Blancpain Villeret 12 Day Flying Tourbillon 1 Perhaps no watchmaking complication is as desirable yet simultaneously misunderstood as the tourbillon. Many stories purporting to tell the tale of the device invented by by Abraham-Louis Breguet circa 1795 (patented in 1801) to counter the effects of gravity on the escapement erroneously list it as a function, making it similar to a chronograph, perpetual calendar or minute repeater. This is, of course, untrue because the tourbillon - just going by what it does - is a technical solution to improve timekeeping, not a proper function that can be manipulated by the wearer. One does not activate the tourbillon on demand, for example, to witness the escapement magically defying gravity. Part of the problem is that the presence of the tourbillon is typically indicated by most watch firms in the same space they reserve for actual functions. For example, ....this watch, with tourbillon, shows hours and minutes... This becomes clearer if we think of cars, where the horsepower and engine configuration are frequently touted as integral to the beauty of the machine, even if no potential driver will ever be able to directly influence the system. Lamborghini did manage something impressive in its Aventador, which features cylinder deactivation in its V12 engine... In watchmaking terms, the illustrious A. Lange & Sohne managed to create a system that allows the wearer to actually stop the tourbillon and to date, this is the only watch firm to manage this. The example of the Saxon watchmaker aside, the tourbillon is a kind of timekeeping engine that operates independently of the user. Even a theoretical phyicist like Mark Denny can appreciate the tourbillon for its aesthetic qualities so the fact that this mechanism is largely decorative today should not distract from its appeal. In 2014, we continue to see a virtual avalance of tourbillon wristwatches so we know for certain that the public remains enamoured of this particular complication. This also tells us that the pressure is on to always produce better tourbillons, year after year. Both the SIHH and BaselWorld featured some spectacular models, some of which were very special tourbillons. Aside from standout models from TAG Heuer, Greubel Forsey and Audemars Piguet, to cite just three examples, there are quite a number of tourbillons that we have not made room for yet in 2014. It seems clear though that clever multi-axis numbers are the order of the day, as we have already seen in the Greubel Forsey example. Although the list below - all six watches can be viewed individually - takes into account the latest developments, there is still more to discover. There might be impressive novelties from Patek Philippe (who showed no tourbillons this year) for their 175th anniversary in October this year. Likewise, the Richemont brands will be showcasing new timepieces at Watches and Wonders in Hong Kong.From a mechanical timekeeping perspective, perhaps nothing expresses fine watchmaking visually as the tourbillon mechanism. Invented by Abraham-Louis Breguet circa 1795 to counter the effects of gravity on the escapement, it has the most welcome side effect today of being the most attractive showcase of technical skills in watchmaking. As usual, we list the watches by brand name, alphabetically. 1 / 12 Blancpain Villeret 12 Day Flying Tourbillon - Whats better than a self-winding tourbillon watch with a power reserve of 8 days? For Blancpain, which has had such a watch since 1998, the answer is this new model. Blancpain has managed to improve the power reserve of Calibre 25 by 50 percent, using only a single barrel in this new movement, Calibre 242. This is a 60-second flying tourbillon so the carriage does not have an upper bridge, allowing an unobstructed view of the beautifully and meticulously decorated movement. Before we get to that decoration, it is worth noting that the balance spring and pallet fork horns are in silicon and that all Blancpain movements can be expected to feature this material in the escapement.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 04:16:08 +0000
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