Calculating large numbers is a pain if all you have handy is your brain and a pencil. This is why people have created systems and objects to make the process easier. The Greubel Forsey Quantième Perpétuel à Équation has a mechanical computer that calculates the dates for the perpetual calendar and equation of time. This is a complete departure from the traditional perpetual calendar mechanism.
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.
In 1985, Svend Andersen and Vincent Calabrese founded the AHCI: Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants. The aim was to help independent watchmakers survive at a time when large brands and quartz watches were dominating the horological world. In 1985 very few people even knew that there was such a thing as independent watchmaking, as advertising and exhibitions (of which there were very few) were far too expensive for them to participate in. Today, 30 years later, the AHCI boasts 35 members and four candidates. Not bad for an organization I once described as “like herding cats.”
Today’s watch components are produced with relatively high levels of finishing straight from the machine, so having company artisans, watchmakers, and technicians spend hours, days, weeks, and even months beveling and polishing might seem like a waste of time (and money).
In this video by The Watches TV, Stephen Forsey explains why superlative hand-finishing is such an important element in the timepieces of Greubel Forsey.
Following the Swatch Group’s takeover of Harry Winston, a continuation of the Opus series with an Opus 14 seemed in doubt to me, though at Baselworld 2015 Dr. Nayla Hayek, chair of the Swatch Group’s board of directors and CEO of Harry Winston, quietly let it be known that a Harry Winston Opus 14 is forthcoming. What better reason to take a look back at the history-making timepieces of the Opus series.
If you like watches at all, you have certainly seen wristshots, and perhaps you have even posted a few of your own. Like the selfie, wristshots seem to be ubiquitous these days. But where did wristshots come from, why do they exist, and what are the pitfalls to look out for?
Greubel Forsey had an impressive SIHH 2015, which included two new variations on the GMT, one all black and one with an eye-catching red gold dial in a white gold case, and the all-new Tourbillon 24 Secondes Vision.
A tourbillon is actually a type of escapement and not a real complication. Tourbillons are not only quite complicated in themselves – some more complicated than others – they come in a very wide variety of shapes, sizes and functionality. Here are five tourbillons presented at the SIHH 2015 by Cartier, Greubel Forsey, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Parmigiani, and Roger Dubuis.
Greubel Forsey has begun the new year with a bang by presenting three new models at the 2015 SIHH: GMT Black, GMT with a striking red gold dial, and the all-new, beautifully pared-down, Tourbillon 24 Secondes Vision.
You may be familiar with the old Christmas diddy “The Twelve Days Of Christmas.” Let me sing you the final verse of this song, including what my true love gave to me on the twelfth and final day, in horological terms…