Best of Tourbillon
SIHH 2017 threw up surprises when it came to combining every watchmaker’s pride, the tourbillon with other mechanisms’. Hiren Kumar Bose on the five tourbillion fusion
IWC Da Vinci Tourbillon Rétrograde Chronograph
IWC’s watchmakers have designed the new in-house 89900 calibre to make this distinctive constellation possible on a single dial: featuring a combination of a classic tourbillon, a chronograph and a retrograde date. The most conspicuous feature of the 18-carat red gold 44mm Da Vinci Tourbillon Rétrograde Chronograph (Ref. IW393101) is the flying tourbillon. The tourbillon cage is bearing-mounted only at one end, on the underside, and is not connected to an upper bridge. The tourbillon also features a technically complex hacking function that guar¬antees down-to-the-second accuracy when setting the watch. When the crown is pulled out, two levers grip the balance rim like a clamp and block the mechanism consist¬ing of the balance, wheel train and hands. New geometry in the pallet and escape wheel combined with diamond shell technology ensures that the watch’s 68-hour power reserve when fully wound is maintained despite the additional complications. Furthermore, the pallet and escape wheel are made of diamond-coated silicon that reduces fric¬tion and thus resistance, which in turn benefits the power reserve. The chronograph function at “12 o’clock” allows stopped times of up to 11 hours and 59 minutes, which can be read off as easily as the time of day. The central seconds hand measures stopped times to an accuracy of one-quarter of a second. The retrograde date display, located on the left-hand side of the dial, shows the date from the 1st to the 31st of the month as it moves across an arc and then, at the end of the scale, reverts to its starting point. In months with fewer than 31 days or when the watch has not been used for a while, the date display can be ad¬vanced rapidly and conveniently using the crown. Compared with a traditional date window, the analogue display turns the passage of time into a much more vivid experience.
Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Minute Repeater Tourbillon
Its original Manufacture movement – Calibre 2755 TMR – combines two major horological complications: the minute repeater and the tourbillon. The prestigious and complex tourbillon serves to compensate for the effects of gravity and thereby enhances the precision of the watch. The minute repeater also testifies to consummate mastery of the watchmaking art and remains one of the most sought-after complications. On demand and at a press on a single pusher, the gongs of the mechanism chime the hours, quarters and minutes. In addition to mastering the technical complexity of this complication, watchmakers must also have an excellent musical ear in order to adjust the gongs as one would an instrument. The 44mm watch’s dial comes in slate grey or silver-toned variations on the platinum models; and is silver-toned for the pink gold version. The hours and minutes hands, made of pink or white gold depending on the versions, are slightly offset towards the upper section of the dial so as to provide more space for the tourbillon carriage appearing in the lower half. The 6 o’clock opening provides a chance to admire the stately dance of the tourbillon, which is all the more entrancing in that the calibre beats at the low frequency of 2.5 Hz, a speed characteristic of traditional watchmaking and providing an opportunity to appreciate the rhythm of its pulsations to the full. Fashioned in the shape of Vacheron Constantin’s Maltese cross emblem, the tourbillon carriage features a hand-polished bar that in itself required around 11 hours of meticulous workmanship. The 58-hour power-reserve indication – with its pink gold pointer whose colour is achieved by a black oxide process – is unusually placed on the back of the watch rather than on the dial. The sapphire crystal caseback reveals the caliber, composed of 471 parts and adorned with 40 jewels, along with its hand-crafted finishes meeting the highest watchmaking standards.
ROGER DUBUIS Excalibur Spider Pirelli – Double Flying Tourbillon
Taking the road less travelled Roger Dubuis unveiled the Excalibur Spider Pirelli – Double Flying Tourbillon, in collaboration with Pirelli. It’s sturdy 47mm-diameter black DLC titanium skeleton case flaunts vulcanised blue rubber accents highlighting its titanium crown and ‘container’, while fans of fine mechanics can enjoy an incredible transparent view of the new RD105SQ hand-wound calibre with its signature blue Astral Skeleton Available exclusively from Roger Dubuis boutiques, the eight pieces in this limited edition come with a two-day VIP program organised by Pirelli at a motorsport race.
GIRARD-PERREGAUX Tri-Axial Planetarium
The 44mm Tri-Axial tourbillon incorporates two captivating, delicately miniature-painted complications: a rotating globe with day/night indication and a precision moon-phase display. The three-dimensional Planetarium watch combines a Tri-Axial tourbillon, a globe performing one full turn in 24 hours and an astronomical moon phase. Girard-Perregaux, which developed an innovative and sophisticated version in 2014 – the Tri-Axial Tourbillon – that joined other previous interpretations such as the bi-axial tourbillon. As its name implies, this high-speed tourbillon is equipped with a regulator operating on three rotation axes instead of just one. This featherweight 1.24-g,140-part movement comprises an inner lyre-shaped carriage performing one rotation per minute. It is fitted inside a structure spinning on a second axis in 30-second cycles. Both are in turn incorporated within a third structure revolving once every two minutes on yet another axis. The result is a mesmerising choreography entirely dedicated to conquering precision. Two astronomical complications join the dance. The globe with its 24-hour rotation provides an instant reading of the time around the world. Set to 12 o’clock (noon), the arrow indicator positioned at the base of the 13 mm-diameter aluminum sphere serves to show where it is daytime on the dial side, and where it is night-time, on the back. Hand-crafted using the miniature painting technique, its cartography depicts the world as it was in 1791, the year the brand was created. The equally micro-painted lunar disc picks up the 17th-century selenography at the time the telescope was invented, beautifully matching the blue shades of the rotating globe and reproducing the moon as we see it. Equipped with a precision mechanism, the astronomical moon-phase indicator requires adjustment only once every 122 years, by means of a dedicated corrector at 2 o’clock. The 48 mm pink gold case has an imposing curved case middle, a beveled bezel, and cambered lugs. Water-resistant to 30m, it is topped by a three-part sapphire crystal, with two domes providing space for the rotation of the tri-axial tourbillon and the globe. The transparent case-back and the side opening in the case ensure a perfect view of this complex mechanism, literally flooding it with light. Equipped with hand-winding Manufacture GP09310-0001 calibre ensuring a 70-hour power reserve, the Planetarium with Tri-Axial tourbillon drives the hours, minutes, moon-phase and day/night functions. These indications are displayed on a guilloché silver-toned dial bearing a motif evoking Earth’s meridians and punctuated by pink gold numerals and hour-markers swept over by dauphine-type hands. This movement visible through the transparent screw-down back is adorned with meticulous hand-crafted finishing and the iconic signature characteristics of the Maison: arrow-shaped bridges, along with the engraved eagle symbol holding the brand insignia. The rear baseplate is sandblasted and black PVD-treated to accentuate the ‘night’ side of the day/night indicator, thus making a striking contrast with the silver-toned guilloché dial.
JAEGER-LECOULTRE Geophysic Tourbillon Universal Time
A flying tourbillon complication on a world timer! Jaeger-LeCoultre has made it possible in this 43.5mm watch. With 26 global cities marked on the outer ring and a secondary ring outside that with the 24-hour indication. The blue portions of the dial represent the oceans and are hand-guillochéd in a wave pattern with a flattened image of the world as the focal point. It’s an automatic movement with a pink-gold winding rotor and 48-hour power reserve. There is an outer ring featuring 24 cities and a secondary ring outside that with a 24-hour indication. The flying tourbillon is placed in the bottom right quadrant of the dial, slightly cutting into the cities ring.
