Greubel Forsey: A Collector's Journey

Bernard Cheong embarks on a philosophical exploration of horological quality, drawing parallels between the artistic depth of Marc Chagall and the unparalleled craftsmanship of Greubel Forsey. This introspective post chronicles his personal journey through watch collecting, culminating in his profound appreciation for Greubel Forsey as the epitome of horological excellence.

Not everyone will even TOUCH , let alone see or own a Chagall. 

That sentence warns that this is a heavy post with lots of pictures...and too much pontification on my part.

Enjoy it lightly.

BUT..everything about a Greubel Forsey is true...it IS the greatest thing you will hold in your hand.

Not counting your wife or child. 

That will happen with Greubel Forsey.

At this price.

This era.

And that we do have an insatiable thirst for anything possibly immortal...

I no longer debate Robert Persig's dilemma with quality.

My journey began with IWC, Lange and thrived with MB&F and De Bethune...I know I have found my analysis of what is possibly my best. Greubel Forsey.

When I saw the Cabestan...I knew I was very close.

Closer when the sky Moon came along.

But as my funds were VERY limited...I lived BEYOND my means...and made IWC my compromise.

Strangely, I never knew it, but I found an old magazine which chronicled Robert Greubel's own path.

He was at IWC when I first got to know the late Gunther Blumlein.

He went to design several items, the Lange's chain and fuse tourbillion and some novelties.

I never got a chance to meet him in Singapore, when my good friend bought one of Complitime's watches..the set of colored gold pieces that were to preceed 2004's Greubel Forsey.

I am writing to share with all who wish to buy a good watch.

A collection is anything more than two watches!

Buy with the inner comfort you feel. AFTER you did some homework.

What you buy, defines you and you alone.

If I saw a collection worth millions, but only of all the OBVIOUS mass market big names...my diagnosis would be that of a man who lived by the established rules, and it would take almost a mountain to convince him to innovate or create, he is a safe collector. A Patek/Lange man.

Not a positive remark from my own pov. I cannot imagine a passionate collector not having the guts to buy, within his means or more brave, beyond his means, what is now possible to create by hand, some of the most beautiful watches possible in history.

That he avoided buying a watch, because of unknown branding.

Surely it defines him. Safe. But forget his support for any innovative ideas you may harbor.

I still believe that De Bethune, MB&F and Vianney Halter are history's icons.

They have "made it" past the bar.

But what is and will become the Marc Zakharovich Chagall 1887 – 28 ?

I see Chagall as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century" but Chagall saw his work as much more than "the dream of one people" but of all humanity.

Many not familiar with art, would have labeled him a classical, but he was a total modernist, he worked through many major artistic styles and created works in every available artistic medium, painting, book illustrations, stained glass, stage sets, ceramic, tapestries and fine art prints.

If you saw, and walked a short path with Marc Chagall, you will find Robert Greubel, Stephen Forsey and Dufour.

This has always been the success of Patek and many brands. They saw watch making as an industry similar to cars.

I don't. I never did. Watch making was already dying as technology over took it.

It is as if advanced digital photography appeared just as painting people and scenery arrived at its peak.

VERY few of Patek's and Lange's work will ever enter the halls of art. They were never designed to be.

They achieved exactly what they wanted...technology, mass production, a place in history, and incredible financial sucess.

To me, it was NEVER about who was "better".

I guess POWER or INFLUENCE should always be given to those who want it least.

I was searching among obsolete work, machines that will not be used for medical work or any demanding accuracy of timing...that belongs to the era of digital machines. Just as you would understand painting with oils versus digital photography's accuracy.

When I found, in the course of my 40 year journey, that it was physically possible to create a completely finished watch with ultimate workmanship and with the finesse and almost obsessive compulsive mind of Marc Chagall...I had travelled thru Seiko's most hallowed work...the hand crafted yet infused with real, not advertised illusions, technology.

I had the first few viewings of IWC and Lange.

I had the unlikely friendship of Vianney...we both could not speak each other's words!

I was fortunate to be welcomed into the highly secret world of production and hand work...by Rolf Schnyder.

