There's a particular kind of confidence that comes with wearing something almost nobody else recognizes on sight — not because it's obscure, but because the people who made it were never trying to please a crowd. That's the De Grisogono Instrumento in a sentence. And this one, in pristine condition with its full box set, is available for one week only.
A House Built on Refusing the Expected
De Grisogono was founded by Fawaz Gruosi in 1993, opening its first boutique in Geneva — the epicenter of Swiss watchmaking, and about as bold a place as any to launch a jewellery house with no horological pedigree at all. Gruosi made his name reintroducing the black diamond into fine jewellery, then turned his attention to watches almost as an afterthought. In 2000, he presented his first-ever timepiece — the Instrumento N°Uno — at BaselWorld, the industry's most important stage. It wasn't received as a curiosity. It set the tone for everything the house would build over the next decade: more than twenty watch collections, each one openly uninterested in doing what a "normal" dress watch does.
That refusal to conform is the whole point of the Instrumento line, and it's on full display here.
What Makes This One Different
This piece belongs to the more mechanically ambitious end of the Instrumento family — a rectangular, fluted 18k rose gold case housing a dual jumping-hour display and a retrograde minute hand. Instead of hands sweeping continuously around a dial, the hour changes in an instant jump from one digit to the next, and the minute hand travels across a fan-shaped 0–60 scale before snapping back to zero. A power reserve indicator sits below, letting you watch — literally — how much run time the movement has left.
This combination of complications was introduced by De Grisogono in 2006, and it remains a genuine departure from standard watchmaking. Jumping-hour mechanisms are notoriously difficult to execute cleanly, since the movement has to advance the hour disc instantaneously rather than creeping toward it the way a normal hour hand does. Retrograde displays carry the same kind of added mechanical cost. Neither is something you find in mass-produced watchmaking — they exist because a manufacture chose to make things harder for itself in pursuit of something more interesting to look at.
Built With Real Weight
The case and bracelet are constructed from solid 18k rose gold, with the kind of heavily integrated, articulated lug architecture that gives the watch genuine heft on the wrist rather than the hollow lightness of a fashion piece. Sapphire crystal protects both the dial and the caseback — the latter left open specifically so the self-winding mechanical movement is visible, oscillating at 28,800 vibrations per hour with a 42-hour power reserve. Every part of this watch was designed to be looked at, including the parts most brands hide.
Who This Is For
This is not a watch for someone building a "safe" collection. It's for the man who already owns the expected names and has started looking for the brands that collectors know and everyone else has to ask about. De Grisogono built its reputation on precisely that dynamic — jewellery-house ambition applied to horology, worn by people who want a piece that starts a conversation rather than confirms one.
The Situation
De Grisogono Instrumento pieces trade in a wide range on the secondary market depending on material and complication — simpler steel models can be found for a few thousand euros, while gold and diamond-set examples reach well into five figures. A rose gold piece with this level of mechanical complexity — dual jumping hour, retrograde minute, visible power reserve — sits toward the top of that range, and pristine, fully boxed condition matters enormously in a market this specialized, where buyers are collectors rather than casual browsers.
This piece is being offered in that pristine condition, complete.
Interested? Reach out directly — pieces like this move quickly once collectors know they're available.
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