In our new interview series spotlighting forward-thinking figures in independent watchmaking, Michel Nydegger, CEO of Greubel Forsey, discusses how the brand’s watches express the long-term story of Greubel Forsey
Greubel Forsey has never been one to do things conventionally. Founded in 2004, the independent watchmaker has largely focused on crafting timepieces defined by a singular approach that places architecture, mechanical integrity, and finishing at the very heart of each creation.
So when we reached out to the La Chaux-de-Fonds-based atelier to learn more about the watches it was unveiling this year, it came as little surprise that the response was anything but typical.
“It’s a question we find difficult to answer. Not out of reluctance, but because the way we work doesn’t quite fit that framework,” says Michel Nydegger, CEO of Greubel Forsey. “We present timepieces when they’re ready, when the answer to ‘why should this exist?’ is genuinely clear.”
Put this way, it feels only natural to take a closer look at the brand’s latest timepieces. The Tourbillon 24 Secondes Architecture, now presented in its final edition, offers perhaps the most uncompromising articulation of Greubel Forsey’s vision. Sporting an entirely openworked construction in which the movement itself becomes the dial, the timepiece is conceived as a suspended mechanical landscape, fully exposed, legible, and visible from every angle.
Alongside it, the Balancier 3 provides a more restrained, though no less deliberate, interpretation. Built around a composition of three prominent bridges, it emphasises clarity and balance, ensuring each mechanical element remains legible while contributing to a coherent architectural whole. This latest expression introduces a new finishing treatment, with a frosted titanium central bridge contrasting against polished surfaces to enhance depth, light, and visual structure.
What would you say makes these watches special?
We tend to think more in terms of a body of work that’s been building since 2004. Every timepiece is part of a longer conversation. What feels meaningful right now is that we’re entering a new phase of smaller, more wearable timepieces carrying the same level of mechanical complexity, new calibres, and a new collection taking shape for 2027. We’re trying to take the next step.
What does this say about where Greubel Forsey stands in 2026?
We’re in a position we’ve worked a long time to reach: fully independent, creating around 200 timepieces a year, with a team of 130 people who’ve chosen to work this way because they believe in it. We’re not trying to grow for the sake of growing. We’re simply trying to make the work more rigorous and more meaningful over time.
What does being fully independent give you?
Independence gives us a particular kind of freedom, and we’re grateful for it. We can keep our commercial team extremely lean and employ twenty people in hand-finishing instead. These aren’t sacrifices; they’re choices we make because the work demands them.
If every timepiece is part of a longer conversation, what would these watches say in the long-term?
We’ve been building this atelier since 2004 and boast 69 patents, 10 inventions, 34 in-house calibres. That body of work feels larger than any of us individually. What we hope, for every timepiece we create, is simply that it holds. That someone picks it up in thirty years and finds something in it they hadn’t noticed before. That’s the only measure that really matters to us.
