DAY ONE @ SIHH 2016
Hiren Kumar Bose on the novelties launched on the maiden day of the Salon International de la Horlogerie
Though a very young brand Greubel Forsey has been surprising us with their offerings; and this year has been no different. In fact, the expectation from the brand has been too high and it hasn’t dampened it. Its Double Balancier pushes the limits of timekeeping. Two inclined balance wheels optimise performance in stable positions, while the Differentiel Spherique Constant provides more steady amplitude.
Understated and yet complex, the eye-catching wide aperture with powerful three-dimensional aspects, extensively reveals the heart of the mechanism. The viewer is taken on a tour of an architectural world built on many levels, a miniature futuristic city constructed between the balance wheels whose inclination is almost dizzying. A unique edition watch it will have 33 pieces in white gold, which will be followed by other, non-limited versions. Made of 285 parts, the watch is priced at 350,000 Swiss Francs.
It was in 1999 Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey began to research multiple regulators as part of their EWT (Experimental Watch Technology) platform. The first prototype to feature a fixed oscillator, the Double Balancier Incliné, was presented at Baselworld in 2009, as the sixth Greubel Forsey invention.
This year Van Cleef & Arpels brings together the refinement of traditional crafts and technical sophistication in the novelties it presented. I was taken in by the beauty of the numbered edition Jour Nuit Fée Ondine is a 38 mm watch which combines the technical mastery of Poetic Complications creations with an extraordinary palette of craft skills. The 24-hour movement animates an enchanting scene inspired by the High Jewellery clip Fée Ondine, created in 2005. Thanks to the dial’s rotating disc – which turns a full circle in 24 hours – the sun looks down on the scene from dawn to dusk, before dipping beneath the horizon to make way for a spellbinding full moon. To reinforce the colour effect, grains of gold are adorned with miniature painting. The sun in yellow sapphires and the diamond moon thus echo one another on either side of the horizon, within a sky of subtly painted mother-of-pearl or as a reflection in the mirrored waters.
The scene continues on the back of the watch, where an engraved design prolongs the animated tableau – including on the oscillating weight.
I take the liberty to include another watch from Van Cleef & Arpels which elicited a new kind of emotions—of surprise. The Maison has enriched its Poetic Astronomy theme with Midnight Nuit Lumineuse, a watch which is home to a movement that generates electricity. Yes, you read it right. The 42 mm watch contains a strip of ceramic which, when caused to vibrate by the movement, mechanically generates electrical energy. This is used to power six electroluminescent diodes which – on demand – back-light the six diamonds visible on the dial.
The animation creates a luminous motif for about four seconds, while the passage of time continues to be displayed on the dial. At any moment, the hour – discretely indicated by a retrograde hand in white gold – can be read from a scale graduated up to 12.
