Two years ago Greubel Forsey took the world by storm with the ravishing Double Tourbillon 30° Technique Sapphire – an extraordinary sapphire-cased timepiece that was priced at a cool $1.1 million. Produced in a limited run of just eight pieces, that watch made a huge splash for its amazing dial and complex casing – that ridiculous price might have been one of the reasons it made the news too.

Most of you probably know that sapphire is a very challenging material, but Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey, the company’s co-founders, have decided to impress us all once again with a new transparent timepiece, in the form of a sapphire-cased Double Balancier.

Before you get too excited, you should know that this incredible piece is destined for the North American market only and it’s part of a strictly limited run of just 11 watches. Considering it takes 900 hours of machining to produce that beautiful sapphire case alone, that’s not really a surprise.

The good news is that the Double Balancier Sapphire is going to be a bit more affordable than its bigger brother. Well, if you think $695,000 is affordable, then you might be able to buy one.

Greubel Forsey’s decision to put the Double Balancier in a sapphire case was obviously a brilliant move. The inclined balance wheels and the gear train are now exposed, with the entire dial turning into a visual spectacle. Add in the wide array of hand-polished, brushed, and microblasted finishes that come along with this complex, multi-tiered caliber, and you will easily get lost in all the details.

The sapphire case basically adds a premium of $345,000 to the white gold version of the Double Balancier, but that look is simply priceless. Given the level of exclusivity of this watch and how hard it is to make a sapphire case like this one, we won’t be surprised if all 11 units will be sold out by the end of the year.

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