Greubel Forsey has closed the Balancier Convexe S² chapter with two final executions: one in black ceramic with 5N red gold, the other in white ceramic, each limited to 11 pieces and both built around the same hand-wound inclined-balance calibre that will leave production in 2026. I find that decision fitting, because the S² never felt like a side note in the Convexe line, it felt like Greubel Forsey compressing its architectural language into a 41.5mm case without giving away its mechanical theatre.
Architectural, Theatrical
The dial architecture stays faithful to the S² idea of merging display and movement into one spatial composition rather than separating them into layers. On the earlier S², Greubel Forsey used a matte, hand-grained dial in charcoal or light grey, cut by a brushed bevel between the upper time display and the lower inclined regulating organ, and that construction explains the visual grammar of these final pieces as well.
In the black ceramic and 5N red gold model, the darkened movement components deepen the recesses of the dial side and sharpen the contrast with the warmer metallic elements around them. The result should feel denser and richer on the wrist, because the black frame pulls the eye inward to the oversized 30-degree balance, the small seconds and the suspended hours and minutes carried by the arched bridge.
The white ceramic edition takes the opposite route. Here, the pale case and lighter visual field should make the open architecture look cleaner and more technical, with structure, light and shadow doing the heavy lifting instead of colour contrast. In both watches, the display remains highly specific to Greubel Forsey: a raised hands bridge, a sector power-reserve indication for the guaranteed 72 hours, and a sharply inclined lower plane that turns the regulating organ into the dial’s true centre of gravity.
A Complex Scene
The movement matters here because the Balancier Convexe S² was conceived as an integrated object, not a calibre dropped into an expressive case. This hand-wound construction uses 301 components, including a 68-part escapement platform, two fast-rotating coaxial barrels for a 72-hour chronometric power reserve, and an in-house variable-inertia balance with six gold mean-time screws beating at 21,600 vibrations per hour.
What I like most is the finish strategy. Greubel Forsey uses titanium bridges and main plates with frosted surfaces, polished bevels, polished countersinks and carefully resolved transitions, so the eye reads texture first and geometry second. That order matters, because the movement does not chase decoration as surface effect, it uses finish to define depth, separate planes and underline the three-dimensional construction. Even unseen areas receive the same care, and that consistency remains one of the atelier’s strongest arguments when you inspect the calibre beyond the initial spectacle.
Ceramic as Expression
The Convexe case measures 41.5mm across the caseband and follows the natural curve of the wrist through its domed profile, profiled lugs and curved sapphire crystals front and back. In practical terms, that means the case does not just carry the movement; it extends the movement’s architecture outwards, especially at six o’clock where the sapphire volume opens space for the inclined balance.
The black ceramic and 5N red gold case plays with warmth against technical darkness, pairing matte ceramic with the visual weight of red gold on the bezel and caseback. The white ceramic version looks purer and arguably sharper, because the monochrome shell lets the complex geometry speak without distraction. Both cases keep the distinctive Greubel Forsey mix of sculpture and ergonomics, and that balance is harder to achieve than the dramatic shape first suggests.
A Closing Statement
These two watches do not arrive as a new beginning. They arrive as a deliberate closing statement for a calibre that spent five years refining the idea that chronometry, architecture and finish can share the same stage without compromise. The press material does not state a retail price for these final editions, but earlier Balancier Convexe S² models started at EUR 259,500 including VAT, and the later Carbon Black version was quoted around EUR 285,000, so I would expect these last 11-piece executions to sit at least in that territory, and likely above it.
For me, that is the real appeal of the final Balancier Convexe S². It does not try to rewrite the formula. Instead, it distils the watch into two sharply different personalities, then lets the inclined balance, the frosted titanium architecture and that brilliant Convexe case deliver the farewell exactly as Greubel Forsey should.
