For your consideration: Greubel Forsey GMT Balancier Convexe

That’s right friends – time to buckle up and lock away your wallet. We’re diving into the high-end side of things, and looking at a watch that will definitely have you thinking about how to save up for it. Greubel Forsey has had some very interesting approaches to GMT complications before, and now their latest is ready to supplant them all. Meet the Greubel Forsey GMT Balancier Convexe.

The obvious eye-catcher on the Greubel Forsey GMT Balancier Convexe is the globe in the upper portion of the dial, with three layers of time-keeping around it. As the world turns, you’ve got UTC world time displayed (the inner ring) and local time (hours and minutes) in the next two rings. So, off the bat, we’ve got a world time watch. Want to track a second time zone, and not just figure out which world city is the one you want? Well, you can track that second timezone with the subdial that’s at the 9 o’clock position. If that’s not enough, you flip the watch over, and you see the world cities again, indicating the 24 time zones.

So, right off the bat, we’ve got a lot going on, both in terms of watchmaking and engineering, as well as the aesthetics of how it’s all presented. To up the ante even further, you’ve got a satellite looking like it might crash into the world. Here, it’s actually the balance wheel of the movement, kicked up at 30° for a bit more visual interest. Sure, there may be a watchmaking reason for it, but I’m all about the visual interest here.

For all of the technical expertise that goes into creating a watch like this, it still looks to be a very usable and functional watch, the sort of piece that you’d be wanting to wear regularly. And that’s great, because watches are tools that are meant to be used. Here, rather than being artistry for artistry-sake, it elevates things to make for a sublime presentation. If you want to pick up one of the 22 they’ll be making over the next three years (for a total of 66), you’ll need to bring $400,000 for the watch on a rubber strap, or $445,000 on a titanium bracelet. greubelforsey.com

Tech Specs from Greubel Forsey

Movement
- Movement dimensions
  - Overall diameter: 38.80mm
  - Thickness : 13.41mm
- Number of parts
  - Movement: 423 parts
  - Escapement platform: 59 parts
- Number of jewels
  - 42
  - Olived-domed jewels in gold chatons
- Chronometric power reserve: 72 hours
- Barrels: Two coaxial series-coupled fast-rotating barrels (1 turn in 3.2 hours), equipped with a fixed mainspring-bridle
- Balance wheel: In-house variable-inertia with 6 gold mean-time screws (12.60mm diameter)
- Frequency: 21’600 vibrations/hour
- Balance spring
  - Phillips terminal curve
  - Geneva-style stud
- Bridges and main plates
  - Titanium
  - Frosted, polished bevelling and countersinks, straight-grained flanks
- Escapement platform
  - Inclined at a 30° angle
  - Flat black polished steel, polished bevelling and countersinks, straightgrained flanks
  - Polished steel pillars
  - Flat black polished and barrel polished steel balance wheel bridge
- Gearing
  - Involute circle profile
  - Inclined gear with profiled teeth on fourth wheel
- Displays
  - Hours and minutes
  - Small seconds
  - 2nd time zone GMT
  - Rotating globe with universal time
  - Day-and-night
  - 24 time zones universal time
  - Summer time, winter time
Exterior
- Case
  - Titanium with curved sapphire crystal
  - Three-dimensional, variable geometry-shaped bezel, hand-polished with hand-finished straight graining
  - Profiled lugs, screwed fixing
  - Transparent back with curved and high domed synthetic sapphire crystal
  - Engraved GMT pusher
  - Titanium security screws
  - Raised engraving “GMT” and “Greubel Forsey”
- Case dimensions
  - Caseband diameter: 43.50mm
  - Bezel diameter: 46.50mm
  - Case height : 13.75 mm
  - Height on synthetic sapphire crystals : 17.40 mm
- Water resistance of the case: Water-resistant 10 atm – 100 m – 328 ft (standard NIHS 92-20/SN ISO 22810:2010)
- Crown: Titanium, polished, frosted and straight-grained, with GF logo
- Dial side
  - Terrestrial globe in titanium, relief-engraved continents, ocean blue treatment
  - Day-and-night UTC indicator in titanium, engraved and lacquered
  - GMT indicator in gold
  - Amphitheatre hour-ring with engraved and lacquered minute-circle
  - Small seconds indicator in gold
- Movement side
  - Synthetic sapphire disc displaying city names surrounded by 2 rings (UTC and summer time) engraved and lacquered, hand matt lapped
  - Gold “summer time” plate with limitation number, raised engraving, hand matt lapped
- Hands
  - Hours and minutes with Super-LumiNova, red triangles
  - 2nd time zone GMT indicator, blue triangle
  - Small seconds in polished blued steel, flat black polished head
- Strap and clasp
  - Non-animal material, rubber with text in relief, titanium folding clasp, engraved GF logo
  - On demand: 3-row metal bracelet in titanium, folding clasp with integrated fine adjustment, engraved GF logo