Greubel Forsey have launched a new series within their highly exclusive range of watches called the Balancier QM. The QM stands for Qualité Musée, a new internal standard of finishing that the brand aspires to maintain across every watch they ever produce. In fact, it also applies to every watch they’ve already created but the standard has never been named until now. It’s a commitment that every watch should be hand-finished in its entirety and that no corners should be cut, with even surfaces that will never be seen finished to exacting levels of precision.
Why does an internal standard of finishing matter? Well, there are numerous metrics by which you can judge the quality of a watch. The easiest metrics to judge tend to be chronometric performance and value for money because all it takes is the ability to read a tech sheet and compare a few numbers to the industry standard to form a reasonably well informed opinion. Finishing is much harder to judge, especially because of the advancement in technology over the past two decades.
Techniques such as guilloché that were once exclusive to expert artisans using antique engines can now be recreated by computer software and CNC machines. While the resulting finish can look similar, they are vastly different as one is produced with painstaking precision and hours upon hours of work and the other produced with the press of a button. As an expression of artistic craft and talent, there is no contest as to which is the more impressive. It’s that creativity and expression that collectors are willing to pay the big bucks for – if collectors wanted efficiency and convenience, they’d all be wearing quartz.
So, the Qualité Musée standard is designed to be an easy to identify marker for collectors to show that Greubel Forsey’s watches are all hand-finished and carry that extra level of quality compared to machine finished watches. There are other watchmaking standards and certifications that do take finishing into account, most notably the Poinçon de Genève but the Geneva Seal is limited to watchmakers based in and around Geneva, which excludes the La Chaux-de-Fonds based Greubel Forsey.
The Balancier QM is the watch that Greubel Forsey have decided to introduce this standard with and so unsurprisingly it is dedicated to being a showcase of hand-finishing techniques. It features a partially openworked display that is layered to reveal the drama of the dial to maximum effect. The top level features the timekeeping displays with the hour and minute subdial offset towards 3 o’clock and a small seconds subdial standing like an island at 8 o’clock. They feature dark grey time scales and light grey centre dials finished with a light frosting. Below that level is the main plate of the dial, which is more heavily grained and plays home to the power reserve indicator, which intersects with the hour and minute subdial.
The bottom level of the display hosts the power barrel with its golden container at 10 o’clock and then the titular balance at 6. Greubel Forsey use the balance as the primary example of the Qualité Musée standard. The bridge that holds the balance in place uses no fewer than seven types of finishing, including barrel polishing, black polishing, straight grain, circular grain bevelling, chamfering and spotting. The balance wheel itself is made from gold with a new bi-level structure that is bevelled and polished on all sides, even those not visible.
At the centre is an in-house variable inertia balance spring. Greubel Forsey have produced in-house hairsprings for two of their previous models, the highly limited Hand Made 1 and Hand Made 2, but the Balancier QM marks the first time that they have committed to an in-house spring for a Balancier model. In fact, the new balance wheel architecture and in-house spring will eventually be rolled out across every Greubel Forsey model. That’s part of the goal of the new EWT (Experimental Watch Technology) Laboratory within Greubel Forsey’s workshop.
For its case, it uses the design of the Balancier Contemporain as its base, measuring 39.6mm in diameter with a thickness of 12.25mm including the domed crystal. But where the Contemporain was stainless steel, the QM is white gold, in keeping with the concept of it being the ultimate showcase of high end, luxury finishing. The polished lugs lead into a hand-sewn textured rubber strap, which is perhaps the only concession to the Contemporain’s sportier design but even then, it’s still hand-sewn.
The Balancier QM is limited to 33 pieces and is price on request. As a note, Greubel Forsey have announced that their production quantities in general are going to be reduced over the next few years, starting in 2027. This is to ensure that every piece they produce lives up to the QM promise. However, considering how few watches they produce to begin with, Greubel Forsey watches will go from being incredibly difficult to buy to all but unobtainable. However, they’ve also announced the roadmap for their upcoming releases, which includes a Nano Foudroyante and Convexe model before the end of 2026 and two new launches in 2027.
Price and Specs:
More details at Greubel Forsey.
