Greubel Forsey GMT Quadruple Tourbillon Watch Review (2021)
The Greubel Forsey GMT Quadruple Tourbillon features a new dial design, is housed in a titanium case and encompasses contemporary blue hues. However, while this latest exemplar of Haute Horlogerie is brand new, it upholds the Maison’s reputation for exceptional finishing and traditional handcraftsmanship.
Greubel Forsey – introduction
La Chaux-de-Fonds, a city often referred to as the epicentre of Swiss watchmaking, is set within the Jura mountains at an altitude of over 1000 metres. Greubel Forsey’s Manufacture, located just outside the city, sits on an elevated pasture. Its position acts as a metaphor, reflecting its standing within the rarefied heights of Haute Horlogerie.
Greubel Forsey is the antithesis of mass production with only a limited number of watches being crafted each year, all made to the most exacting standards. At the centre of the firm’s paradigm are two dominant characteristics. Firstly, the brand crafts watch components by hand, often employing traditional, labour-intensive techniques. Secondly, there is an all-pervading thirst for innovation whenever this may confer betterment for the company’s clients.
Over the years, the eponymous duo, Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey, have invented many ingenious mechanisms. One such mechanism is the ‘Quadruple Tourbillon’ which comprises four tourbillons connected with a spherical differential, averaging the timing rate of the four tourbillon cages. The benefit of this arrangement is it augments the chronometric performance of all four regulating organs.
Greubel Forsey GMT Quadruple Tourbillon – new case
Today, the Maison has released the Greubel Forsey GMT Quadruple Tourbillon in titanium and, as its name implies, it harnesses the company’s ‘second invention’, the Quadruple Tourbillon. This is not the first time the Swiss brand has made a GMT Quadruple Tourbillon, indeed, it has made several variants in the past. However, this new model encompasses a number of differences.
The dial of this new model adopts a new layout and colourway, resulting in the watch looking fresher and more cohesive. The inventory of functions remains the same. These include hours and minutes, small seconds, 72-hours power-reserve, second time zone GMT, 24 time zones universal time, rotating titanium globe with universal time, cities observing summer time and day and night indicator.
Surprisingly, despite the Greubel Forsey GMT Quadruple Tourbillon looking neater than its forebears, the case has grown in size and now measures 46.5 mm in diameter (formerly 43.5 mm). However, while the watch has grown in size, it should prove much lighter as the case is formed of titanium.
Greubel Forsey GMT Quadruple Tourbillon – the challenge of polishing titanium
Greubel Forsey has not specified the grade of titanium used, however, based on experience, I suspect it will be Grade 5 which is widely considered the best. The problem with using titanium is that it is incredibly difficult and time-consuming to machine. The machining costs involved with a titanium case are far greater than steel or precious metals. Furthermore, to polish titanium to a gleaming, blemish-free conclusion is also incredibly challenging.
At this point, it may sound as though Greubel Forsey have simply made life more burdensome for themselves. However, when a brand overcomes such challenges, titanium delivers several useful benefits. Grade 5 titanium is light, strong, corrosion-resistant, anti-magnetic and hypoallergenic, all useful attributes in watchmaking.
Based on initial impressions, the Greubel Forsey GMT Quadruple Tourbillon looks contemporary, a tad more understated than its predecessor, yet deliciously resplendent. Oh and the finishing? Do you really need to ask?
Price: CHF 760,000 excluding taxes (RRP as of 25.2.2021)
Greubel Forsey GMT Quadruple Tourbillon – the brand’s press release (February 2021)
Titanium and blue, a new chapter for the GMT Quadruple Tourbillon
The GMT Quadruple Tourbillon had only one chapter. Today, Greubel Forsey writes the second and reveals an 11 piece edition of this groundbreaking timepiece in Titanium. With new materials, new colours and new finishes, this revolutionary and modern limited edition launches the GMT Quadruple Tourbillon towards unexplored horizons and resolutely marks the dawn of a new chapter.
A horological breakthrough
The GMT Quadruple Tourbillon is radical in all its aspects. First of all, by its construction. The Quadruple Tourbillon is Greubel Forsey’s second Fundamental Invention, The mission: to average out positional errors due to gravity in all situations, especially in stable wristwatch positions.
To achieve this, the original tourbillon has been elevated to realise its full potential: inclined at 30°, doubled and then quadrupled. The result, two synchronised Double Tourbillon 30° mechanisms, where a first cage, inclined at 30° and rotating in one minute, is nested within a second horizontal cage, completing a full rotation in four minutes. A spherical differential transmits the average timing rate of the four tourbillon cages, improving the overall chronometric performance of all the regulating organs.
A totally new experience on the wrist
The GMT Quadruple Tourbillon is radical by design. With this exclusive limited edition in titanium with striking blue accents, Greubel Forsey offers an unexpected alternative to the precious metals that High-end watchmaking traditionally favours. Titanium has numerous qualities: it is both stronger and lighter than steel, while also being extremely resistant to corrosion and magnetic fields.
With a reduction of over a third of its weight, the new titanium case offers a brand new, modern and dynamic feel on the wrist, which has inspired the choice of the new rubber strap, in order to assert this new contemporary identity.
Hand finishing par excellence
The toughness of titanium, which defines the 46.5mm case of the GMT Quadruple Tourbillon, presents a significant machining and hand finishing challenge for the components made from it, such as the GMT pusher or the folding clasp or the crown. In addition, new hand finishing details have been specially created for this timepiece. The circular-grained hour ring with polished bevels and 72-hour chronometric power reserve indication appears for the first time in a brilliant blue. The mainplate is now frosted and spotted with polished bevelling, countersinks and straight-grained flanks, executed in a grey finish.
Between earth and sea
Planet Earth, set near eight o’clock, shines in a new light with the blue livery. An original Greubel Forsey creation from ten years ago (2011), the rotating terrestrial globe allows for the simultaneous display of several different time zones: on the dial side, with a 24-hour ring around the Earth, for Day/Night indication and on the case- back side, displaying 24 major cities their respective time zones while distinguishing between those which use summer time (on a light coloured backdrop), and those which do not (on a dark backdrop).
The sapphire crystal window around the equator completes the timepiece, offering a complete view of the Earth in motion, with its continents immersed in the deep blue ocean waters, complementing the exquisite blue finish of the power reserve, hour circle and strap.