Tag

chronometer

Browsing

Greubel Forsey is launching its Balancier Convexe S² and its Double Balancier Convexe with smaller titanium cases, with the former now 2mm smaller at 41.5mm across while latter model drops 1mm to now measure 42.5mm across.

The new sizes retain the watchmaker’s existing Balancier and Double Balancer movements and places each into a slightly slimmer Convexe titanium case.

The new Greubel Forsey Balancier Convexe S² (41.5 mm, at left) and the Double Balancier Convexe (42.5 mm).

Greubel Forsey’s Convexe collection is characterized by an undulating bezel, first presented in 2019, and a curved layout that dramatically displays the caliber’s open-worked gears, wheels and bridges.

The new Greubel Forsey Balancier Convexe S², now in a slimmer 41.5mm titanium case.

The collection is meant to be this high-end maker’s contemporary ‘daily wear’ collection. You’ll see none of the Greubel Forsey foundational phrases engraved on the dial or bezel within this collection. And, with 100 meters of water resistance and fully integrated lugs, the watches fits snugly on the wrist for wearing comfort rain or shine. 

The watchmaker says the new sizes retain the “harmony of their proportions and the architectural requirements of the movement.” Each model limited in production and only be available between 2023 and 2026.

Balancier Convexe S²

Notably, the new size of this model places the hour ring closer to the sapphire crystal while the remaining double open-worked arch bridge maintain’s the multi-dimensional architectural design of the original.

Look for the newest Balancier Convexe S² in either a grey or blue livery (two editions).

In the grey model, Greubel Forsey utilizes a wide range of finishes meant to magnify each chromatic variation. This is created using frosted plates and straight-grained and mirror-polished surfaces. Breaking the grey layout is a colorful power reserve featuring an arrow that points out the long seventy-two-hour reserve performance.

On the blue version, Greubel Forsey offers a lighter-hued mainplate, a dark blue hour-ring and raised luminescent hour-markers. These make the large balance and small seconds display at 8 o’clock stand out.

Greubel Forsey will make eighty-eight pieces of each new 41.5 mm Balancier Convexe S² in titanium.

The Greuble Forsey Double Balancier Convexe is slightly smaller in a 42.5mm titanium case.

Double Balancier Convexe

For this model, Greubel Forsey has re-configured the case as well as the movement. The new 42.5mm case now slips more easily than its larger forebear under a fitted sleeve. It also displays a more natural titanium hue with a polished bezel with satin finishes, allowing for more dramatic light reflection, depending on the viewing angle.

Flanking each corner are the watch’s namesake two balance wheels, each inclined at 30° and separated by a constant spherical differential between the 6 o’clock and 7 o’clock positions that ‘calculates’ their average timing rate. (See below for full specification details.)

Within the bezel you’ll seem elements of contrasting light and shadow. For instance, the lettering on the barrel cover blends well with the case while the bridges of each balance wheel reveal the high level of hand-applied black polishing that characterizes Greubel Forsey movements.

Greubel Forsey offers the 42.5 mm Double Balancier Convexe with a grey rubber strap or on a beautifully integrated titanium bracelet.

Prices: Double Balancier Convexe: CHF 305,000 ($345,000).

Balancier Convexe S2: CHF 212,000 ($240,000).

 

Specifications: Greubel Forsey Balancier Convexe S2

The Balancier Convexe S²


Highlights:
Hours and minutes, small seconds, power-reserve, 30° inclined Greubel Forsey balance wheel system.

Movement: Manual Wind with 72-hour power reserve, frequency of 21,600 vibrations/hour. 

Barrels: Two coaxial series-coupled fast-rotating barrels (1 turn in 3.2 hours), one of which is equipped with a slipping spring to avoid excess tension, relief-engraved text, circular-grained, black treatment. 

Bridges and main plates: Titanium, frosted, polished beveling and countersinks, anthracite or blue treatment according to the version, multi-level, open-worked suspended-arch bridge, black treatment, straight-grained and polished, polished beveling and countersinks. 

Movement side: Frosted bridges, polished edges and beveling, gold plate with engraved limitation number, circular- grained, polished beveling and countersinks, straight-grained flanks .

Escapement: Titanium inclined at a 30° angle with frosted, polished countersinks, large straight-grained inclined facet, multi-level, open-worked balance wheel bridge, straight-grained and polished, polished beveling and countersinks. 

Case: 41.5mm by 12.48mm (14.80mm with sapphire crystal) titanium with curved synthetic sapphire crystal, three-dimensional, variable geometry-shaped bezel, hand-polished with hand-finished straight graining, profiled lugs, screwed fixing, transparent back with high domed synthetic sapphire crystal, titanium security screws, raised engraving “Balancier Incliné” and “Greubel Forsey.” 

Dial: Three-dimensional, variable geometry hour-ring, polished, with engraved and lacquered minute-circle, three-dimensional, variable geometry hour indexes, polished, with Super-Luminova, power-reserve indicator, engraved and lacquered, gold small seconds dial with polished bevel.  

