Foudroyante, which is French for lightning bolt), chronographs have always been very rare because in measuring fractions of a second by driving a hand that rotates every second uses a lot of energy. With the Nano Foudroyante: Greubel Forsey has solved the inherent drawbacks in foudroyante chronographs by using nanotechnology to reduce power consumption by an incredible 1,800 times!
The Greubel Forsey Hand Made 1 is a new watch built like an old watch, and that’s exactly the point. Hand Made 1 isn’t the most complicated, conspicuous, or inventive Greubel Forsey watch, but it looks backwards to point the way forward.
Seems it wasn’t that long ago (in reality, it was close to a year ago) that I wrote my first “Objects of Desire” article about the watches of Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey, finishing with: given the prices of their watches I was unlikely to be able to buy any of the ones I truly lusted after anytime soon. My observation at the time was “go big or go home.” As you will see, I’ve ended up going big and am now the proud owner of a Greubel Forsey Invention Piece 1.
Ian Skellern has been a Greubel Forsey fan boy since the brand launched back in 2004, but his appreciation for the brand’s beautifully executed complications was always purely platonic. It wasn’t just the price, their watches were too big for him. The sub-40 mm Balancier Contemporain changed that and this blue stainless steel final edition looks sensational!
In Tim Mosso’s opinion, there’s a refreshing take-it-or-leave-it vibe to the Historique. That said, many divisive elements are purposeful rather than capricious. Certainly, the case is huge, but so is the movement.
The Greubel Forsey Hand Made 2 embodies the ultimate pursuit of hand watchmaking. Every component, whether visible or hidden, is created, finished, and assembled by hand with unprecedented rigor.
A foudroyante hand is visually spectacular as it is running faster than the eye can follow – foudroyante is French for lightning fast! But the complication uses a lot of energy, or did until the Greubel Forsey Nano Foudroyante EWT.
The Greubel Forsey Cadran has a gimbal that rolls the axis of the tourbillon around, ensuring that it will nearly never be in a vertical or horizontal position relative to its axis.
For a Greubel Forsey, the Balancier 3 looks like a mid-size watch with a diameter of 41.5mm. Martin Green takes a closer look.
When Joshua Munchow first saw the Greubel Forsey Tourbillon 24 Secondes Architecture, he was surprised. But now, in the full context of everything happening with the brand, his main reaction is, “Greubel Forsey is dead, long live Greubel Forsey!”