- Movement
- Manual winding
- Size
- 45.50 mm
Overview
A tourbillon that tilts
The Greubel Forsey Tourbillon Cardan, from the Tourbillon collection, in titanium, 45.5 mm and 18.15 mm high. A 16-second tourbillon inclined at 30°, tilted between +30° and −30° every 48 seconds by two driven Cardan rings, on a manually wound movement with four coaxial barrels and 80 hours of reserve; 55 timepieces, 2023 to 2027.
The Tourbillon Cardan is the brand's eighth fundamental invention and combines three ideas. The first is the tourbillon, Breguet's 1801 patent for averaging the rate errors of a watch held upright; the second is speed, a cage turning in 16 seconds rather than the usual 60, the fastest the brand has built; the third is inclination, the cage set at 30° because a watch on the wrist spends its time between the horizontal and the vertical rather than upright. Titanium, 45.5 mm, 55 pieces from 2023 to 2027.
What makes it a Cardan is the carriage. Two mobile rings joined on axes at 90° tilt the tourbillon through a controlled arc from +30° to −30° every 48 seconds; unlike a free gimbal the rings are driven, not loose, so the inclination itself never changes while the cage's orientation to gravity does, continuously. Without a fixed upper bridge the two arched rings carry the load a bridge would, which gives the flying look the brand has patented. Inside the cage is the 12.6 mm in-house balance, used in a tourbillon for the first time, and the movement is driven by four barrels stacked coaxially with a slipping mainspring, for 80 hours of chronometric reserve.
For collectors
The reserve figure is qualified by Greubel Forsey: 80 hours is the chronometric reserve, after which the watch keeps running but outside its rate tolerance. The same qualification appears on the Balancier 3, and it is the honest way to read any reserve figure the brand prints.
Key details
Design and engineering
- Cardan carriageTwo mobile rings on 90° axes tilt the tourbillon through +30° to −30° in 48 seconds under control — not a free gimbal — so its orientation to gravity is always changing while its 30° inclination is fixed.
- 16-second tourbillonA cage that turns in 16 seconds covers more positions in less time than one turning in 60, which the brand states gives a higher average rate performance.
- Flying appearanceNo fixed upper bridge: the two arched rings bear the structural load, a patented arrangement with fewer parts than it appears to have.
- In-house balance in a tourbillonThe brand's 12.6 mm balance, built into a tourbillon cage for the first time; its diameter and inertia are what give it stability and shock resistance on the wrist.
- Four coaxial barrelsStacked on one axis with a slipping mainspring against overwinding, giving 80 hours of chronometric reserve — a construction the brand says has appeared once in twenty years of its calibres.
- CaseTitanium, 45.5 mm and 18.15 mm high, water-resistant to 30 m.
Movement
- Manual winding; Cardan Tourbillon; hours, minutes, small seconds, power reserve
- Tourbillon cage rotation 16 seconds, inclined at 30°; carriage arc +30° to −30° every 48 seconds
- Greubel Forsey in-house balance, 12.6 mm
- Four coaxially stacked barrels, slipping mainspring
- 21,600 vibrations per hour
- Power reserve 80 hours (chronometric)
The reference
Technical specifications
| Collection | Tourbillon |
|---|---|
| Movement | Manual winding |
| Functions | Manual winding movement, Cardan Tourbillon, hours and minutes, small seconds, power-reserve |
| Case dimensions | 45.50 mm |
| Case thickness | 18.15 mm |
| Case material | Titanium |
| Water resistance | 3 atm - 30 m - 100 ft |
| Power reserve | 80 hours |
| Frequency | 21,600 vibrations/hour |
| Limitation | 55 timepieces (2023-2027) |
| Reference | Not published by the brand — sourced by model and execution |
Buying with HYPA
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