Greubel Forsey, the boutique luxury replica watches brand specializing in complicated watches with multiple tourbillons, marked its 10th anniversary in 2014. Though it still produces only around 100 pieces per year, the Greubel Forsey watch brand has come a long way since its memorable debut at the 2004 Baselworld watch fair, and can look back on a decade of milestones. Here are the top 10.
2004: The Double Tourbillon 30° Marks the Foundation of the Greubel Forsey brand
Frenchman Robert Greubel and Englishman Stephen Forsey team up to astound the watch world at that year’s Baselworld watch fair with a tourbillon cheap replica watches uk of a type that no one had experienced before: it had two tourbillon cages, rotating at two speeds on two separate axes, with the inner cage set at an angle to the outer one. The groundbreaking timepiece, called the Double Tourbillon 30°, established the fledgling Greubel Forsey brand as an independent to be reckoned with.
2007: Debut of the Double Tourbillon 30° “Secret” and Tourbillon 24 Secondes
Greubel Forsey created a more subdued version of its double tourbillon watch in 2006, eschewing the openworked dial that showed off the two tourbillons in favor of hiding them behind a more traditional dial, thus keeping the groundbreaking mechanism a “secret.” The other big debut that year was the first Greubel Forsey watch with only one tourbillon, the Greubel Tourbillon 24 Secondes. But the single tourbillon cage in that Swiss replica watches uk was far from traditional: it was not only inclined as in previous Greubel Forsey tourbillons, but was also superfast, making a complete rotation every 24 seconds.
2008: Greubel-Forsey doubles down with the first Quadruple Tourbillon à Differentiel
After five years of development, and after presenting a prototype model to the watch press in 2005, Greubel Forsey unveiled its second “fundamental invention,” the Quadruple Tourbillon à Differentiel. (The Double Tourbillon was the first and the Tourbillon 24 Secondes was the third.) The new replica watches sale includes a total of four tourbillons — two double tourbillons, to be exact, with the inner two inclined as in the Double Tourbillon. Also as in the Double Tourbillon, The cages rotate once per minute (inner) and every four minutes (outer); Greubel Forsey added a differential between the two tourbillons to distribute energy between them. A “secret” version of the Quadruple Tourbillon à Differentiel would soon follow.
2009: Opening of the new ultra-modern Greubel Forsey manufacture outside La Chaux-de-Fonds
As part of its efforts to become a more streamlined manufacture, Greubel Forsey, which had been doing its manufacturing across eight workshops scattered throughout La Chaux-de-Fonds, consolidated and its operations into a new facility, consisting of an 18th-century farmhouse and a new, wedge-shaped building (below) in the Jura Mountains, made mostly of glass and equipped with eco-friendly features.
2009: Greubel Forsey joins the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH)
Greubel Forsey’s association with the Richemont luxury group — which began when Richemont acquired a 20% share of the company in 2006 — meant that it would leave behind the crowded halls of Baselworld and become one of the very select handful of watch brands that exhibit their wares at the other major Swiss fake watches for men fair, Geneva’s Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH), beginning in 2009. As many as 1,000 journalists visit Greubel Forsey’s luxurious, 240-square-meter booth each year.
2010: Greubel Forsey’s Double Tourbillon 30° Edition Historique wins the Aiguille d’Or at the Geneva Grand Prix
Greubel Forsey walked away with top honors at the annual Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève — basically, the watch world’s Oscars — when its Double Tourbillon 30° Edition Historique was awarded the prestigious “Aiguille d’Or” (“golden hand”) for best Swiss replica watches in all categories. The Greubel Forsey Double Tourbillon 30° Edition Historique, a limited edition of 11 pieces in rose gold and 11 pieces in platinum, boasts not only the inclined double tourbillon but curved plates on the dial and case sides with minuscule, intricately engraved text relating the brand’s history.
2011: Opening of the Greubel Forsey Time Art Gallery in Shanghai
When Greubel Forsey decided to open its own gallery, it did so in a way that honored its founders’ concept of watchmaking as art. The Greubel Forsey Time Art Gallery, located at 18 Bund in Shanghai, is devoted to three themes: to exhibit and showcase the special attributes of the Greubel Forsey watch collection; to unveil collaborative pieces such as the Art Piece 1 (more on which below); and to exhibit significant men’s replica watches by other independent watchmakers who share Greubel Forsey’s vision of traditional watchmaking, such as Philippe Dufour (again, more below) and Vianney Halter.
2011: The Double Tourbillon 30° Technique wins the International Chronometry Competition
Another evolution of the Greubel Forsey Double Tourbillon garnered another coveted watch-industry honor in 2011. The Greubel Forsey Double Tourbillon 30° Technique took first prize in the International Chronometry Competition, held at the Museum of Horology in Le Locle, Switzerland, which judges timepieces on their timekeeping precision. Scoring 915 points out of a possible 1,000, the Breitling replica watches sale triumphed in both the tourbillon category and the overall category, besting 17 other timepieces entered in the competition.
2012: Greubel Forsey launches the “Birth of a Watch” project with Philippe Dufour
Independent watchmaker Philippe Dufour, a name well known to watch connoisseurs, is participating in Greubel Forsey’s ambitious “Le Garde Temps, la Naissance d’une Montre,” project — a mission to preserve the knowledge and practice of traditional watchmaking practices that are in danger of being lost to industrialization. The project involves the creation of a new replica watches uk, from sketches to finished piece, using a blend of traditional and ancestral horological techniques, and recording it for posterity so the techniques may be preserved and passed on to a new generation of watchmakers. interested watch aficionados will be able to follow the creation of the watch, headed up by watchmaker Michel Boulanger, via a blog (at www.legardetemps-nm.org) with project updates and 3D films.
2013: The Greubel Forsey Art Piece 1 debuts at SIHH
To create its first “Art Piece,” Greubel Forsey secured the talents of miniaturist sculptor Willard Wigan, who in the past has created sculptural works embedded in the eye of a needle and perched on the head of a pin. For Greubel Forsey’s Art Piece 1, which is also equipped with the 30° inclined double tourbillon, Wigan crafted an incredible micro-sculpture of a ship, positioned within the 2015 cheap replica watches UK interior and visible through a magnifying-glass crown at 9 o’clock. Very few editions of the Art Piece will be made, each with its own unique micro-sculpture and, as you’d expect, priced for maximum exclusivity, at over $1 million each.
