BOUTIQUE
GREUBEL FORSEY
GMT Quadruple Tourbillon
With the new GMT Quadruple Tourbillon, Greubel
Forsey revisits its second so-called Fundamental
Invention and combines it with one of its most
visible novel inventions, a large rotating GMT globe.
The watchmaking powerhouse has essentially
placed two Double Tourbillon 30° devices into the
case, with both cages directly adjacent to the large
titanium globe.
You may recall that the Double Tourbillon 30°
features a first cage rotating in one minute and
angled at 30°, fitted inside a second upright cage
that rotates once in four minutes. Greubel Forsey
explains that the combination of the inner cage
inclination and the different rotational speeds
of the two cages cancels any timing variations.
Each pair also is built with a spherical differential
that averages the timing of the two autonomous
oscillators.
The GMT globe, first developed in 2011 and most
recently seen in the Greubel Forsey GMT Earth,
is now providing an intuitive reading of the time
around the world thanks to a globe that completes
one full rotation every 24 hours, following planet
Earth itself.
Like all Greubel Forsey watches, this new GMT
Quadruple Tourbillon is a feast for the eyes. The
multi-level three-dimensional dial offers the main
hours and minutes subdial at the highest point
(between 1 o’clock and 2 o’clock), with the coaxial
small seconds and second time zone at 4 o’clock
forming the second highest point.
Underneath the main hour/minute dial is the
72-hour chronometric power-reserve display. The
Earth rotates between 8 o’clock and 9 o’clock,
surrounded by a fixed 24 hours ring around the
Equator. This ring displays local time for all the
longitudes and takes into account the day/night
with an indicator. A peek through the side of the
case, through a sapphire window adjacent to the
globe, reveals a clear view of the Equator and the
southern hemisphere.
The back of the watch also delivers both awe
and information. Universal time can be spied, with
a fixed 24-hour scale showing day and night zones
and a disk with abbreviations of twenty-four cities.
The same disk also distinguishes between the time
zones that utilize Daylight Saving Time and those
that don’t.
The caseback also gives the observer a chance
to admire this watchmaker’s famed frosted
finishing (on the bridges), the back of the dual
double tourbillons and the jewel-set gold chatons.
This new Greubel Forsey GMT Quadruple
Tourbillon is made in a unique edition of sixty-six
pieces. Eleven white gold models will comprise
the first edition, with each watch numbered. Price:
$820,000.
IW RATING
Design: 9 (out of 10)
Multi-tier and a pleasure to observe in action.
Innovation: 9
Who else could link a rotating globe and four tourbillons?
Finissage: 9
Frosted and polished finishes par excellence.
36 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | SPRING 2019
Legibility: 8
Clear indications on a busy dial.
Rarity: 9
Only eleven white gold pieces out of sixty-six total.
Value: 8
Expensive, but rarity and excellence will hold up.
Overall iW rating: 52 (out of 60)