Strap and clasp: Non-animal material, rubber with texture in relief, titanium folding clasp, engraved GF logo. Three-row metal bracelet in titanium, folding clasp with integrated fine adjustment, engraved GF logo on demand.

Price: CHF 212,000, or about $240,000. 

 

Specifications: Greubel Forsey Double Balancier Convexe

The Double Balancier Convexe

Highlights: Double Balancier, hours and minutes, small seconds, 4-minutes spherical constant differential rotation, power-reserve display.

Movement: Hand-wound movement with 72-hour power reserve. Frequency of 21,600 vibrations/hour.

Bridges and main plates: Titanium with frosted, polished beveling and countersinks, grey treatment, multi-level, open-worked centre bridge, polished beveling and countersinks.

Movement side: Flat black polished steel differential bridge, gold plate with engraved limitation number, circular-grained, polished beveling and countersinks, straight-grained flanks.

Barrels: Two coaxial series-coupled fast-rotating barrels (1 turn in 3.2 hours), one of which is equipped with a slipping spring to avoid excess tension, relief-engraved text, circular-grained, black treatment, polished chamfer.

Escapements:  Inclined at a 30° angle, steel, straight graining, hand-polished beveling and countersinks, polished steel pillars, open-worked steel balance wheel bridges, hand-polished beveling and countersinks, flat black polished.

Case: 42.5mm by 14.35mm (with crystal) titanium with curved synthetic sapphire crystal, three-dimensional, variable geometry-shaped bezel, hand-polished with hand-finished straight graining, profiled lugs, screwed fixing, transparent back with curved synthetic sapphire crystal, titanium security screws, raised engraving “Double Balancier” and “Greubel Forsey.”

Dial: Three-dimensional, variable geometry hour-ring with engraved and lacquered minute-circle, three-dimensional, variable geometry hour indexes, polished, with Super-Luminova, power-reserve indicator, engraved and lacquered, differential rotation and small seconds indicators in gold. Power-reserve hands, 4-minutes and small seconds in polished steel, blued according to the version, flat black polished head.

Strap and clasp: Non-animal material, rubber with texture in relief, titanium folding clasp, engraved GF logo. Three-row metal bracelet in titanium, folding clasp with integrated fine adjustment, engraved GF logo on demand.

Price: CHF 305,000 ($345,000).

The new exhibit “Pocket Genius: The Watch Collection of Alex Ku at the Horological Society of New York (HSNY) headquarters in New York explores the evolution of timepieces through an extensive collection of pocket watches. 

On view from June through December 2023, the exhibit features more than fifty time-only pocket watches, inventive escapements, gem-encrusted cases and highly complicated pieces. 

The exhibit, with watches on loan from California-based watch aficionado Alex Ku, highlights timepieces dating from the 1690s to the 1990s, examining the role that watches have played in society, from their use in navigation and timekeeping to their use as status symbols and works of art.

From the exhibit, a George Graham work, London, c. 1740, No. 6091, key-wind movement with brass-wheel cylinder escapement and fusee, engraved pierced dial with rotating hour disk and single stationary hand, 45mm.

Highlights include a dumb quarter-repeating jump-hour pocket watch by Abraham-Louis Breguet, a co-axial escapement by Charles Fasoldt, complicated timepieces like Louis Chanson’s skeletonized perpetual calendar with a lunar indicator, and enameled masterpieces by Patek Philippe for Tiffany & Co.

A 55mm pocket watch made by Jean -Antoine Lepine, c. 1780, 18K gold case, quarter-dumb-repeating Lépine-caliber movement with wolf tooth wheel train and a lateral lever escapement.

The exhibit is currently on display at HSNY’s Jost Bürgi Research Library, and is divided into four sections: “Historical Watchmakers,” “Escapements,” “Complications” and “Aesthetics.” In addition, the HSNY has added a ‘bonus’ display: a George Daniels co-axial escapement model, on loan from British independent watchmaker and Daniels protegee Roger W. Smith OBE.

“To carry a pocket watch crafted by a historical master watchmaker is to feel that you hold a piece of horological history in your hand,” says Ku. “For many pieces in my collection, the mission to discover their stories really began only after acquiring them. I’m proud to share pieces from my collection for all to view and learn from, as I have. 

HSNY is offering a a fully illustrated catalog for the collection that includes macro photography by Atom Moore and Collector Notes from Ku. The catalog is available for purchase in-person and online. Proceeds from the sales go towards meeting HSNY’s mission of advancing the art and science of horology. 

Pocket Genius is open to the public Monday through Friday from 10am to 5pm. Admission is free. HSNY is located at 20 West 44th Street, Suite 501, New York, NY 10036.

Porsche Design celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Porsche 356 ‘No. 1’ roadster, the first namesake automobile made by Ferry Porsche.

The new Porsche Design Chronograph 1 – 75 Years Porsche Edition.

