Where does one venture once they’ve conquered classic Patek, ultra-complicated F.P. Journe, and record-breaking Bulgari? If you’re Mark Zuckerberg, seemingly hellbent on amassing the world’s greatest watch collection over the course of just a handful of months, there is only one option: a completely handmade watch.
During a video announcing sweeping changes to Meta’s content moderation and fact-checking policy, Zuckerberg rocked a very special Greubel Forsey. On his wrist was the Hand Made 1, an $895,500 watch that’s almost entirely made by—you guessed it!—hand in the brand’s atelier in Switzerland. Greubel Forsey produces just two to three of these exclusive pieces every year. While that would typically necessitate eager clients to sit on a waitlist, it seems like every brand is willing to make an exception for the tech billionaire.
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While Zuckerberg has only seriously started collecting watches over the past few months, he’s already found himself shopping from the deep-cut aisle. So, what, exactly, is Greubel Forsey? In the late 1990s, watchmaker Robert Greubel and restoration expert Stephen Forsey began working together at Renaud & Papi, a firm specializing in complications so esteemed Audemars Piguet later purchased it. In 2004, the pair launched a watch they built together, the Double Tourbillon 30° (DT30°), and their joint venture has since become one of the most lauded names in high-end independent horology. If you’ve ever seen a large, curved watch with a three-dimensional globe protruding from the dial and a multi-hundred-thousand-dollar price tag—yep, that’s probably a Greubel Forsey.
It’s little surprise that this is the door Zuck knocked on when he went looking for his next complicated masterpiece. Any one of the brand’s wares could successfully hold its own against any of Swizterland’s best creations, but the Hand Made 1 is next-level stuff. The watch requires roughly 6,000 man-hours to produce—the equivalent of three years of work—and roughly 95% of its components are said to be made by hand, including the balance spring, dial, and screws. (Everything except for the gaskets, spring bars, jewels, mainspring, and sapphire crystals are made the old-fashioned way.) All of these painstakingly produced components are then of course hand finished, including bridges with polished vertical flanks, wheels with hand-polished bevels, a mainplate with gratté main, and a hand-enameled dial.
Speaking of the dial, it’s quite a stunner: Partially openworked, it displays the hours, minutes, second, and a one-minute tourbillon as powered by the brand’s hand-wound movement, which runs at 3 Hz and features a 60-hour power reserve. (It even says “HAND MADE” where “SWISS MADE” would otherwise be below the 6 o’clock marker!) The case, 42.5mm in diameter and fashioned from white gold, is paired to a calfskin strap.
While not quite a piece unique this is the sort of mechanical toy that one arrives at when $1M is a rounding error on one’s monthly “fun” budget. Where could Zuck possibly head next? The guy would need a completely custom commission…or a pocket watch powered by nuclear fission. Frankly, we wouldn’t put either past him at this point.
