Today marks the birthday of the patent for Abraham Louis-Breguet’s most famous invention, the tourbillon, so what better time to re-visit our post-Baselworld 2014 feature on this year’s most interesting, clever, and daring variations on the now-ubiquitous tourbillon watch? Scroll down to get the scoop on seven notable new tourbillon watches making their debut this year.
For its Breguet Classique Tourbillon Quantième Perpetuel, which combines a tourbillon with a perpetual calendar, Breguet (the modern brand named for the tourbillon’s inventor) strove for an intuitive display of the indications by lifting the hours and minutes chapter to the foreground of the dial, above the one-minute tourbillon at 6 o’clock. A triple hand on the tourbillon cage indicates the seconds, a subdial at 9 o’clock with an engine-turned wave pattern shows the days, and a blued steel hand at 3 o’clock points to the months on another subdial with an engine-turned sunburst finish. At this subdial’s center, a blue sun provides the leap year indication. For more on this watch (including live photos taken at Baselworld), click here.
TAG Heuer’s Monaco V4 Tourbillon, the next generation of the brand’s game-changing Monaco V4, uses a system of micro-belts — just 0.7 mm thick, thinner than a single human hair — to drive the tourbillon cage rather than traditional gears. The result, TAG claims, is no backlash on the tourbillon and a more fluid rotation of its cage. The timepiece is also equipped with an automatic, linear “railroad” rewinding system, as opposed to a more traditional swinging rotor. Click here for more details and photos of the TAG Heuer Monaco V4 Tourbillon.
Another of Baselworld’s most talked-about watches was the Girard-Perregaux Tri-Axial Tourbillon.Its tourbillon mechanism is designed on three planes, rather than the traditional one, and uses a triple-cage tourbillon for which a domed lens needed to be integrated into sapphire crystal to provide extra space. The regulation of the movement occurs on three separate axes: a traditional tourbillon at the center, making one rotation every 60 seconds; which is integrated into a structure on a second axis, rotating every 30 seconds; with both then inserted into another system, on yet a third axis, which makes one rotation every two minutes. Click here for more details.
Bulgari wowed Baselworld visitors with the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Tourbillon, which currently claims the title of “world’s thinnest tourbillon.” Its movement is only 1.95 mm thick — thinner than a Swiss five-franc coin — and its case measures a mere 5 mm thick. To achieve this horological milestone, Bulgari’s watchmakers devised a solution that includes two bridges, one for the minute wheel and one for the gear train of the tourbillon cage, and uses ball bearings — instead of jewels — for many of the moving parts. More details on the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon and its movement can be found here.
Dubey & Schaldenbrand unveiled a “masterpiece” watch at the fair that combined haute horlogeriewith haute joallerie. The Dubey & Schaldenbrand Coeur Blanc (“white heart”) is set with an astonishing 709 “invisible-set” baguette diamonds, including 255 on the dial, 400 on the case and lugs, and 54 on the buckle. The in-house-developed movement has a tourbillon cage, showcasing the balance wheel beating at 21,600 vph, at 6 o’clock. Skeletonized blued steel hands complete the glittering picture. Only three pieces of the Coeur Blanc will be made.
Blancpain introduced the world’s first self-winding tourbillon movement with an eight-day power reserve, Caliber 25, in 1988. The brand now takes its tourbillon technology to the next level with its new Blancpain Villeret Tourbillon, powered by the new Caliber 242, which features automatic winding and a power reserve of 12 days from a single spring barrel. An aperture at 12 o’clock on thegrand feu enamel dial (with painted Roman numerals) offers a view of the flying tourbillon cage. The watch is a limited, numbered edition, in either a platinum or rose-gold case.
Aficionados of high-complication watches have recently taken notice of Arnold & Son, which introduced a new triple-threat timepiece at Baselworld. In a first for the brand, the Arnold & Son Royal TEC1 combines a tourbillon, a column-wheel chronograph and an automatic winding system in its sophisticated Caliber A&S8305, one of five entirely new movements it introduced at the fair. In the movement’s unconventional architecture, the tourbillon escapement occupies the entire top portion of the dial, from 10 o’clock to 2 o’clock, in a large aperture that offers a three-dimensional view of the rotating tourbillon cage. The lower portion of the dial is dominated by the chronograph function, with the 60-minutes counter strategically located at 6 o’clock for a balanced look. Three versions will be available, in a rose-gold case with anthracite dial (pictured), a palladium case with silvery white dial, and a 250th anniversary limited edition (of 28) with rose-gold case and blue lacquered guilloché dial.
