In perfect harmony: Greubel Forsey's Double Balancier

I grew up in St Albans and for a number of years worked in London on the restoration of antique watches. But then, some 24 years ago, I met Robert Greubel, a French watchmaker, and we started working together in Switzerland. We worked for a number of Swiss watch brands but at the end of the 1990s, we started talking about doing something together. It seemed to us that watchmakers were adopting a more industrial approach and we had ideas about doing things differently.

In 2004, we launched our first Greubel Forsey timepiece – I like to call them timepieces rather than watches – with the mission to make watchmaking a creative means of expressing technical innovation. It was a double tourbillon with two tourbillon cages at 30°. The cages move the "heart" of the timepiece by rotating it in space in a cycle that helps overcome the effects of gravity and so improve performance. Developed by us, this was a new system for a wristwatch.

Since then, Greubel Forsey has concentrated on innovating and our latest creation is the Double Balancier. Normally, in a mechanical watch there is one mechanism to measure the time – an escapement system – but the Double Balancier has two balance wheels that are linked together mechanically through a differential system. These are in three-dimensional spaces of their own, not side-by-side – both are inclined in space. One is towards the eight and nine o'clock mark and the other nearer five o'clock. The idea is to make sure they're always in oblique positions with respect to each other.

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This system results in greater accuracy, as one balance wheel can run at perhaps plus four seconds a day, while the other one could be minus three seconds a day because it's in another position and so the effects of gravity on it will be different. That will give an average of less than one second a day. It's an idea we've been working on for some eight or nine years now and we actually made our first prototype with two inclined escapements seven years ago and showed it at the Baselworld watch fair in 2009.

The design of the Double Balancier has an engaging mechanism architecture. The top part is pure, with a beautiful index and elegant marking of the display, and there is a minute chapter ring around the outside. The design is an homage to the past and preserves some of the traditions of classical watchmaking – for example, all the numbers are engraved into gold and then there is champleve enamelling.

There's also an interesting cutaway that reveals the incredible three-dimensional architecture of the mechanism. In the middle is the differential indicator, showing the rotation of the differential. We call this approach, where the engineering is on display, "mechanical architecture". In the past, these mechanisms were often hidden, but part of our mission at Greubel Forsey is to show the workmanship and craftsmanship involved.

The timepiece has a folding clasp and hand-stitched alligator strap and is hand wound – there is a power reserve indicator on the dial. And because we're always aiming to make genuinely exclusive pieces, we will release only 33 of the Double Balancier, with an 18-carat white gold case.

The Greubel Forsey Double Balancier in 18 carat white gold is available on demand from Marcus, 170 New Bond Street, London W1; marcuswatches.com

STEPHEN FORSEY is a watchmaker who, alongside Robert Greubel, founded the eponymous brand in 2004. Since then, Greubel Forsey has become renowned for its creative and highly technical approach to horology; greubelforsey.com