Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey don't call their clients collectors, they call them custodians. The pair are not troubled by external pressures or client demands. Greubel Forsey aim to preserve handcraft and finishing, improve mechanical timekeeping through audacious calibres, and evoke emotion in their watchmaking. The distinction between Greubel Forsey and many others is that Greubel Forsey deliver on these core tenets. As a side effect of pursuing that philosophy unflinchingly, Greubel Forsey's hand finishing standard is unrivaled. Where many independent watchmakers tend to focus on technical prowess or finishing, Greubel Forsey refuses to compromise on either. They take as long as they take to make perfect objects with clear purpose.
This Balancier Contemporain was the first Greubel Forsey aimed toward classic architecture with classic proportions. Where many of the brands more audacious complications exceed 45mm, the Balancier Contemporain wears like a modern FP Journe proportionally at 39.6mm at 12mm thin. However, none of the visual depth, finishing, or drama that Greubel Forsey have become known for was lost in the process. This is were the Greubel Forsey philosophy first shook hands with proportionality and wearability.
That proportional case has a subtly intricate geometry that is easily overlooked in photos. The sides are not straight, but mirrored concave lug sides contrasting a brushed convex midcase. The lug tops are slightly recessed to allow the bezel to sit slightly flatter and wider with strong lug proportion. The case is designed such that, at some angles, the balance's motion will reflect against the polished case's inner wall.
This calibre is architected around an oversized 12.6mm balance with recessed inertial screws for aerodynamics. Its balance bridge is beveled beautifully, set against a black polished white gold bridge underneath. Its main plates are titanium with hand-frosting, which is incredibly time-intensive. The main dial is set against a power reserve in the upper left, whose scale is hand engraved, lacquered, and lapped. The calibre's ultimate display of savoir-faire might be its caseback, where a gold plate is engraved in relief with minute French text describing the watchmaker's philosophies. The final calibre comprises 255 components with twin, coupled, fast-rotating gold barrels, a crown-stop balance, and 33 jewels, including olive-domed in gold chatons. Finally its steel hands are fired to a cobalt blue. The relative simplicity of its architecture only makes Greubel Forsey's refinement and handcraft more apparent.
The Balancier Contemporain is the first time Greubel Forsey's total focus on mechanical precision and handcraft has intersected with beautiful proportions, slight discretion. The restraint in complication only opens the floor for Greubel Forsey's finishing and attention to detail to impress. This is a bastion of preserving handcraft, both in forging components and obsessively finishing them; that's why there are just 69 examples of this Balancier Contemporain in the world. Not artificially limited, they simply take lifetimes to create. Greubel Forsey stand for doing things the much harder way for a perfect, not better, result.
