In the automobile industry, they are called “concept cars”; in aviation they are prototypes (with an X or a Y as a prefix to their name). Serving as far more than functional full-scale models, manufacturers use them as technological platforms to devise new technologies and advance their knowledge.
With EWT® (eXperimental Watch Technology®), Greubel Forsey has at its disposal a fundamental research and development tool that is absolutely unique in the field of Haute Horlogerie. At the core of the system, a fully-fledged laboratory enables them to conduct original experiments, tests and complete ratification procedures in a completely independent manner.
EWT® is one of the two distinctive features of Greubel Forsey, along with the determination to“change things” that has resulted in the invention of three original Tourbillon movements. Represented by three successive stages, the EWT® scientific platform is extremely open at the entrance level, thus enabling as many new ideas as possible to be tried and tested. For even though all kinds of ideas are sought without any certainty of proving successful, the transition through the conceptual stage enables the Inventor Watchmakers to eliminate possible inventions that would not be “prototypable” in the current stage of knowledge. The first Greubel Forsey invention to have got past this stage was the Double Tourbillon 30°. After building the 3D model, a first working prototype enabled advanced experimentation on the principles governing the double carriage. Corrections, improvements, tests, simulations and fine-tuning through experimental prototypes leading to the validation of this major invention after many years of hard work, culminating in technical and aesthetic prototypes.Invention drives inventionFor Greubel Forsey, invention drives invention. Observation of the Double Tourbillon, once invented and tested, represented a new level of acquired knowledge, serving as a springboard from which one can now imagine whole new horizons and other previously unimaginable inventions. The possibility of observing and conducting a considerable number of experiments on Tourbillon systems led to the definition of various avenues of research in seeking to further enhance the performance of prestigious mechanical timepieces.
The spherical differential of the Quadruple Tourbillon represents a prime example of the Greubel Forsey inventive approach, since this mechanism reaches an unprecedented degree of complexity and refinement, while offering considerably higher rating performance. The movement presented this year has evolved considerably during its progress through EWT®.
With two eXperimental watches® currently engaged in the EWT® process, Greubel Forsey has acquired major new knowledge in the field of conical and inclined gearing and materials that will enable further progress in mastering the performance of Tourbillons, while never losing sight of the indispensable operational quality of the ultra-sophisticated and yet perfectly portable micro-mechanical systems.
The next few years will see new systems and other Greubel Forsey eXperimental watches® entering the EWT® pipeline in order to benefit from the new technological assets developed by their predecessors.
The only limit on these broad vistas is collectors' patience, because nothing requires more time than time itself... It is also vital to realise that it is only through experimentation driven to extremes that an invention can move from the stage of rational imagination to the certainty that an idea is correct. With Greubel Forsey, one can be certain that such great patience will be duly rewarded.
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