The incredible offering from Gruebel Forsey is less a watch, more an actual work of wrist-worn sculpture. Initially issued last year in a run of just 22 white and red gold pieces, it’s more recently seen the light of the day in platinum, and once again supplies are extremely limited (only 11 made to be precise). Crafted around Gruebel Forsey’s famous Double Tourbillon 30-degree mechanism, the startling display takes in hours and minutes as measured by the red and blue markers, a dedicated seconds counter and an indicator for its 72-hours of power reserve. The artistry continues on the caseback, which bears a potted history of the Invention Piece One’s development painstakingly engraved in gold.

This is a super strong and an ultra light watch. Carbon fiber has long been the preferred material for high-performance applications that demand sturdiness. Formula 1 race race cars, America’s Cup Yachts, and even aerospace vehicles have fully leveraged the material’s technical properties. Until recently, however, many watch designers used the matte-black, swirl-textured composite primarily for decorative accents.

Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet pioneered the use of carbon fiber for function as well as form. The company’s 2006 Maserati MC12 Tourbillon Chronograph featured a baseplate shaped from condensed carbon fiber, and the 2007 Royal Oak Offshore Alinghi Team Chronograph incorporated an unusually hard carbon-fiber bezel and case that were crafted using a special forging technique. Due out next year, the $231,000 US Royal Oak Carbon Concept Tourbillon and Chronograph is Audemar’s lattest offering that uses the material.

The Royal Oak Carbon Concept is surprisingly light thanks to materials such as forged carbon, amorphous carbon coatings, ceramics, titanium, and anodized aluminum, which forms the watch’s green central bridge. The absence of a dial provides a full view of the hand-wound Caliber 2895 movement’s key components: the tourbillon carriage which is comprising of more that 70 parts yet weighing only 0.45 grams, and the column wheel which is the chronograph’s nerve center. Included is also a 30 minute linear minute counter consisting of two columnar scales with tens of minutes on the left and sing minutes on the right. A price tag of $251,100 US this watch takes you to a different level. Only 30 to 40 of these watches will be made per year.