SIHH 2014 Preview: 3 Tourbillon Watches from Vacheron Constantin, Greubel Forsey, & Ralph Lauren


Greubel Forsey’s pre-SIHH watch is also a platinum-cased version of an existing model, its innovative, ultra-complicated Greubel Forsey GMT watch. In addition to its 24-second with 25-degree inclination (tourbillons are standard in Greubel Forsey watches), the new Platinum GMT incorporates a tiny, photorealistic globe, made of titanium, which makes one counterclockwise rotation every 24 hours — mimicking the planet’s actual rotation.

Greubel Forsey describes its new Platinum GMT as “much more than a watch” and “a portable time map.” All 24 of the major global time zones can be viewed in real time from the perspective of the North Pole, the point where they converge. While the Northern Hemisphere is visible on the dial side of the watch, the Southern Hemisphere can be seen through a lateral window in the side of the case. The South Pole, the anchor point of the three-dimensional globe, isn’t visible and instead houses the “flying pivot” system on which the globe spins.

Greubel Forsey Platinum GMT - front-back

The globe protrudes from a large aperture at 8 o’clock, and the tourbillon cage is located at 5 o’clock. The main time and power-reserve indicators are arranged in a “cascading” arrangement on the upper right side of the dial. The large hours-and-minutes subdial is at 1 o’clock; overlapping it are the small seconds subdial at 2 o’clock and a semicircular power-reserve display at 3 o’clock. The subdial indicating the second time zone is at 10 o’clock. On the back of the watch, a rotating disk with the names of 24 world cities displays universal time for all 24 time zones, with the lighter-colored cartouches indicating summer or daylight savings times for the zones that use them.

The movement in the Greubel Forsey GMT is made up of 443 parts (87 parts for the tourbillon alone) and has two barrels providing a 72-hour power reserve. It features a range of hand finishes, including polishing, lapping, straight-graining and flat black polishing. The case is “medium-sized,” by Greubel Forsey standards — 43.5 mm in diameter and 16.14 mm thick — because the watchmakers were able to keep the diameter of this very complicated movement to a relatively small 36.4 mm. The watch comes on a black alligator strap with a platinum folding clasp.

Greubel Forsey Platinum GMT - front
Greubel Forsey Platinum GMT - back
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