Greubel Forsey’s ‘Le Garde Temps – Naissance d’une Montre’ reaches successful completion

Through the historic project known as ‘Le Garde Temps – Naissance d’une Montre’, Robert Greubel, Stephan Forsey and Philippe Dufour’s desire to preserve the centuries-old watchmaking techniques results to Michel Boulanger’s incredible achievement in creating a remarkable handmade timepiece that exudes the most authentic spirit of traditional watchmaking

The momentous project began with the vision that alarmed three renowned watch connoisseurs. Robert Greubel, Stephen Forsey and Philippe Dufour, members of the Time Aeon Foundation, reached a startling conclusion about the increasing mechanisation and a massive recourse to automation in the world of watchmaking. This realisation also led to the dreadful recognition that an entire heritage of ancestral procedures and techniques was on the verge of disappearing. Hence, the three watch experts joined forces to form the project: ‘Le Garde Temps – Naissance d’une Montre’.

Driven by a singular obsession that helped them surpass the long and gruelling journey in transmitting the heritage of traditional watchmaking, Greubel, Forsey and Dufour appointed the French watchmaking teacher Michel Boulanger to create a timepiece using the old-fashioned techniques. This year, the project saw its final phase with the completion of the first fully working, cased-up timepiece that has an anticipated delivery in the latter months of 2016.

Thanks to the determination of the experts Greubel, Forsey, Dufour and Boulanger, the first among what was conceived as a series of eleven pieces has finally taken form in a handcrafted watch with three hands and tourbillon, a massive 15.1mm height and 45mm diameter, 2.5 Hz (18,000 vibrations per hour) blued steel hands, and a case in white gold hand-sewn strap Tang buckle.

The vision that started it all

After years of experience in working with renowned watchmaking companies, Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey jointly established CompliTime in 2001, both being aware as privileged trustees of a disappearing art. In 2004, they launched their own watch brand Greubel Forsey that has become a significant name in the world of Haute Horlogerie. Based in La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland, the company employs some 75 people, where each year only around one hundred timepieces leave their workshops.

With high respect to independent watchmakers and to the traditional techniques of the craft, Greubel and Forsey together with independent colleagues in the industry including Philippe Dufour, a watchmaker from the Vallée de Joux who is famed for his high-quality complications, initiated the project of Time æon Foundation, in 2006, to assist in training the future watchmakers that were seeking to become independent.

A year after the inception of the group, a significant step was taken by Greubel, Forsey and Dufour when they began to contemplate a large-scale campaign that would cement their commitment to save the dying craftsmanship. The project was named ‘Le Garde Temps – Naissance d’une Montre’ with the aim to pass on all the ancestral knowledge, techniques and movements in watchmaking to one highly qualified person who would use the craftsmanship in creating a complicated mechanical handmade timepiece.

The three watch experts would mentor the chosen student about the traditional uprighting tool, hand-mandrel lathe, topping tool and other techniques in creating the watch by mere hands. In return, after the completion of the project, the student will pass on the skills to future watchmakers, entrusting and safeguarding the legacy of traditional watchmaking. Furthermore, the proceeds of the sale of the handmade timepieces from the project would be used to sponsor in continuing the goal of ‘Le Garde Temps – Naissance d’une Montre’.

The chosen one

In 2009, after a careful selection process, the three watch gurus identified the French watchmaking teacher Michel Boulanger to be the deserving candidate to personify the project.

Since his father specialised in restoring antique clocks, Boulanger was made aware of the craft from a young age. He graduated from the school of watchmaking in Anet, and gained master qualification in watchmaking. He further extended his knowledge of complex timepieces by completing the course run by WOSTEP (Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Educational Program) in Neuchâtel. Committed to transfer his knowledge in watchmaking, Boulanger became a passionate teacher at the school of watchmaking in Paris.

The project unfurls

It took several months for Greubel, Forsey, Dufour and Boulanger to reach an agreement on how to start working on the project. The end game should be a circular wristwatch that houses an inversed manually wound movement with three hands display, and at its heart is a large tourbillon, with a frequency of 21,600 vibrations/ hour and mechanism following in the great  tradition of 19th century watchmakers,  particularly Jacques-Frédéric  Houriet  and  Abraham-Louis  Breguet. 

So as to showcase the tourbillon mechanism, the structure of this timepiece features an off-centre dial displaying the hours and minutes. The different finishes applied to each component are of vital importance, even if they are not ultimately visible, in that they epitomise the concept of outstanding hand-made craftsmanship that is the essence of ‘Le Garde Temps – Naissance d’une Montre’.

Every month Michel, the teacher-turned-pupil, travelled to La Chaux- de-Fonds to build up a store of knowledge from Greubel, Forsey, Dufour and other specialists practising at the Greubel Forsey atelier. Thanks to the regular round-trips between Switzerland and his workshop in the Beauce region to the south-west of Paris, and working within the framework of a six-year project, Boulanger embarked upon the creation of an exceptional timepiece.

Part of the agreement for the ‘Le Garde Temps – Naissance d’une Montre’ project was to create an effective communication wherein the public was made aware about the latest developments. An online platform was set up, www.legardetemps-nm.org, to ensure that the adventure in safeguarding the culture of watchmaking is preserved in contemporary channels such as films, archive footages and even social media.

In January 2012, during the prestigious Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH) held in Geneva, the ‘Le Garde Temps – Naissance d’une Montre’ project was presented to a host of journalists and watch aficionados. Highly received during the event, the project continued on pursuing to achieve the goal for Boulanger.

This year, the project ‘Le Garde Temps – Naissance d’une Montre’ had successfully reached its completion. With this remarkable achievement in the history of watchmaking, all eyes were on the significant timepiece that Boulanger handcrafted from the vision of Greubel, Forsey and Dufour that would be deservingly handed to a fortunate connoisseur next year.