Watches with Tourbillon movements are now more accessible than ever before. So, what exactly is a Tourbillon movement, and why is a Tourbillon watch something you should add to your collection? Let’s find out more about this complicated set of micro-engineered features whose name refers to a whirlwind or, to put it more aptly, whirling around. When a watch movement has a Tourbillon, the regulating system is enclosed within a cage and rotates around its axis. What is the reason? It is due to gravity’s effect on watch movements’ delicate balance springs. In particular, this is true of pocket watches since they remain vertical. It is countered by the Tourbillon, which exerts a constant gravitational effect on the mechanism that averages out rate errors. Tourbillon watches were an important innovation in 1795 when they were invented. In turn, though the accuracy of Tourbillons is less precise for wristwatches, their microengineering and artistry make them a popular component of some of the most expensive luxury watches.
Who Invented The Tourbillon?
Breguet was a famous watchmaker in history, and he is credited with creating the Tourbillon in 1795 and patented it in Paris on 26 June 1801. Since then, numerous variations have emerged for the Tourbillon. In addition to Tourbillons that fly, some Tourbillons rotate at varying speeds, a triple-axis Tourbillon, and Tourbillons that are shock-resistant. It is even possible to find inclined Tourbillons and Tourbillon watches with up to four carriages. However, since the widespread use of wristwatches and modern watchmaking development, Tourbillons have lost much of their value as accuracy enhancers.
So, How Does A Tourbillon Watch Work?
How does a Tourbillon work? Breguet discovered that gravity affected watches, but Tourbillons counteracted this by averaging errors out. Any timekeeping function beyond essential minutes and seconds is not complicated (no matter how complex or straightforward the Tourbillon is). In The Magic of Watches: A Smart Introduction to Fine Watchmaking, Louis Nardin describes watching mechanisms as complex mechanisms — including the escapement, balance spring, and regulating system — enclosed within a micro-engineered cage weighing approximately one gram.
Flying Tourbillons
Typically, Tourbillons are placed between a removable bridge and a movement’s baseplate. On flying Tourbillons, however, the cage is usually attached at one point on the back. As a result, the Tourbillon can be viewed better because the bridge isn’t present, and it can be positioned slightly proud of the movement.
Multi Axis Tourbillons
For multi axis Tourbillons, the cage itself is integrated with various rotating systems so that the escapement rotates along two or three axes to mix the different positions of the regulator more effectively. As with Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Gyro Tourbillon, you can then combine multiple axes with a flying Tourbillon.
Multiple Tourbillons
There is some debate about whether multiple Tourbillons improve accuracy (by averaging each other’s errors). However, one thing is for sure — the “wow factor” is raised. To better understand what I mean, see what Antoine Preziuso wrote with his acclaimed “Tourbillon of Tourbillons.”
What Makes Tourbillon Watches So Expensive
Currently, watches with Far Eastern sourced Tourbillons can be found for a fraction of the cost they once were — a reasonable starting price point for a good watch is about $1,500. But what makes it so expensive is its rarity, technical complexity, finishing, and watch brand name.
Rarity, Technical Complexity And Finishing
The high cost of Tourbillons has been attributed to their rarity, technical complexity, finishing, miniaturization, and the time required to craft them. As the saying goes, it takes a Tourbillon time to measure time accurately. When it comes to features designed as focal points, high-quality finishing is the norm except for the cheapest. The pivots are burnished to perfection, and the balance wheels are accurately matched to the coiled-and-pinned balances. Costly heat-treatment is required to make carriages, but steel’s proneness to distortion dictates expensive alloys. Lastly, in a field where mind-boggling precision is already the norm, everything must be precisely machined, along with labor-intensive dynamic positioning and balance adjustments.
Closing Thoughts
For modern watch companies, Breguet’s invention was not only practical at its time but still mesmerizing today. Quartz watches today do not even pose the greatest threat to mechanical watches. Tourbillons’ most significant advantage is not that they keep time well but that they do it beautifully.