The celebratory model, called the Chronograph 1 – 75 Years Porsche Edition, echoes the first blackened steel Porsche Design watch from 1972 with its Porsche dashboard-inspired matte-black dial with Porsche Design logo and lettering, red seconds hand and tachymeter.

For the new model, Porsche Design updates the 40mm case, which here is glass-bead-blasted and carbide-coated black titanium. And instead of the Valjoux 7750 found in the original, Porsche Design’s own excellent COSC-certified WERK 01.140 powers the chronograph.

For this limited edition, however, Porsche Design also adds a few flourishes, starting with the caseback. This Chronograph 1 – 75 Years Porsche Edition features a winding rotor in the shape of the famed Fuchs wheel, including a Porsche crest in color, as well as the specific limited edition number.

Porsche Design has also created a new textile/leather strap with light blue stitching and a woven red stripe in the middle to mark the anniversary. The chronograph is also available with a black leather strap and matching black stitching. Both straps can be changed quickly using Porsche Design’s snappy quick-change system.

Porsche Design is offering the Chronograph 1 – 75 Years Porsche Edition as a special edition limited to 475 pieces. Price: $11,000. 

Oris celebrates its origin story with the Hölstein Edition 2023, a 250-piece limited edition watch named for the watchmaker’s hometown in the Swiss Jura mountains.

The Oris Hölstein Edition 2023.

For the first time Oris draws from its Aquis dive watch family to create its birthday watch, a series Oris began four years ago. And to celebrate its 119th birthday, the independent Swiss watchmaker offers its first purple dial and also adds some extra celebratory joy to the 41.5mm watch’s caseback.

 

There, you’ll find an engraved image of the Oris Bear diving in his scuba gear alongside the watch’s limited-edition number. As Oris explains, it decided to add the engraving simply because of the fun factor.

 

“Why? Because why not.” Oris explains. “It’s fun and it made us smile. And to be literal for a moment, because it shows this is still a diver’s watch water-resistant to 30 bar (300 meters).” 

The purple-dialed, fun-backed Aquis also celebrates Oris’s birthday with an omission: For the first time, Oris creates an Aquis with no date display.

 

Oris customers have requested the date be removed from Aquis in the past, according to the watchmaker, and those requests are answered in this Holstein Edition.

 

Inside the steel-cased watch Oris fits its much lauded Caliber 400 automatic movement with five-day power reserve, enhanced anti-magnetism, better than chronometer accuracy (-3/+5 seconds a day) and ten-year warranty. As a limited edition of 250 pieces, each watch is delivered in a wooden presentation box.

 

Oris offers the Holstein Edition 2023 exclusively on its website. Price: $4,300.  

 

Specifications: Oris Holstein Edition 2023 

(Limited edition of 250)

Case: 41.5mm multi-piece stainless steel case, uni-directional rotating bezel with grey ceramic bezel insert. Sapphire crystal, domed on both sides, anti-reflective coating inside. Caseback is stainless steel, screwed with numbered engraving, Oris Bear printed motif. Stainless steel screw-in security crown with crown protection. Water resistance to 300 meters. 

Movement: Automatic Oris Caliber 400, Accuracy of -3/+5 seconds a day (within COSC tolerances), highly anti-magnetic, 120-hour power reserve.

Dial: Purple, hands and indices filled with Super-LumiNova.

Bracelet: Multi-piece stainless steel metal bracelet, security folding clasp with clasp extension.

Price: $4,300. 

Nomos celebrates 175 Years of watchmaking in Glashütte with three classic watches in the Nomos Orion neomatik collection.

The larger (41mm) of the Orion neomatik – 175 Years Watchmaking Glashütte watches trio.

Student watchmakers historically create so-called practice watches, generally time-only or time and date models, and Nomos honors this tradition with the Orion neomatik – 175 Years Watchmaking Glashütte trio. 

The new three-hand Orion neomatik watches measure 36mm, 39mm and 41mm in diameter with the larger of the three sporting a date display. Each watch is signed, numbered and limited to 175 pieces.

All three debuts offer a three-part stainless steel case with a domed sapphire crystal and caseback. All also present the time with thin tempered blue hands above the domed, polished, galvanized and white silver-plated dial with gold embossed indexes.

Nomos does not recess the small seconds dial into the dials of these Orion neomatik – 175 Years Watchmaking Glashütte watches – a first for Nomos and a nod to the elegant nature of the trio.

Inside the time-only models Nomos fits its DUW 3001 automatic caliber (pictured above on the 39mm model). The larger date model features DUW 6101. All calibers are built with traditional Glashütte three-quarter plate, Glashütte ribbing and tempered blue screws, and each is adjusted to chronometer standards.

As noted, Nomos has signed and number each watch in the Orion neomatik – 175 Years Watchmaking Glashütte series, which is limited to 175 watches of each model.

Watches this elegant, with superb in-house calibers and the fine detailing typical at Nomos are rare at these prices, so expect these to sell quickly. 

Prices: $3,580 (36mm), $3,920 (39mm) and $4,200 (41mm with date).