Impressively, the cathedral chimes remained audible as Stephen Forsey closed his palm completely around the Greubel Forsey Grand Sonnerie in a (knowingly) futile attempt to silence the gongs.
But how? And what else does this exceptional timepiece, one that I might call the best in the world, hold in store?
In 2009, Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey were considering a number of options for what had become a quest to safeguard traditional watchmaking knowledge and experience. One was to help somebody working internally at Greubel Forsey to create a watch from scratch. Senior movement designer Didier Cretin was given responsibility for the project and developed the traditional Greubel Forsey timepiece that became Signature 1.
After arduous and exhausting trials of skill and wit over many years of one’s life, sometimes the best path is the one with new challenges and goals. This is especially true if you are a watchmaker tasked with learning and disseminating all of the extremely difficult skills of traditional watchmaking. This is the true story of Michel Boulanger and the conclusion of his first epic adventure and the beginning of the next one. This is the end of the story of Naissance d’une Montre, Le Garde Temps. Or is it?
Not so very long ago, the Tourbillon 24 Secondes Vision in white gold won the coveted Aiguille d’Or at the 2015 edition of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. At the 2016 edition of the SIHH, Greubel Forsey presented an absolutely luscious black-dialed red gold version of this watch, but that wasn’t all we saw here. Follow us on a photographic journey to discover the new Greubel Forsey creations from SIHH 2016.
It’s already been six consecutive years that I’ve had the delightful experience of going through SIHH week with several of my closest friends. Our closing discussions centered around four questions, which were focused more tightly on SIHH itself this year due to the inclusion of nine independent watchmakers: what watch did you think was best of show at SIHH? What was the worst watch of the show? What watch displayed at the show would you buy if money were no object? What watch did you see on display that would you buy with your own money?
The evening of Thursday, October 29, 2015 played host to the red-carpet gala evening in Geneva for the presentation of prizes in the 2015 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. We will be sharing our thoughts and insights on the winners of the big night, and why those not so lucky may have missed out. But without further ado, here are the brands and watches that went home with a well-deserved trophy.
The inaugural Dubai Watch Week (DWW) has just closed its doors. And what a week it has been: sunny days filled withintroductory watchmaking classes, informative and often entertaining discussion panels, conversations with CEOs and watchmakers, and a multitude of watch collectors and aficionados enjoying all the event had to offer. But before we take a look at what was good about DWW, let’s get the “bad” and the “ugly” out of the way first.
Quill & Pad is in Dubai for the exciting inaugural event known as Dubai Watch Week. Dubai Watch Week (DWW) targets both local and international watch collectors and aficionados with five different sections of activity. So far, these have been popular and busy. “Dubai Watch Week is a first for the Middle East and an incredible initiative by the Seddiqi Group,” said Maximilian Büsser of MB&F of the event co-organized by Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons and the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève.
Greubel Forsey’s timepieces usually have much of the movement on display on the dial side, which is all the better to appreciate the beauty of its design and sublime hand-finishing. But the 24 Secondes Vision is altogether more discreet and it does not fully reveal its magic until it is turned over. That’s where the micro-mechanical ballet beneath the transparent dome takes place.
The six pre-selected finalists in the Tourbillon category of the 2015 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève are: the Ulysse Nardin Ulysse Anchor Tourbillon, Greubel Forsey Tourbillon 24 Secondes Vision, MB&F HM6 Space Pirate, Antoine Preziuso Tourbillon of Tourbillons, and the Bovet 1822 Braveheart. Here are our picks and why.