lever of complex shape, with feelers and internal and external teeth. Each lever lifts a tray that in turn activates the hammer.
However, the key innovation of Greubel Forsey is the elimination of the silent intervals that usually occur between the hour and quarter strikes, or between the hour and minute strikes (when there are no quarter strikes). Due to the position and shape of the rack, the time required for the pin of the hour rack to come into contact with the opening of the quarter rack varies.
To eliminate this dead time, the shape of the rack was modified and additional teeth were added to the inner side of the quarter rack. The hour rack and the quarter rack are now directly connected by a drive hook hinged on the hour rack, which picks up the inner teeth on the quarter rack. This makes it possible to regularize the intervals. Free shopping replica watches
The speed at which the gongs strike is controlled by a gear train driven by the self-sounding barrel. There is a flywheel governor on the gear train, which sets the rhythm of the chime by providing inertial resistance to slow down the unwinding of the mainspring. The flywheel governor is almost inaudible compared to the anchor governor, which emits a distinctive buzzing sound. A spiral spring can also be seen on the back of the watch, which is fully charged when the minute repeater mechanism is activated via the button on the crown.
The entire movement is surrounded by a pair of cathedral gongs made of hardened steel, each of which wraps almost twice around the movement, producing a richer, deeper tone and longer reverberation. One of the challenges of making cathedral gongs is to wrap them around the movement without them touching each other, the case and the movement. In this case, they also have to adapt to the complex asymmetrical shape of the case and movement.
All components are housed in a titanium inner case to amplify the volume of the chime. As a result, the case is sealed against moisture and water-resistant to a depth of 30 meters, while still producing a clear and powerful striking sound. The highly polished case is also made of titanium, which, in addition to making the large complication practical on the wrist, transmits sound very well due to its low density.
Safe and sound
Evidently, Greubel Forsey decided not only to produce a better-performing sonnerie, but also to improve its practicality. Of course, as the number of parts in a movement increases (in this case, a whopping 935), the mechanism becomes more fragile and has more points of failure. Therefore, installing safety systems to prevent costly damage is just as important as the complexity of the movement. To ensure that all the moving parts in such a complex mechanism interact perfectly and continuously, a series of elaborate safety and locking mechanisms are integrated into the movement.
Moreover, to ensure that the striking sequence is not terminated prematurely when the mainspring is exhausted, a mechanism automatically blocks the sonnerie barrel when the power reserve is too low to complete a full strike.
Indeed, these mechanisms, together with its clear dial and waterproof titanium case, make the Grande Sonnerie one of the most practical and intuitive watches on the market. While it’s by no means a small watch, its 43.5mm x 16.13mm dimensions start to make sense when you consider the massive size of the movement. Compared to other chiming watches, its thickness doesn’t seem out of place with the watch’s design. replica Breitling Endurance Pro
It almost sounds cliché now, but like all Greubel Forsey watches, the Grande Sonnerie is technically impressive and meticulously finished. All screw heads are black polished and enhanced with chamfered slots, while the gemstones are set into polished gold chatons. The two striking hammers visible on the side of the dial have a flat black polished finish, as well as hand-beveled edges and polished countersunk holes. The steel tourbillon bridge has a black polished top face with polished bevels and four inner corners. On the back, the bridge and platinum rotor are also black polished and feature the brand motto in relief. Even the bridge beneath the automatic winding rotor has a frosted finish and relief decoration.
