When I first started in this crazy watch game, the tourbillon seemed like a mythical creature. It was awesome and mesmerizing but I really had no idea what it did. But I knew liked it. Now that I’ve wrapped my head around it, today I will break down the basic function of the tourbillon complication and explain its allure and significance.
The tourbillon, which is French for “whirlwind”, is a modification to the escapement. It was first designed by the man himself, Abraham-Louis Breguet in the late 18th Century and patented in 1801. Its purpose is to mount the escapement and balance wheel within an enclosed “carriage” to allow free oscillations independent of gravity. The back and forth movement of a balance wheel is the core of a movement’s accuracy, and the tourbillon is essentially a balance wheel that moves in one direction, rotating in its carriage. A full rotation is usually 60 seconds which is why it often doubles as the seconds counter.
Carl F. Bucherer Manero Tourbillon Limited Edition
The original claim of the tourbillion is that since its regulator negates the effects of gravity on the intricacies of a watch’s movement and its parts, it thereby makes the watch more accurate. Since the wheel is always rotating 360-degrees, it wont get stuck, or favor one side or position over the other — the movement is essentially equal throughout the full rotation. Tourbillons were all the rage in the 1800’s amongst those who wanted the most accurate timepiece of the era. That way, they could send a telegram to the Prussian consulate in Siam and still make the afternoon steamship.
Watchmakers believed watches became less and less accurate over time because the movement was constantly in motion. On top of the continuous shifting, rotating, and wear on the parts, they believed gravity played a harsh role and constantly pulled the movement out of sync. Their evidence, true or not, for this was that fixed clocks seemed to keep time better due to their stationary nature. This can still be experienced somewhat even today. Try placing your watch in different positions (face down, face up, on its left side, on its right side) overnight and keep track of its timekeeping, if you have the means to measure it.
The effects of gravity took a toll on watches 200 years ago but thanks to modern matchmaking technology, the tourbillon is not the critical piece to a watch’s accuracy as was once thought. It is an amazing piece of art and engineering but the complication does not add any real benefit to a modern timepiece. It is however still one of the most intricate and hard to manufacture complications a watch can have. This, combined with the historic nature and mechanical beauty, is why it is so sought after, and often why it is so expensive. Mechanical watches of all classes are getting more and more accurate, and aesthetics and mechanical ingenuity are now what identifies masterpieces amongst the masses. One can see that the even now, as it was over 200 years ago, the tourbillon is in a class all itself.
Featured image from Breguet.
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