Ahead of the Curve: The Greubel Forsey GMT Balancier Convexe in Blue
By Nina Scally
Blue is a powerful color. It’s the electric cerulean flash of a kingfisher darting across a quiet stream, or the Tiffany-blue hue found in a robin’s egg. Beyond their striking color, these things share one thing in common: they belong to the world of flight. It’s entirely fitting, therefore, that blue is the color often celebrated in timepieces explicitly destined for the skies, like the new Greubel Forsey GMT Balancier Convexe in Blue – a complex mechanical complication engineered to conquer time zones and shrink the globe down to wrist size, and it’s done in the most striking dial shade. In fact, I know I won’t be alone in thinking that this has to be one of the most beautiful mechanical travel watches currently in existence.
Founded in 2004 by Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey (two master watchmakers who cut their teeth developing ultra-complex mechanisms at Renaud & Papi), Greubel Forsey fuses the names of these two pioneers and was built on a refusal to accept the status quo of high-end Swiss watchmaking. Elevated and authoritative (A nod to traditional horological journalism) for this manufacture, exquisite movement finishing was merely a baseline, never the final destination. The true ambition was to master the very fundamentals of chronometry. This deep-rooted horological obsession inevitably gave rise to some of the most innovative movement architecture in the industry, cementing the brand’s reputation for crafting the finest, most complex hand-finished timepieces in the world.
The GMT Balancier Convexe traces its roots to the original 2011 GMT – the watch that first put an incredible, spinning 3D globe on the dial. But this newer Convexe version takes a massive leap forward. Instead of just showing off impressive engineering, it introduces a clever, curved design that completely changes the game, making this miniature mechanical city actually comfortable to wear every day.
The Convexe case
The curved Convexe case was built from scratch to make it sit better against your skin. Instead of a standard flat block of metal, it uses a flowing, organic shape that curves both top-to-bottom and side-to-side to hug your arm. The new Blue Edition joins the series by dropping to a noticeably more compact, wearable size, yet somehow it squeezes in a new dial display without losing any of its dramatic, layered depth. The brand is only making 22 of these, so this will be a watch that’s going to prove hard to get your hands on, but the real surprise is that, despite its rarity, it feels like a high-end travel watch you could actually wear out in the real world, every day.
If you’ve handled watches before that bear the Greubel Forsey name across the dial, you’ll know that these timepieces are never shy, retiring objects meant to hide beneath a cuff unnoticed. Historically, the brand’s timepieces have required a certain amount of wrist real estate to house their sprawling mechanical cities and inclined escapements. The original GMT Balancier Convexe sat at a rather substantial 46.5mm, but with this new iteration, the case has been brilliantly reduced to 42.9mm in diameter, though the bezel stretches slightly to 44.9mm to protect a sprawling, domed crystal.
This dimensional reduction required a complete recalibration of the movement’s architecture. The result is a watch that remains visually imposing but wears with startling, low-slung comfort, which I love. Greubel Forsey crafts it entirely from lightweight titanium, so it’s certainly tough enough to survive an accidental run-in with a door frame. Worth noting is that the Convexe shape is notoriously difficult to machine and polish without distorting its lines. It curves seamlessly on multiple planes, hugging the wrist downwards at the lugs while simultaneously bowing upwards at the center to accommodate the sloping sapphire crystal. I’ve yet to see something else like this GMT watch’s architecture. It’s quite remarkable.
The titanium case finish is exactly what you’d expect from Greubel Forsey. Flawless, mixing bright, hand-polished edges with beautifully brushed sides. The sharp lugs are locked in with their signature titanium security screws, giving a slightly rugged, industrial edge to a watch that otherwise looks incredibly sleek and aerodynamic. It sits perfectly flat and comfortable on the arm, but the second it peeks out from under a sleeve, it absolutely steals the show. Even the titanium crown is cleverly designed, with blue rubber inserts that make it easy to grip while perfectly matching the deep blue dial. Plus, with 50 meters of water resistance, it’s tough enough to handle a chaotic dash through the airport or sudden downpour.
A Multi-Tiered Amphitheatre
The dial of the GMT Balancier Convexe is a multi-tiered amphitheatre that forces your eye to wander down through different levels of insane mechanical execution. Right at the heart of this watchmaking theatre sits the iconic globe, carved from titanium with beautifully engraved continents and a rich, vibrant ocean-blue finish.
This miniature Earth is meant to look pretty, of course, but it also rotates in real time, completing a full revolution every 24 hours to perfectly mimic our own planet’s spin. Encircling the globe is a beautifully engraved and lacquered day-and-night UTC indicator, giving you an instant, intuitive read on universal time at a glance. For this generation, the brand has refined and cleaned up the layout around that central sphere. The main hours and minutes are now pushed out to an elevated, sweeping ring along the edge, tracked by a pair of highly legible, red-tipped hands that are generously filled with Super-LumiNova for night-time viewing.
