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from top to bottom:
Star Tourbillon El Primero from Zenith, set in white gold and diamonds with an automatic chronograph movement, a tourbillon at 11 o’clock, white gold and mother-of-pearl dial, and black satin strap; Automatic Flying Tourbillon from Perrelet, set in stainless steel, with an off-centre hour and minute display; Piaget Emperador Tourbillon Haute Joaillerie watch in white gold and diamonds, with a handwinding movement, a flying tourbillon and a 40-hour power reserve; Excalibur watch from Roger Dubuis, set in rose gold with a calibre RD08 movement, a flying tourbillon, minute repetition and crocodile-leather strap.
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STORY ROBERTA NAAS
Precision horology hits fever pitch. PART III.
IN this ever expanding world of tourbillons, interesting new offerings continue to amaze and delight. Among the newest introductions is a tourbillon for women and naturally, tourbillons from the best Swiss watchmakers in history.
From Zenith, the Starissima Tourbillon is a stunning work of art both inside and outside. This watch represents the brand’s first haute couture watch as it is set with 230 pure Top Wesselton diamonds weighing 9.8cts. The timepiece houses the El Primero movement, which is the world’s only calibre with a heart beating at 36,600 vibrations per hour, as well as houses a tourbillon escapement. The Zenith Starissima Tourbillon is crafted in 18K gold and feels as wonderful on the wrist as it looks.
Meanwhile, the Piaget Emperador Skeleton Tourbillon is an ultra-thin watch whose tourbillon movement has been intricately carved and etched to superb clarity. At just 3.5mm thick, the Emperador Skeleton is supposedly the slimmest tourbillon movement in the world. Because more than 75% of the metal has been honed away, and because the flying tourbillon carriage features titanium bridges and consists of just 42
elements and weighs 0.2g, this is also one of the lightest tourbillons in the world. It is housed in the elegantly curved Emperador case. Eleven watches will be created in 18K pink gold and 18K white gold.
From Roger Dubuis, the new Excalibur EX 01 Double Flying Tourbillon Jumping Hours Retrograde Minutes is the manufacturer’s first dual tourbillon. The Excalibur EX 01 houses the RD01 calibre – a manually wound mechanical movement that consists of two tourbillons, with a constant force, that rotate in opposite directions. The differential mechanism compensates for errors caused by movement of the wrist in all directions. The 50-jewel, 343-part RD01 movement also offers a jump hour indicator, retrograde minutes and a power reserve indicator. The watch dial features the two tourbillon apertures on the bottom half, and the retrograde minutes on the upper portion on a 1500 arc. The 62hr power reserve indicator is visible on the caseback. It is created in a limited production of 28.
The inventor of the tourbillon, Abraham-Louis Breguet, persevered for decades to fulfil his passion for accurate timing. Today, Breguet continues to craft its tourbillon with a high regard to tradition. The Breguet Classique Grand Complication, Ref. 5317, is a tourbillon with a power reserve indicator of up to 120hrs. Activated by an automatic movement, the watch is crafted in either yellow gold or platinum. The power reserve indicator on the guilloched dial is perfectly aligned with the tourbillon escapement for balance and harmony in design. The watch houses a selfwinding, 32-jewel signed-and-numbered movement with gold rotor. The classically elegant tourbillon features a sapphire crystal caseback and is water resistant to 30m.
Founded in the 1700s by Abraham-Louis Perrelet – who invented the automatic watch concept that is the basis for all automatic timepieces today – Perrelet now offers its new Automatic Flying Tourbillon. The watch houses a hand-finished movement consisting of more than 160 different parts, including a specially developed crystal centre rotor. The world’s first automatic flying tourbillon with off-centre hours and minutes, this watch lets the wearer read the minutes from an outer ring on the dial. An unusual feature is the indication of the seconds, which is given by an outer graduated ring around the tourbillon cage. The rotation of the tourbillon cage, once every 60secs, corresponds to the 60secs of the minute. Additionally, the watch is an official COSC-certified chronometer. The Automatic Flying Tourbillon is offered in steel, 18K rose gold or platinum.
The young deLaCour brand – characterised by its unique dual-movement watches and unusual shapes – unveils the BiTourbillon. The timepiece is individually crafted and houses two flying tourbillons driven by a differential to maintain a constant force. The differential allows the equalisation of the function of the two tourbillons.
The watch offers dual timezone readout with an instantaneous change and moonphase display. The original time display – with two dial apertures – allows for the GMT time readout. The mechanism also features a shooting star that passes furtively in front of the moonphase every 6mins. Designed and conceived of by Pierre Koukjian and developed by watchmaker Christophe Claret, the BiTourbillon has a power reserve of 100hrs and features a sapphire caseback for viewing of the two flying tourbillon movements.
Meanwhile, the world’s top watchmakers from the various brands continue to create tourbillons with better functions and greater complexities. Hold your breath for the next horological wonder.
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