- Size
- 43.50 mm
Overview
A watch made by hand, one a year
The Greubel Forsey Hand Made 1, from the Hand Made collection, in white gold, 43.5 mm and 13.5 mm high. Hours, minutes and small seconds with a tourbillon, on a movement whose every component the brand states is machined, decorated and assembled by hand, made at the rate of one watch a year.
Hand Made 1 is the first of Greubel Forsey's two Hand Made watches, a collection in which the brand states that every component is machined, decorated and assembled by hand rather than by machine. It makes one a year. The dial says so: at 6 o'clock the inscription reads HAND MADE where a Swiss watch would ordinarily print SWISS MADE.
The claim begins with the regulating organ. The balance spring is drawn from an alloy the brand produces itself and cast a few springs at a time, where industrial production yields several hundred from one operation. The rest of the movement follows the same principle: bridges with their inner and outer vertical flanks polished, a main plate finished by hand scraping (gratté main), and wheels bevelled and polished top and bottom, which on a five-spoke wheel means 40 sharp internal angles. The partly open dial is enamelled by hand and carries flame-blued hands in a shape drawn for this watch. The movement is regulated by a tourbillon.
For collectors
The interest is the method rather than the tourbillon. A series watch is finished by hand on the surfaces that show; the brand's account of Hand Made 1 is that the parts themselves — the spring, the wheels, the plate — are made by hand, which is why the output is one watch a year and why the brand describes the piece as a landmark of its own work rather than as a complication.
Key details
Design and engineering
- Balance spring made in-houseThe spring sets the rate. Greubel Forsey draws it from its own alloy and casts only a few at a time, against the several hundred an industrial run produces, so each spring is made individually rather than selected from a batch.
- Hand-finished wheelsEach wheel's bevels are polished by hand on both faces. A five-spoke wheel has 40 sharp internal angles, the corners a machine cannot reach, which is where hand finishing shows.
- Gratté main plateThe main plate is finished by hand scraping, a surface the brand describes as unique to this watch, rather than by the graining or frosting of series production.
- DialPartly open, so the movement shows through, with hand-enamelled décor and flame-blued hands in a shape made for this watch. The HAND MADE inscription sits at 6 o'clock.
- CaseWhite gold, 43.5 mm and 13.5 mm high, water-resistant to 30 m.
Movement
- Tourbillon; hours, minutes and small seconds (three hands)
- Every component machined, decorated and assembled by hand, per the brand
- Balance spring in an in-house alloy, produced by hand
- 21,600 vibrations per hour
- Power reserve 60 hours
The reference
Technical specifications
| Collection | Hand Made |
|---|---|
| Functions | Timepiece assembled, decorated and machined entirely by hand, three hands, hours and minutes, small seconds, tourbillon |
| Case dimensions | 43.50 mm |
| Case thickness | 13.50 mm |
| Case material | White gold |
| Water resistance | 3 atm - 30 m - 100 ft |
| Power reserve | 60 hours |
| Frequency | 21,600 vibrations/hour |
| Limitation | 1 timepiece/year |
| Reference | Not published by the brand — sourced by model and execution |
Buying with HYPA
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