By Jovan K
In 2019, the original Balancier Contemporain answered a prayer: “Hey, can we get a Greubel that doesn’t feel like a tuna can on the wrist?” The result was a sweet spot of 39.6mm across and 12.25mm thick, a compact package by Greubel Forsey’s usual standards and still one of their most wearable pieces to date. This new Final Edition is a 33-piece swan song to their iconic Balancier Contemporain calibres that sticks to that format but leans hard into a blue theme.
The stainless steel case has the exact same dimensions as mentioned above for the 2019 model; it treads lighter on the wrist than most of its stablemates. It’s the proportions and wrist presence that set the tone because this isn’t your average high-end brick; it wears with a poise that many of its larger siblings lack. Water resistance is modest at 30 meters.
The dial is a medley of layered blues, open-worked yet coherent. An off-centred small seconds dial anchors the upper half, while the oversized 12.6mm balance wheel takes pride of place at the bottom. Hands and markers are smartly legible despite the mechanical theatre playing out across multiple levels and bridges.
Inside ticks the hand-wound Balancier Contemporain calibre equipped with 256 components and a 3Hz beat rate. Two mainspring barrels team up to serve a 72-hour power reserve. The caseback exposes a gold rear plate, inscribed with a Greubel Forsey missive.
The Final Edition comes on a textured blue rubber strap, which is surprisingly wearable despite the haute credentials. Priced at CHF 220,000, each of the 33 pieces is promised for delivery before the curtain falls in late 2025.
