Horological Meandering

The Greubel Forsey Handmade 1 takes 6000 hours to produce. And at 8 work-hours per day x 20 work-days per month this translates into 37,5 person months of work . Given that a single watchmaker would be responsible for this haut de gamme piece which is 95%...  

Definitely a true grail watch imho

I like the "hand made" rather than "swiss made": when you are in this field, people know you and you don't need to say where you are from! Best, E.

how does it compare against the Simplicity or the other offerings from GF?! Hand made does not always mean better finishing although in this case the finishing is outstanding as it should be given the price of the watch.

My personal thoughts; Dufour’s Simplicity is a classic master piece when it comes to finishing. But I would personally rank it lower from a technical perspective due to the fact that it is only a two hander with a sub-seconds dial. The GF Handmade1 on the... 

A GF Signature One has a daily variance of -1/+2 seconds which I am most impressed with. Does this top of the range fully hand made GF improve on this?!

But one cannot be definitive about this. May be some collector can chime in. But then in a watch of this uniqueness, technically complete, artisanal achievement and finish, the aspect of accuracy might be a tad low on a buyer’s priority. Just my thoughts.... 

Because accuracy is always vital to me and I am actually considering a Signature One. It is vying against a Voutilainen 28E and when I was told that the accuracy of the GF was -1/+2 that to me made it a more attractive proposition because that is even mor... 

The Simplicity uses automated cut plates by a 3rd party vendor. The design is based on an old movement, not original. The hand finishing is excellent, but in terms of technical achievement not at all competitive for reasons that have nothing to do with be... 

I personally am a Kari and Roger Smith fan as compared to Philip D. but I realise Philip's watches are more sought after and are valued higher. GF I am sure are great but because many of their watches are too large to wear, I have never considered them ap... 

Your comments are very appropriate. English watchmaking style of George Daniels meant more of frosted/gilded bridges and plates and rather austere angles and modest bevelling. Whilst I agree that this is not inferior in any way, I feel Daniels’ watches de...  

See pics below: An AP watch using Valjoux VZSS and the Dufour Simplicity. Valjoux VZSS Dufour Simplicity And finally the Valjoux in Gubelin below Valjoux inside Gubelin. Inspiring the Simplicity ...  

Do you think GF watches have a superior finish compared to Simplicity? Is there another watch that you consider has a more superior finish to those two?

IMHO the GF is a ground-up in-house conceived + designed + built caliber; and the finish exemplary original. The angles are more rigid/stern compared with Dufour though. Simplicity is finished exquisitely as well, and the guilloché dial is a delight to th...  

6,000 hours is 1 person, 40 hours a week (full-time; every hour spent on the watch), 50 weeks a year (2 weeks vacation) for 3 (!) full years. This seems incredible (in the technical sense of the word) to me. Beautiful watch, by the way. My comment is cert... 

But since more than one watchmaker can work on the components of the watch, though one watchmaker is likely to assemble it completely, Greubel Forsey produces 2 to 3 pieces of the Handmade1 per year. So in effect each Handmade1 will occupy three watchmake... 

.. the chapter ring for the minutes and the chapter ring for the seconds sub-dial are in enamel. The statement regarding 6000 hours can be found in GF’s webpage providing details on the Handmade1.

The 6000 hours belongs to various watchmakers.

Some parts take around ten times as long to finish as one would find in 'standard' GFs.

..of superbly robust watches, where the only hand-made element is in the form of gem-setting. To compare that with handmade watches from the independents would be too generous IMHO.

I was shown the watch by Stephen Forsey back in October 2019 and the example I saw was flawless. A photo below of the movement side. Regards, Baruch ...  

. . . would be Longines 13ZN chronograph movements. [photo credit: Nicolas] Obviously, Longines vintage movement isn't as immaculately finished as the G-F, or any KV or PD. But given the context of it being produced with tools, techniques, and materials a...  

Joy to see such calibers. Pity the solid case back hides the beauty from all.

But then again, I’m not qualified to assess finishing at this level.

A bit of an acquired taste, I’d say.