Greubel Forsey Grande Sonnerie in titanium retails for about $1.4 million; unveiled at SIHH 2017.
Another over-the-top $! Million + watch has been released at SIHH 2017: Greubel Forsey’s approximately $1.4 million Grand Sonnerie. The incredible chiming timepiece – the brand’s first Grande Sonnerie — was 11 years in the research and development stages and has two patents pending.
What’s Inside the Case
The elaborate movement consists of 855 individual components, while the watch, in total, is comprised of 935 parts. The elaborate movement is equipped with a specially developed acoustic resonance cage to perfect a pure chiming sound. The Grande Sonnerie incorporates cathedral gongs and multiple striking hammers. The watch has multiple striking modes: Grande Sonnerie (strikes the hours, and the quarter hours in passing); Petite Sonnerie (strikes the hours in passing); Silence (to quiet the striking). It also operates as a minute repeater, chiming the hours, quarter hours and minutes on demand.
Also incorporated in to the manual-wind watch is the brand’s signature Tourbillon 24 Seconds (inclined tourbillon escapement too compensate for errors in timekeeping due to the effects of gravity on the watch. The tourbillon cage consists of 86 parts and weighs just 0.37 grams as it is crafted of a light alloy for the cage pillars, titanium cage bridges, and gold counterweight. The tourbillon is inclined at a 25° angle and rotates once every 24-seconds.
The movement of the Greubel Forsey Grande Sonnerie consists of 855 parts and the watch is comprised of 935 parts.
One of the key concerns when owning a chiming watch is its security, but this timepiece has 11 security functions built into it to protect the mechanism when it is in striking mode, time setting, etc. The watch offers 20 hours of power reserve in Grande Sonnerie mode, or 72 hours of chronometric power reserve thanks to two co-axial series-coupled barrels.
The Greubel Forsey Grande Sonnerie was 11 years in the making and has two patents pending.
Tech Specs of the Greubel Forsey Grande Sonnerie
Movement dimensions • Diameter: 36.40 mm • Thickness: 11.13 mm
Number of parts
• Timepiece: 935 parts
• Movement: 855 parts
• Cage tourbillon: 86 parts • Weight of the cage: 0.37 g
Number of jewels • 85
• Olived-domed jewels in gold chatons
Chronometric power reserve • 72 hours
Barrels • Two coaxial series-coupled fast-rotating barrels (1 turn in 3.2 hours), one of which is equipped with a slipping spring to avoid excess tension
Balance wheel • Variable-inertia with gold mean-time screws (10 mm diameter)
Frequency • 21’600 vibrations/hour
Balance spring • Phillips terminal curve • Geneva-style stud
Main plates • Nickel silver, spotted, with polished bevelling and countersinks, straight-grained flanks, nickel-palladium treatment
Bridges • Nickel silver, frosted and spotted, with polished bevelling and countersinks, straight-grained flanks, nickel-palladium treatment
• Flat black polished steel tourbillon bridge, with polished bevelling and countersinks, straight- grained flanks
Tourbillon
• Inclined at a 25° angle, 24-seconds rotation • Light alloy cage pillars
• Titanium cage bridges
• Gold counterweight
Gearing
• Involute circle profile
• Tangential inclined gear on fixed wheel
Movement and striking-mechanism displays
• Hours and minutes
• Small seconds on a sector
• 72-hours power reserve on a sector • Three striking modes:
GS (Grande Sonnerie) strikes the hours and quarters in passing
PS (Petite Sonnerie) strikes
the full hours in passing
SL (Silence) does not strike in passing • Striking power reserve on a sector
Striking-mechanism
Acoustic
• One-piece cathedral gongs on three levels,
two notes, visible through the tourbillon’s lateral window, flat black polished steel gongs block, with polished bevelling and countersinks
• Two flat black polished steel visible hammers, with polished bevelling and countersinks
• Flat black polished hammers bridge, with a raised polished engraving, with polished bevelling
and countersinks, straight-grained flanks
• Silent speed regulating governor
• Dedicated striking barrel maximising hammer
force and striking power reserve (about 20 hours
in Grande Sonnerie mode)
• Striking rhythm optimised without pause
Mechanism
• Visible on movement side, straight-grained
or circular-grained steel, with polished bevelling
Exterior
Case
• In titanium with asymmetrical convex synthetic sapphire crystal
• Transparent back with asymmetrical convex synthetic sapphire crystal
• Lateral window with shaped synthetic sapphire crystal
• Three-dimensional,
variable geometry-shaped lugs
• Raised polished engraving “Grande Sonnerie” and “Greubel Forsey” on a hand-punched background
• Gold security screws
• Hand-polished bezel, caseband and caseback
• White gold modes selection pusher, with a raised
engraving on a hand-punched background • Hand-engraved individual number
Case dimensions
• Diameter: 43.50 mm • Thickness: 16.13 mm
Water resistance of the case
• Water-resistant 3 atm – 30 m – 100 ft (standard NIHS 92-20/SN ISO 22810:2010)
Crown with pusher
• In white gold with engraved GF logo
Dial
• Multi-level in gold, black colour
• Window showing the hammers and the gongs • Gold hour markers
• Gold display sectors
• Gold GF logo