source: http://www.watchtime.com/
For its Breguet Classique Tourbillon Quantième Perpetuel, which combines a tourbillon with a perpetual calendar, Breguet (the modern brand named for the tourbillon’s inventor) strove for an intuitive display of the indications by lifting the hours and minutes chapter to the foreground of the dial, above the one-minute tourbillon at 6 o’clock. A triple hand on the tourbillon cage indicates the seconds, a subdial at 9 o’clock with an engine-turned wave pattern shows the days, and a blued steel hand at 3 o’clock points to the months on another subdial with an engine-turned sunburst finish. At this subdial’s center, a blue sun provides the leap year indication. For more on this watch (including live photos taken at Baselworld), click here.
TAG Heuer’s Monaco V4 Tourbillon, the next generation of the brand’s game-changing Monaco V4, uses a system of micro-belts — just 0.7 mm thick, thinner than a single human hair — to drive the tourbillon cage rather than traditional gears. The result, TAG claims, is no backlash on the tourbillon and a more fluid rotation of its cage. The timepiece is also equipped with an automatic, linear “railroad” rewinding system, as opposed to a more traditional swinging rotor. Click here for more details and photos of the TAG Heuer Monaco V4 Tourbillon.
Another of Baselworld’s most talked-about watches was the Girard-Perregaux Tri-Axial Tourbillon.Its tourbillon mechanism is designed on three planes, rather than the traditional one, and uses a triple-cage tourbillon for which a domed lens needed to be integrated into sapphire crystal to provide extra space. The regulation of the movement occurs on three separate axes: a traditional tourbillon at the center, making one rotation every 60 seconds; which is integrated into a structure on a second axis, rotating every 30 seconds; with both then inserted into another system, on yet a third axis, which makes one rotation every two minutes. Click here for more details.
Bulgari wowed Baselworld visitors with the Bulgari Octo Finissimo Tourbillon, which currently claims the title of “world’s thinnest tourbillon.” Its movement is only 1.95 mm thick — thinner than a Swiss five-franc coin — and its case measures a mere 5 mm thick. To achieve this horological milestone, Bulgari’s watchmakers devised a solution that includes two bridges, one for the minute wheel and one for the gear train of the tourbillon cage, and uses ball bearings — instead of jewels — for many of the moving parts. More details on the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon and its movement can be found here.
Dubey & Schaldenbrand unveiled a “masterpiece” watch at the fair that combined haute horlogeriewith haute joallerie. The Dubey & Schaldenbrand Coeur Blanc (“white heart”) is set with an astonishing 709 “invisible-set” baguette diamonds, including 255 on the dial, 400 on the case and lugs, and 54 on the buckle. The in-house-developed movement has a tourbillon cage, showcasing the balance wheel beating at 21,600 vph, at 6 o’clock. Skeletonized blued steel hands complete the glittering picture. Only three pieces of the Coeur Blanc will be made.
Blancpain introduced the world’s first self-winding tourbillon movement with an eight-day power reserve, Caliber 25, in 1988. The brand now takes its tourbillon technology to the next level with its new Blancpain Villeret Tourbillon, powered by the new Caliber 242, which features automatic winding and a power reserve of 12 days from a single spring barrel. An aperture at 12 o’clock on thegrand feu enamel dial (with painted Roman numerals) offers a view of the flying tourbillon cage. The watch is a limited, numbered edition, in either a platinum or rose-gold case.
Aficionados of high-complication watches have recently taken notice of Arnold & Son, which introduced a new triple-threat timepiece at Baselworld. In a first for the brand, the Arnold & Son Royal TEC1 combines a tourbillon, a column-wheel chronograph and an automatic winding system in its sophisticated Caliber A&S8305, one of five entirely new movements it introduced at the fair. In the movement’s unconventional architecture, the tourbillon escapement occupies the entire top portion of the dial, from 10 o’clock to 2 o’clock, in a large aperture that offers a three-dimensional view of the rotating tourbillon cage. The lower portion of the dial is dominated by the chronograph function, with the 60-minutes counter strategically located at 6 o’clock for a balanced look. Three versions will be available, in a rose-gold case with anthracite dial (pictured), a palladium case with silvery white dial, and a 250th anniversary limited edition (of 28) with rose-gold case and blue lacquered guilloché dial.
source: http://www.watchtime.com/
