Phew! With all that in mind, let’s sit back, take a deep breath and look at the Greubel Forsey Double Balancier à Différentiel Constant from a bit further away. It is here where those obsessed over legibility (and who argue that a watch is a watch, no matter the price or complexity and, as such, has to be able to efficiently tell the time) will find that Greubel Forsey broke the rule of perfect legibility. There’s no other way around it: half of the dial is missing and hence half of the day, between 4 and 10 o’clock, it will be quite challenging to tell the time at a glance. But is that really that big of a deal?
In my experience with the Greubel Forsey Double Balancier À Différentiel Constant, I am inclined (see what I did there?) to say: no. While the long and generously proportioned hour and minute hands end in large, Super-LumiNova coated tips, their polished, silver-colored middle sections will blend into the movement area, hence causing legibility issues. But – and this is a rounded, full-bodied but – after a closer look, even the most hardheaded supporter of legibility will find that the eye-candy they get in return is worth every sacrifice.
After all, beyond sheer complexity, it is the remarkable quality of finishing that leaves so few competitors for Greubel Forsey: they know what makes traditional decoration techniques great and their team of watchmakers do push those techniques to the limit. Massive black-mirror polished areas, beveled and hand-polished “anglage” edges on plates and even screw-heads, polished counter-sinks, polished and bevelled bridges to hold the balance wheels… all shine and glitter above a backdrop of hand-applied frost finishing.
Each and every component on the front and back have been truly painstakingly finished and decorated – there may be other takes on watch movement finishing, and the choice of techniques for the different surfaces may differ, but, frankly, things don’t get more refined and pleasing to the eye than they do throughout all the 285 parts of the GF04 hand-wound caliber.
An engraved deployant buckle in 18k white gold to match the metal of the 43mm-wide and 13.38mm-thick case is the cherry on top. It looks and works like an over-engineered lock on an old vault door, and does a great job at holding the substantially heavy but still very handsome-looking watch to the wrist.
Clearly, there are many more details of the Greubel Forsey Double Balancier à Différentiel Constant watch that could be scrutinized – like the grey PVD-treated main plates, the fast rotating barrels, or the neat additions like the “hand-punched” back plate of the movement or the inclined gear and profiled teeth on the fourth wheel. The list goes on, but the Greubel Forsey Double Balancier à Différentiel Constant makes its point the moment you put it on the wrist: it puts over two-hundred finely finished watch components on show bang in front of you – while the two balance wheels tick away at their own desired pace.
The cost of this journey into mechanical complexity, fine finishing, and sacrificed legibility is in line with Greubel Forsey standards, as the price for the Greubel Forsey Double Balancier à Différentiel Constant is right around $350,000. greubelforsey.com
