Greubel Forsey has introduced a more compact version of its GMT Balancier Convexe, presented in blue during Geneva Watch Week. The titanium case diameter falls from 43.5mm to 42.9mm, and the flared bezel narrows from 46.5mm to 44.9mm at its widest point across the case center.
The watch is limited to 22 pieces and priced at CHF 380,000. It follows a darker-toned version of the same redesigned case that the independent maker showed at Dubai Watch Week the previous year, aimed at improving ergonomics on the wrist.
Despite the smaller footprint, the case stays a substantial 15.1mm thick, or 17.6mm including its domed sapphire crystals. Greubel Forsey has offset the bulk with a curved, lugless profile, which the maker says lets the watch sit flush against the wrist rather than perch above it.
What the smaller case cost
Fitting a new power reserve indicator required 73 additional components on the dial side, so Greubel Forsey trimmed size elsewhere. It reduced the overhang of the flared bezel and pared back the internal seals, and water resistance dropped as a result to 50 meters.
That is the trade a buyer of this reference makes: a smaller case and a new function, against a shallower depth rating than the maker's other GMT models typically carry. Greubel Forsey does not frame it as a downgrade, only as a design decision tied to the new dial layout.
The power reserve hand is at 11 o'clock, in the narrow space left of the rotating globe, and points along a 72-hour scale. It is a tight fit: Greubel Forsey notes there is little room on this dial for extra functions without crowding the globe display.
How the GMT complication works
Greubel Forsey first showed its three-dimensional GMT complication in 2011, housed in an imposing case with a bulge to fit the rotating globe and a side window to watch it turn. A decade later it introduced a second GMT model in the more manageable Convexe case, dropping the tourbillon regulator for an inclined balance wheel instead.
That balance wheel is angled across the dial from 6 to 8 o'clock, inclined at 30 degrees and beating at 3Hz, appearing to hang suspended without visible support. Greubel Forsey calls the effect no less spectacular than a tourbillon. The 59-part wheel measures 12.6mm across and is secured by a mirror-polished steel bridge.
The titanium globe itself completes one rotation every 24 hours in real time, its continents relief-engraved and its oceans now finished in the same blue that spreads across the bridges, which carry a finely grained frosted texture to diffuse light. Greubel Forsey describes the deep well framing the globe as an amphitheater.
A 24-hour chapter ring around the globe gives an approximate read on time zones worldwide, including day and night, while a gold second time zone appears on a 12-hour sub-dial at 9 o'clock. The caseback is engraved with 24 reference cities on a 24-hour scale, with an inner ring for daylight saving time.
The finishing and the movement
Hour and minute hands are red, arrow-shaped and carry luminescent inserts, while the second time zone hand is a solid red arrow. Internal titanium flange walls are mirror-polished to bounce more light onto the dial.
The case surfaces mix hand-polishing with straight graining, and the curved bezel follows the convex line of the case and its sapphire crystal. The titanium crown carries blue rubber grips to match the color scheme, and a rectangular pusher on the case adjusts the GMT indicator in one-hour jumps, rotating the globe with each press.
Power comes from a manual-winding movement built from 496 parts, using two series-coupled fast-rotating barrels to deliver 72 hours of reserve across the watch's multiple functions. It is a patented Greubel Forsey construction, consistent with the independent maker's focus on mechanical solutions rather than added complications for their own sake.
The GMT Balancier Convexe ships on a blue-textured rubber strap with a titanium folding clasp, and Greubel Forsey will also supply it on a titanium bracelet to order. On a 16.5cm wrist, the maker says the curved case reads smaller than its stated dimensions suggest.
Greubel Forsey has built its reputation on inclined balance wheels and tourbillons that treat the regulating organ as a display piece rather than a hidden mechanism, a philosophy this Convexe case continues without the tourbillon. Further details and pricing are available directly through the maison.
No release date beyond its Geneva Watch Week debut has been given, and Greubel Forsey has not said how the 22 pieces will be allocated among retailers and collectors. For now, CHF 380,000 and a waiting list are the only terms attached to the blue edition.
Sources
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