With the Tourbillon 24 Secondes Vision Enamel, Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey materialise both neoclassicism and timelessness. This timepiece asserts an absolute purity of line while at the same time revealing a mechanical world of fine precision.

The Tourbillon 24 Secondes Vision in white gold was awarded the prestigious “Aiguille d’Or” in 2015, for the best timepiece in all categories, awarded by the Jury of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève.

Greubel Forsey has taken up the challenge of reimagining the space for the inclined tourbillon cage of their third Fundamental Invention, the Tourbillon 24 Secondes, within a case of refined proportions.

The unprecedented solution lay in reconciling sophistication and simplicity with a vertical asymmetry: A dome has been incorporated into the sapphire crystal on the back of the timepiece, creating an extra volume to house the inclined tourbillon system. The shape and position of the dome has been conceived in such a way that it sits very comfortably on the wrist, completing the subtle alchemy between performance and ergonomics.

The Tourbillon 24 Secondes Vision Enamel houses Greubel Forsey’s third Fundamental Invention in a perfectly refined case. Its white Grand Feu enamel dial, infusing the timepiece with a striking luminosity, creates a poetic contrast with the fine blued steel hands and their delicately hand finished countersinks. Integrated into the case back, a sapphire dome reveals the inclined tourbillon cage whose bridges, like a semicircular Romanesque vault, represent a supreme technological and artisanal feat.

The ethereal composition of the timepiece as a whole highlights and heightens the Tourbillon 24 Secondes mechanism beating at its heart. Its fast rotation speed and inclined angle solve the problem of the critical positions of the oscillator in relation to gravity. The 25° angle and rapid revolution of the tourbillon cage significantly improve the chronometric performance, especially in stable positions of a system containing one tourbillon. In the Tourbillon 24 Secondes Vision Enamel, the intricate mechanism can be viewed thanks to a veritable stream of light, channelled into the interior of the timepiece by the sapphire crystal dome.

Among this timepiece’s most noteworthy features are its two curved tourbillon bridges, whose geometry resembles that of a Romanesque vault. The barreled polishing of the three-dimensional surfaces of the tourbillon’s arched bridges is taken to the very limit, revealing their famous black polish, a real human and technical feat requiring great talent and years of practice. In the hands of Greubel Forsey ‘s craftsmen, polishing is pursued until the perfect result of an incredibly deep jet black polish without reflection is achieved. This requires such a rare know-how that each bridge is discreetly signed by the individual movement finisher who decorated it.

With the Tourbillon 24 Secondes Enamel, Greubel Forsey presents, for the very first time, a Grand Feu enamel dial. A model of the artisan’s hand executed skillful craftsmanship, and the result of a delicate treatment that enhances its immaculate whiteness. This dial envelopes the whole timepiece in a magnificent aura of light and a noble simplicity, while the Roman hour numerals at six and twelve underline the neoclassical sophistication.

The prodigious timelessness and refinement of the aesthetics are confirmed by the delicately hand finished blued steel hands. They have been lightened to the maximum degree and their form, in the shape of a lance, leading the eye straight to the royal blue enamel indexes.

This timepiece comes in a 5N red gold case with a hand-sewn leather strap, secured by a pin buckle hand-engraved with the Greubel Forsey logo.

Technical details

Model: Greubel Forsey Tourbillon 24 Secondes Vision Enamel
Available in 5N red gold or in platinum or in steel

Movement

Mechanical hand-wound movement with patented tourbillon Tourbillon 24 Secondes • hours and minutes • small seconds • power-reserve

Movement dimensions
• Diameter: 36.40 mm
• Thickness: 7.09 mm

Number of parts
• Movement: 293 parts
• Tourbillon cage: 86 parts
• Weight of the cage: 0.38 g

Number of jewels
• 41
• Olived-domed jewels in gold chatons

Chronometric power reserve
• 72 hours

Barrels
• Two series-coupled fast rotating barrels (1 turn in 3.2 hours), one of which is equipped with a slipping spring to avoid excess tension
• Motor wheel with relief engraving, black treatment

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, frosted and spotted, with polished bevelling and countersinks, straight-grained flanks, nickel-palladium treatment

Bridges
• Nickel silver, frosted and spotted with polished bevelling and countersinks, straight-grained flanks, nickel-palladium treatment
• Engraved gold plate with individual number
• Arched and barrel-polished steel tourbillon bridges

Tourbillon
• Inclined at a 25° angle, 24-seconds rotation
• Light alloy cage pillars
• Titanium cage bridges
• Gold counterweight

Gearing
• Involute circle profile
• Tangential inclined gear on fixed wheel and profiled teeth on escape wheel pinion

Displays
Hours and minutes
Small seconds
72-hours power-reserve on a gold sector (caseback side)

Exterior

Case
In 18k 5N red gold or in platinum 950 or in steel with convex synthetic sapphire crystal
Diameter: 43.50 mm
Height: case 13.65 mm (height on synthetic sapphire dome 16.03 mm)
Transparent back with 2 convex synthetic sapphire crystals
Three-dimensional, variable geometry-shaped lugs
Raised polished engraving “Tourbillon 24″ Incliné” and “Greubel Forsey” on a hand-punched background
Gold security screws
Hand-polished bezel, caseband with hand-finished straight-graining
Hand-engraved individual number (18k 5N red gold and platinum 950 versions)
Water-resistant 3 atm – 30 m – 100 ft (standard NIHS 92-20/SN ISO 22810:2010)
Crown: In 18k 5N red gold or in platinum 950 or in steel with engraved and black lacquered GF logo

Dial
White enamel Grand Feu with numbers and indexes in navy blue enamel
GF logo in black enamel

Hands
Hours, minutes, small seconds and power-reserve in blued polished steel, hand-polished countersinks

Strap and clasp
Hand-sewn alligator
18k 5N red gold or platinum 950 or steel pin buckle, hand-engraved with the GF logo (18k 5N red gold and platinum 950 versions)