That better people than I deserved this...made me feel very positive for what good people can and will sacrifice to do.

There is NO DOUBT that the immortality and designed hardiness of all time pieces will usher in the new icon, that will replace the fuel driven car, and challenge only the electric car and bicycle for items that challenge BOTH intellect and ego.

Yes...as far as status itself. The car took several years to become a plaything to a serious status symbol. The watch is already making its route known.

You can IMMEDIATELY notice its presence and brand name in films and TV....once never explored.

You can immediately see its total invasion of ALL printed magazines and web content.

More websites on watches appear each day than car or camera sites. I dare say, they even rival porn.

To all who enjoy philosophy, status (who really does not), craft, engineering solutions old world style, and design....I am very happy to share that it is possible to own a Rembrandt, Chagall or Renoir...because you are living in the same era.

This has never been possible. Not without the gifts of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, and the thousands of people who made the web what it is.

I dare say...maintaining a Greubel Forsey is MUCH easier than that of a painting or wine.

It is already designed from day ONE to be immortal.

For a painting or sculpture, there is so much empirical forms of argument and too many possible ways of creating a fake or destroying an original.

At the astronomical prices of Greubel Forsey, and that they make 100 a year, imagine that it will take 45 years to make 4,500. That is what Lange will make in one year...and yet...it is rare.

At $500,000 to as much as $1,000,000 USD....a Greubel is NOT inexpensive.

But it is almost free of fault, and engineered with ruthless passion.

On top of that...it has incorporated ALL we have learnt from and within the golden age of watch making and numeric machines and the very best of improved hand craft...with the finest diamond pastes and alloys that allow polishing and machining beyond what we thought remotely possible in 1998...the year we saw Lange and Patek demonstrate what could have been the END product.

No. The Greubel Forsey IS the END product of ONE era....possibly an era as long as 30 years.

Enjoy the pictures.

Pursue what you feel will bring you closer to the person you were meant to be, at your VERY best.

For me...I will place Greubel Forsey as my personal best...I cannot make one...but I will do my best to acquire as many as possible.

I am now approaching number three.

Both current Greubel Forseys I own have brought me closer to joy and generosity every day.

I HIGHLY recommend this...if you have loved the work of Lange's very best pieces (some suck), IWC..a few, Patek..some, Dufour...then YOU MUST BUY (if money permits) the equivalent of Marc Chagall...the Greubel Forseys...made in the lifetime of the FOUNDING fathers...and at 100 a year, you are looking at 100 x 20 at best...2,000 watches at best..less than some of Patek's limited editions!

I am grateful. I am VERY grateful that thanks to others, who never thought I would like Greubel Forsey...actually brought it to me.

That's life!!!

 Here in pictures...a sample of my journey.

Have I ever sold some of my watches?

Hell yes.

Less than 10.

You do not look after a watch for your son in law to show it to his mistress....you wear it..and enjoy it...and live it.

Although a massive price tag ABOVE the 24 incline. the unique and totally stubborn nature of rebellion against logic...a vertical tourbillon that can't be seen..even if you looked from the back...now beat THAT Patek.

Watches are obsolete...yet useful. They are the new icons of what art once represented...they NEVER go out of age or expire.

I bought this watch without hesitation...although I had to pay MORE than the first owner!!!!

Two icons side by side.

The Opus V. Once..and still is..an icon of work and ingenuity in beauty and construct. Money paid for the finest finish and of 243 grams of platinum...solid platinum.

The basic 24 incline, at a mind numbing price that can buy 2 IWC grand complications...is honestly priced just a few dollars, relatively at this price, than their GMT.

The invention 1 and 3 are however...VERY costly...but worth EVERY penny I paid...and has room to grow.

My advice, the economy is low enough...if within reach...buy it.

Even a "fashionista" richcy rich brand has its jewels...this..an eta..but it weighs in at 250grams of a BLOCK of gold on stingray..good quality ray skin.

This will not be a techny guy's movement obsessed work, but nonetheless...a serious work in history..as we saw in my post on the Quadratto.