Posts Tagged ‘Tourbillon’
3350 Breguet Tourbillon in Yellow Gold
The tourbillon makes no sense in the modern context. It’s designed to counteract the pull of gravity, down, on a balance. In a pocket watch, that’s great, because it’s always vertical. But in wristwatches, well, it’s about as useful as a chocolate teapot. Nonetheless, a rotating tourbillon cage does provide quite the visual drama and…
Read MoreFP Journe T30 Tourbillon Historique
Albert Camus once wrote that ‘a true masterpiece does not tell everything.’ There is beauty in artistry, but perhaps even more in mystery. Journe’s T30 has a magic about it, not because of what is revealed at first glance, beautiful though it is, but because of its unimaginable depth in engineering, finishing, and story it…
Read More0023 Blancpain Villeret Flying Tourbillon
Nineties Blancpain is a distinct beast entirely, from all of horology. Famously, toward the ceasefire of the quartz crisis, Blancpain ran ads claiming ‘since 1735, Blancpain has never produced a quartz watch and we never will.’ Jean-Claude Biver and Jacques Piguet may not have quite singlehanded dragged Swiss mechanical watchmaking into the modern era, but that…
Read MoreDB28TRS De Bethune Tourbillon
The DB28 is modern De Bethune’s halo offering. It has won all the awards, sustained market interest, and was perhaps the brand’s most audacious project of all time. In the wake of that success, De Bethune have been iterating and, year on year, offering slightly more niche DB28s in smaller quantities. De Bethune are an…
Read More3357 Breguet Tourbillon in White Gold
Breguet: the name itself is enough to weaken the knees of those who care about history. Yet, when I said Breguet, what came to mind? Chances are it was one of two things: either the Marie-Antoinette pocket watch and other unimaginably unattainable relics of horology’s blossoming or things like the Chaumet-era 2310 chronographs. Perhaps even…
Read More1 of 20 H. Moser & Cie ‘Funky Blue’ Endeavor Tourbillon ‘Concept’
If you’re going to be an expert of marketing, you’d better be able to back it up. Thankfully, the work of H. Moser & Cie is about the furthest thing from a façade possible. Possibly best known as being masters of the gorgeous fumé dial, Moser back up the aesthetic with beautifully-finished, technically-competent calibres. If you take…
Read MoreBrass FP Journe Tourbillon Souverain
Watchmakers like FP Journe, Philippe Dufour, and Roger Smith each carry individual philosophies that take time to understand. However, while infinitely esteemed and laudable watchmakers, Dufour and Smith are not in the collector zeitgeist in the same way that Journe is today. The former are names whispered only in the corners of auctions rooms and…
Read MoreAudemars Piguet 25643 Sun-Ray Tourbillon Automatique
Something very interesting was posted to AVW this morning. That is not to say their inventory is not interesting, there is almost always something very appetizing for a horological nerd whenever I check in. Perhaps one for the more eclectic among you, this ‘sun-ray’ dialed AP is the first self-wound tourbillon. A wild and original…
Read MoreAn FP Journe TN Tourbillon in Double Rose Gold
The phrase grail watch gets thrown around a lot these days. I’ve heard the term applied to Tudor Big Blocks, Doxa No Ts, Seiko Spacewalks, and the last Speedmaster article I wrote. It seems to me, however, that when a piece is truly a grail no one need say it outright. The headline for this…
Read MoreAn FP Journe Vertical Souverain Tourbillon
Describing technical innovation within a largely antiquated art is a mildly-hilarious thing. However, to properly describe this Journe, that is the task I have been set. The tourbillon is a complication which constantly rotates an escapement to even the effects of gravity on its balance spring. I’d refer you to this article by Breguet if…
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