This auction marks a new milestone for the Naissance d’une Montre - Le Garde Temps project and represents a validation of the combined efforts of Robert Greubel, Stephen Forsey and Philippe Dufour to safeguard and transmit traditional watchmaking knowledge and skills. This watch has recently received a never before seen 100/100 points by the independent critic’s guide The Watch Enthusiast.
The commitment to passing down valuable and increasingly rare watchmaking knowledge and skills was first drawn up with the creation of Time æon Foundation by Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey, along with independent colleagues Philippe Dufour, Vianney Halter and others. In an effort to keep ancestral watchmaking techniques from being completely lost and replaced by automation, the team had to find a way to preserve, safeguard and transmit what was left of these traditional techniques for future generations.
The solution lay in finding a young watchmaker to entrust with the knowledge and skills necessary to handcraft a complete watch entirely from scratch. Enter watchmaker Michel Boulanger. The fact that he was already a teacher at the Paris watchmaking school – thus in a privileged position to transmit his knowledge to the next generation of watchmakers – made him the perfect candidate.
Several months later, the Naissance d’une Montre – Le Garde Temps project was launched. Michel Boulanger was taken under the wing of Phillippe Dufour, who introduced him to ancestral techniques and traditional tools, many of which had to be specially-made. For the next six years, Michel worked closely with Phillipe Dufour and specialists at the Greubel Forsey Atelier to handcraft this first watch, finally unveiled in 2016
Inspired by a late 18th – early 19th century approach, the watch houses an inversed movement with three hands display. At its heart is a large tourbillon, with a frequency of 18,000 vibrations/ hour. In order to provide an appropriate setting for the tourbillon mechanism, Michel and the project’s initiators opted for an off-centered dial indicating the hours and minutes. The manual production of each individual part of the movement, irrespective of whether it can be seen or is hidden from sight in the interior of the movement, is of key importance.
The proceeds from this auction will go to Time æon Foundation and towards further progression and development of the Naissance d’une Montre project in helping to ensure the safeguarding and transmission of excellence in traditional watchmaking.
