The new de GRISOGONO Fuso Quadrato combines the Swiss jeweler’s trademark square body with a pair of superimposed dials: one showing time in your current place of stay and the other, hidden when not needed by an amazing diaphragm mechanism, indicates the current time in some other city. From where we at worldwatchreview.com stand, so far this is one of the most interesting takes on an idea of a GMT watch that was presented during the last decade.

People sometimes ask me, why I so often write positive reviews. Is there a certain bias to them? Well, the answer is simple: no, there is not. I am not affiliated with any brand whose products I review and even when some of them buy advertising space on this blog, it doesn’t influence my opinion.

However, I don’t like to write about things that I don’t like.

I understand that it always takes a lot of effort and commitment from dozens of highly educated people to design and then produce even the simplest mechanism and I appreciate that commitment it doesn’t give me pleasure to say that this watch is lousy and that one is crafted from last year’s manure. If I, however, do so, it means that the brand has pissed me off with its blatant attempt to sell you an overpriced POS with nothing but a “Swiss Made” inscription on the dial to justify the price.

A watch, a car, or some other artifact must be worthless for me to write a negative review about it.

That said, I gladly acknowledge that I like the Fuso Quadrato.

Looking at the first glance a bit like the recently unveiled Perrelet Turbine collection, this timekeeper’s “rotor” is, in fact, a mechanical diaphragm

Resembling those working in ridiculously expensive DSL cameras, it can be opened with a push of a button at 9 o’clock to see the readings of the secondary dial, which is made of solid gold and is decorated with a nicely executed Clou de Paris motif.

Both the secondary dial and the secondary hour hand feature design, which are different from their primary counterparts.

While the black dial on the first layer features a combination of golden arrow-shaped indices and Arabic numerals, the secondary dial is made of gold and shows black Roman numerals.

The hour hand for the secondary time zone also looks completely different, although its bottle-opener form is rather arguable. It is meant to focus its owner’s attention on the current time but, in the photo, we see just an arrow-shaped index marker.

So, it would be nice if the second dial featured only Roman numerals without the hour markers.

The case is large, too, but is also well-proportioned. I’m sure it will look great on a wrist of an average man (if he can afford a hefty price tag of CHF 32,000.)

The new timekeeper is animated by a de Grisogono DF 21-90 automatic movement.

In its press release, the Swiss brand doesn’t go into any details regarding the caliber, but, judging by its technical specs, I can safely assume that this is a slightly modified ETA 2893-2 self-winding ebauche, which is, in fact, a well-known ETA 2892/A2 caliber with a second time-zone module.

WWR Verdict

Originality 5/5
Build Quality: 5/5
Usability: 4/5
Overall Legibility: 4/5
Nighttime Legibility: 1/5
Value for Money: 4/5
Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Photos: de GRISOGONO

de GRISOGONO Fuso Quadrato specification

Price range: CHF 32,000 (MSRP)
Movement: Caliber de Grisogono DF 21-90, automatic, 28,800 vph, 21 jewels, Swiss Made
Complications: Second timezone
Power reserve: 42 hours
Case: 18-karat rose gold
Dimensions: 47.00 mm x 58.50 mm (including lugs)
Case height: 13.10 mm
Dial: Two dials: first is black, the second is rose gold with an impressed pattern and is hidden by a diaphragm made of 12 titanium blades
Water resistance: 30 meters
Strap: Black alligator leather with triple deployment clasp, color-matched to the case
Crystal: Sapphire, outcurved in the 6/12 hours axis