In just five short years, Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey have succeeded in making a place for their brand Greubel Forsey at the very centre of the complicated-watch landscape. It has marked out a very specific territory with its rigorous technological inventions and uncompromising design. The brand’s rise in strength has now been crowned by the inauguration of a remarkable new manufacture and its entry into the SIHH.





An approach as rigorous as it is gradual
The brand’s rise in strength happened gradually, in a very reasoned manner, exactly like the now famous innovation platform, EWT, which stands for Experimental Watch Technology. This technical ‘pipeline’ offers Greubel Forsey the necessary tools—experimentation, tests, validations and methods of fabrication—for the design, elaboration and gradual and tiered progression of their inventions.
They have taken a scientific approach in the research of the highest level of chronometry, which has already resulted in three major achievements. In order, they are the Double Tourbillon 30°, the Quadruple Tourbillon and the 24 Seconds Inclined Tourbillon. Today, two avenues of research are being conducted at the EWT, which should give birth to two more new inventions: the Binomial, a new isochronically stable material that will be used for both the balance and the spring and a spherical Equality Differential with its own energy reserve that can offer a constant force to the oscillators.
The permanent concern for technological advancement forms the basis of the watchmaking art of Greubel Forsey but it should not overshadow another enduring concern—that of its design. Not only is the design of Greubel Forsey watches in strict accordance with the technical imperatives of the movement, but its finishing is unerringly exceptional and supreme in keeping with the highest tradition of the art, carried out in the classic manner.





Upheaval of earth
Contrary to other recent brands, Greubel Forsey’s rigorous approach is based on very solid pillars and has nothing to do with certain marketing excesses that we observe elsewhere. Richemont was not wrong in acquiring 20 per cent of the company. This has allowed Greubel Forsey to enter ‘into the big league’, and participate in the SIHH. Undoubtedly, the financial support has also facilitated the construction of the new manufacture that Greubel Forsey has just inaugur-ated not far from La Chaux-de-Fonds.
Spectacularly located in an ‘upheaval of earth’ designed by architect Pierre Studer and flanked by a 17th century farm, the manufacture is a perfect reflection of the particular approach taken by Greubel Forsey, an approach based on the most ancient of traditions but one that seeks to ‘raise it up’ and project it into the future. There is no violence in this building. On the contrary, its quasi-symbolic insertion into the earth signifies that it does not wish to disrupt things but rather to deeply transform them—with respect.





A transparent and rational organization
Organized around a central courtyard, letting in a maximum amount of light, into which open the ateliers that are on either side, the new manufacture allows Greubel Forsey to group together all the workshops that earlier were dispersed throughout La Chaux-de-Fonds. Here, one can follow the steps of a watch, in all transparency, from the first cutting and tooling ateliers to milling and drilling, followed by the workshops for micro-mechanics, prototyping and profile-turning before it arrives at the upper floor where it enters the ateliers for decoration and assembly.
Quite impressive, this facility also contains a laser cutter, 3-axis CNC tools and 5-axis machining equipment, which produce from 300, at a minimum, to 531 component parts that make up Greubel Forsey movements.





500 hours of decoration per movement
Each of these components then passes individually to the decoration workshop, the largest of the facility’s departments, with 14 employees or one-quarter of the entire workforce. In these vast and well-lit ateliers—facing north for better and consistent light— extremely delicate work takes place on all the surfaces of each component part, without exception. This means that each movement involves a total of around 500 man-hours of decorative work. Some of the techniques are very rare, such as the famous gold granulation that has become emblematic of Greubel Forsey finishing. There is nothing gratuitous in this special attention to the finishing. Every detail of the decoration is designed starting with the conception of the movement and goes hand in hand with its development. We can also affirm that the decoration itself contributes directly to the good operation of the movement.
At the last step of this array of activities are the watchmakers. Twelve accredited watchmakers each assemble their timepieces from A to Z. Depending on the pieces, the first assembly takes three to six weeks, followed by a series of tests. Then the watch is taken apart, cleaned and checked again before being completely reassembled. It is not surprising then that, at this rhythm and level of quality, the production of Greubel Forsey timekeepers is somewhat restricted: 108 watches in 2008 and 110 in 2009. Excellence has a price, and now an incredible case.


Source: Europa Star December-January 2010 Magazine Issue