Haute Complication: Greubel Forsey Double Balancier

In the quest for ultimate precision, watchmakers have for centuries challenged themselves to make watches more precise. With the invention of the quartz movement, that quest has come to an end for the mechanical movement, yet not entirely. Brands like Greubel Forsey continue to develop new concepts that further refine the timekeeping capabilities of mechanical watches. They view it as perpetuating an ancient art, and a firm challenge to themselves, to overcome the difficulties of making wristwatches even more precise. They have been known to tackling these problems with innovative tourbillons, the device invented by Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1795. The Double Balancier lacks those, as it takes a different approach combining two balance wheels with a constant differential.

By Martin Green