Greubel Forsey Invention Piece 3 Watch

Written by James Matthews

Thursday, 20th August 2009

IP3_red.gold_high-def-copy Greubel Forsey is a watchmaking company specializing in very high-end complicated timepieces. It was launched in 2004 by Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey and is based in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.

It has made itself a name as a watch manufacturer, specially thanks to its invention of watches with two and four tourbillon mechanisms in the same watch case, and the patented mechanisms that allows them to get their force from the same main spring. They have outdone themselves in this unique piece Tourbillon 24 Secondes Incliné, hours and minutes display, Seconds display and power-reserve indicator. Unique series of 33 pieces

PATENTED MOVEMENT

Movement dimensions
• Diameter : 36.40 mm
• Thickness : 11.51 mm

Number of parts
• Complete movement : 370 parts
• Tourbillon cage : 87 parts
• Weight of the cage : 0.39 g

Number of jewels
• 42
• Olive-domed jewels in gold chatons

Power reserve 72 hours

Barrels Rapid rotating twin barrels (1 turn in 3.2 hours) equipped with a slipping spring to avoid excessive tension

Balance wheel Variable-inertia with gold mean-time screws (10 mm diameter)

Frequency 21,600 vibrations/hour

Balance spring
• Phillips terminal curve
• Geneva-style stud

Main Plates Nickel silver Bridges
• Nickel silver
• “Message from the Inventor Watchmakers” relief engraved on gold plates Gearing
• Involute circle profile
• Tangential inclined gear with profiled teeth, on fixed wheel and escape wheel pinion

Tourbillon cage
• Inclined at a 25° angle, 24-second rotation
• Cage pillars in Avional
• Titanium cage bridges
• Gold counterweight

Displays
• 24 hours
• Minutes
• Small seconds
• 72-hour power reserve on a sector

EXTERIOR

Case
• In 5N red gold, white gold or platinum with asymmetrical convex sapphire crystal, 11 watches each
• Transparent back with asymmetrical convex sapphire crystal
• Lateral window with shaped sapphire crystal
• Raised polished engraving of the name of the Invention on a hand-punched background
• Gold security screws
• Polished bezel and centre band with hand-finished straight graining
• Hand-engraved individual number

Case dimensions
• Diameter : 43.50 mm
• Thickness : 16.06 mm

Water resistance of the case 3 ATM – 30 M – 100 FT

Crown Gold with engraved and black lacquered GF logo

Hands
• Hours (red triangle) and minutes (blue triangle)
• Small seconds in flame-blued polished steel
• Power reserve (red triangle)

Strap Hand-sewn black and brown alligator leather with gold folding clasp, engraved with the Greubel Forsey logo