Greubel Forsey recently announced a new version of their Tourbillon 24 Seconds Contemporain, a watch that was originally introduced in 2012. With a case size of 43.5 mm in diameter by 15.2 mm high, it is one of the most wearable timepieces in the Greubel Forsey lineup, and in our opinion, one of the best looking. They took what was already a great watch and lightened the movement by using natural titanium for the main plate and some of the bridges, much like the new Zenith El Primero which also features a titanium mainplate and bridges.
The Tourbillon 24 Seconds Contemporain comes in either a 5N red gold or white gold case. It has a multi-level dial structure with: metallic hour indexes finished in red or white gold (depending on the case), a raised chapter ring with blackened minutes track, a floating 24-second tourbillon supported by a sapphire bridge at 6 o’clock and titanium tourbillon cage, 12 o’clock Arabic numeral in red or white gold, power reserve indicator at 4 o’clock and a small seconds display at 9 o’clock.
The company press release states “The mainplate and bridges are in natural titanium and are hand-finished with straight-graining and mirror-polished bevels. Bridges in nickel silver with nickel-palladium finish are frosted and straight‐grained with hand-polished bevels. The tourbillion bridge is in transparent synthetic sapphire while the tourbillon cage is in titanium,” so not all the bridges are in titanium.
Three NAC-treated anthracite bridges visible through the sapphire case back feature mirror-polished bevels (many with internal angles), mirror-polished countersinks, straight-graining and snailed decoration on the mainspring barrel. Domed olive jewels and heat blued screws complete the haute horology movement.
In total there are 268 components, 88 for the ultra-light 0.39 gran tourbillon cage alone. Two coaxial mainspring barrels mounted in series provide a maximum power reserve of 72-hours. The movement runs at 3Hz and features a variable inertia balance with Phillips terminal curve.
The hour and minute chapter ring is in sapphire. The small seconds dial and power reserve indicator are in gold. Domed sapphire crystal on the front and a flat sapphire on the back. The black alligator strap is hand‐stitched with a 5N red gold or white gold folding clasp.
“This timepiece houses Greubel Forsey’s third fundamental invention, the Tourbillon 24 Secondes, a highly-efficient, fast‐rotating – 24‐second revolution – tourbillon cage inclined at 25°, which minimises negative effects of gravity on the oscillator, particularly in stable positions.”
