Greubel Forsey

Greubel Forsey ten years and very motivated

Watchmaking is a curious and wonderful world. You meet exceptional people and see fantastic creations. Here is a joint interview with Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey in the framework of some of the most beautiful tourbillons.

By Eric Othenin-Girard
Specialised journalist

Frenchman Robert Greubel and Briton Stephen Forsey could easily have never met. Yet, their shared passion for watchmaking, which they both chose as their profession, led them to meet whilst working for Renaud-Papi, in Le Locle (Switzerland), near the Neuchâtel mountains. They both sought independence and hence established a company together to carry out their research as they saw fit.

Established in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the brand has been operating from a new manufacture for the last four years. From there, Greubel Forsey’s some one hundred employees create superb technical pieces designed by the accomplices.

Greubel Forsey Double Tourbillon 30° Greubel Forsey Double Tourbillon 30°

After their ten years of brilliantly exploring the field of tourbillons, I made them play my Q&A game:

Is the spark in your collaboration still alive? Are you not somewhat tired of “tourbillonnen”?

Robert Greubel: Whilst we very much enjoy exploring different ways of modifying tourbillons for watch setting systems, it is not the only complication we have explored. For example, we have worked on the inclined double balance in an attempt to improve chronometry. Our aim when creating different versions of the tourbillon was always to offer added value. In other words, we have never just worked on tourbillons for the beauty of the process but we have also tried to add improvements every time. 

Greubel Forsey Quadruple Tourbillon Secret Greubel Forsey Quadruple Tourbillon Secret

We have also reinterpreted the GMT with a global vision of the world at day and night. In this reinterpretation, we used the tourbillon in the same way we would use a very reliable engine for a car. Concerning the space where the regulating organ is to be placed, we always work to improve it first and only choose the engine in the end. We are like engine manufacturers and we can produce 4, 6, or 8 cylinders.

Hence the fact that we often choose a 24-seconds tourbillon: on top of its technical qualities, it also takes up less space.

Greubel Forsey Tourbillon 24 secondes Greubel Forsey Tourbillon 24 secondes

Stephen Forsey: Before doing anything, we always discuss improvements on the basis of developing the original. We privilege function quality and we define its technical dimension, which takes precedence over everything else. We then start working around it. Designing a GMT with a globe was a brilliant idea. We first needed to take basic notions into consideration, such as the fact that the earth rotates anticlockwise compared to the watch’s hands. We also needed to place the globe somewhere where it would draw the attention to the days and nights. It was precisely the fact that we started by imagining a GMT with a globe that allowed us to simplify things.

Robert Greubel: The same thing happened with the double tourbillon. Actually, they are simply two tourbillons that rotate in the volume of a single one. Choosing to develop two tourbillons next to one another was a completely different approach. Same for the perpetual calendar. We sat around a table and brainstormed our ideas. We all agreed that it is usually difficult to see what is really going on in perpetual calendars and that it presents many difficulties regarding its setting.

Greubel Forsey GMT Greubel Forsey GMT @SIHH2012

Stephen Forsey: Therefore, we started by improving readability and modifying the date at the crown. We tried to estimate where to start as putting a tourbillon and a perpetual calendar together was no simple task. We searched through history as far as the origins of clocks, pocket watches and finally wristwatches. So, we went back to basics and the result meets the expectations, in our humble opinion. Yet, all we did was offer something as simple as reliability. And when we have to find a solution to a significant problem, such as the one the perpetual calendar posed, we establish a research and test platform.

Your watches are expensive. How do collectors react when you introduce new pieces?

Robert Greubel: As we have won chronometry competitions, we have had a 70% selling rate in our first ten years. But there are still some collectors who do not know us and only discover us at auction bids. Since we do not want to take the risk of anyone buying a defective watch, we reached an agreement with Christie’s.

Greubel Forsey Double Balancier 35° Greubel Forsey Double Balancier 35° @SIHH2013

The auction house contacts us when one of our watches is going up for auction. When the client has bought the watch, we ask them to deliver it to for servicing it and offer them a guarantee. We also issue a certificate. We thought it essential to foresee a qualitative approach to our second-hand watches.

Stephen Forsey: After ten years, only 3 of the 50 watches we sold came back for after-sales service, so we wanted to do something unique. Hence, we brought in our specialist watchmaker who is in charge of after-sales services, put him in a room with a workbench and invited collectors to come with their watches for either testing or servicing. Many collectors came and there was even one who had six of our watches.

Greubel Forsey Double Tourbillon 30° backcase Greubel Forsey Double Tourbillon 30° backcase

We think collectors are essential as they share a message. Indeed, everything started from a passion that we still want to share today. And after BaselWorld 2004, we understood that we always have to innovate in all fields. That said, ten years is a long time in one way and little time in another way, so we cannot do everything. However, we always aim to do better. We continue to explore other complications but we are going one step at a time and we want everything to be ready when we decide to introduce a new timepiece.

The tourbillon is an amazing setting instrument. Since we are quite well versed on the subject, it has become a key element in the engine of the watches we produce. Nevertheless, how we use it in our different models depends on the watch as we always start with the new complication and then work around it.

Greubel Forsey Quadruple Tourbillon à Différentiel & Tourbillon 24 secondes Greubel Forsey Quadruple Tourbillon à Différentiel & Tourbillon 24 secondes

www.greubelforsey.com

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