Over at the 10 o’clock position, the second time zone is tracked by a sharp, red triangular hand, giving you an instant look at your local time with total precision. But the biggest functional upgrade in this new layout is the inclusion of a 72-hour power reserve indicator, sitting just above it. While the previous version kept its energy levels a secret, this model displays the remaining juice on a dedicated scale, balancing out the dial’s visual weight while adding some much-needed practicality to a hand-wound watch. Ticking away underneath it all is a gold small seconds indicator, fitted with a blued steel hand and a mirror-polished head. The sheer depth of the whole display is remarkable.
496 Components of Perfection
To pull off the more compact 42.9mm case and squeeze in that new power reserve indicator, the watchmakers at Greubel Forsey had to re-engineer the hand-wound calibre from the ground up. It has actually grown even more complex, now packing a staggering 496 individual components. This is an impressive jump from the 423 parts in the older model, while also sharpening its real-world precision. At a steady 21,600 vibrations per hour, the movement draws power from two fast-rotating barrels wired in series to deliver a solid 72-hour power reserve. One of these barrels features a clever slipping spring that stops you from over-winding it (a small but telling detail that shows just how obsessed the brand is with making things last). Right alongside that spinning globe is the escapement itself. Greubel Forsey never cuts corners, and a standard, flat balance wheel was never going to be enough to satisfy the brand’s obsession with pure precision.
Suspended right on the left side of the dial is the brand’s signature 30-degree inclined balance wheel. This unique, variable-inertia balance is fitted with six gold timing screws and angled precisely to counteract the gravitational errors a watch faces as you move your arm throughout the day. A steel bridge anchors it and requires hours of handwork by a master artisan. This bridge alone has an upper surface that features flat black polishing, paired with bevels and immaculate barrel-polished edges. The movement uses 72 jewels, including beautiful olive-domed jewels set into gold chatons. Frankly, every single wheel, pinion, and titanium plate inside has been subjected to an almost absurd level of hand-finishing, from frosted surfaces and spotting to mirror-polished countersinks.
The World at a Glance
Flipping the Greubel Forsey GMT Balancier Convexe over reveals a transparent caseback with a curved, high-domed sapphire crystal that opens up a stunning view into a second universal time display. Here, an engraved sapphire disc lists 24 reference cities, letting you read the time across every global zone at once, complete with a secondary scale to track summer and winter time changes. Greubel Forsey has also crossed out Paris on the city ring and replaced it with La Chaux-de-Fonds. It’s a proud statement of where the brand comes from. By all logic, it keeps its own meridian in a brilliant detail that anchors this complex instrument firmly to its birthplace. Lastly, you set your local time via a satisfying GMT pusher built smoothly into the side of the case, letting you jump the hour hand forward with a crisp, mechanical click every time you cross a border.
A hand-stitched, textured blue rubber strap secures the watch to your wrist and fits perfectly into the Convexe case design. The strap flows naturally from the curved lugs, keeping that downward shape that makes the watch sit so comfortably on the arm. It fastens with a secure titanium folding clasp, deeply engraved with the GF logo. If you prefer the weight and unified look of full metal, the brand also offers a stunning three-row titanium bracelet with a built-in fine-adjustment system on request. That said, it’s the blue rubber strap that truly ties everything together for me. It matches the deep blue tones of the globe and the crown inserts perfectly.
The Verdict
The GMT Balancier Convexe in Blue is a testament to what happens when watchmaking is pushed beyond its normal limits. By shrinking the case to a more wearable 42.9mm, integrating the power reserve display into that amphitheatre dial, and washing the entire timepiece in a deep, resonant blue, Greubel Forsey has created something both technically profound and visually arresting. Much like the sudden flash of a kingfisher’s wing, this watch instantly commands the room. Whether you’re navigating the quiet confines of an airport lounge or gazing out of a cabin window at 30,000 feet, the blue GMT Balancier Convexe definitively belongs in the sky.
Greubel Forsey GMT Balancier Convexe in Blue – Quick Facts
– Brand: Greubel Forsey
– Model: GMT Balancier Convexe in Blue
– Reference: GF05bv
– Case Material: Titanium
– Case Diameter: 42.9 mm
– Case Thickness: 17.6 mm
– Movement: In-house, manually wound mechanical movement
– Movement Components: 496
– Jewels: 72
– Power Reserve: 72 hours
– Frequency: 21,600 vph (3 Hz)
– Balance Wheel: Signature 30° inclined Greubel Forsey balance system
– Dial: Multi-level architectural dial with striking blue accents
– Complications: GMT, second time zone, world time, day/night indicator, power reserve indicator, and small seconds
– World Time Display: Three-dimensional rotating globe displaying Earth’s rotation
– Time Zones: 24 time zones with daylight saving time indications
– Crystal: Curved sapphire crystal
– Water Resistance: 50 meters (5 ATM)
– Strap: Hand-sewn blue rubber strap; titanium bracelet option
– Limited Edition: 22 pieces
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