Do you want to know all about the Tourbillon watch movement? Here’s a comprehensive education!
The watch world is filled with intimidating French words. One you may have seen more often than others is Turbillon. By the way, it’s pronounced ter-bee-yon (and yes, I know that’s not the official dictionary phonetic spelling).
And hey, it’s still easier for non-French speakers to pronounce than Jaeger-LeCoultre.
The tourbillon watch movement is more difficult to build than to spell and pronounce. Well, traditional tourbillons are. And we love it when watchmakers do things old-fashioned, don’t we?
What more do you expect from a movement with a name that literally means whirlwind? Let’s get all the details of the storied Turbillon watch.
Table of Contents
What Is a Tourbillon Movement?
A tourbillon is a mechanism in the watch’s movement that counters the effects of gravity. The escapement and the balance wheel are placed in a rotating tourbillon cage. The rotation counteracts the negative effects that certain positions can put them in that may affect accuracy and precision.
The balance wheel is like the watch’s equivalent of a grandfather clock’s pendulum. It’s a spinning weight, the rotation of which keeps the watch’s time. So, if you’re subjecting that rotation to budging and banging, its performance may be compromised.
The escapement, which is made up of the balance wheel, hairspring, and pallet fork, transforms the energy from rotations into the ticking and tocking of the watch. Again, the mindset behind the tourbillon cage is protecting the performance of the escape from gravity.
With mechanical watches, the rate of gain and loss, when it comes to accuracy, may vary slightly depending on how these mechanisms are jiggling around inside the watch. This is especially so with much older watches, particularly vintage pocket watches.
This includes placing it with its back turned up, or face turned up or laying it on one of its sides. Of course, a reliably-made watch will still, hopefully, stay within its reported loss and gain window.
The hope is that the tourbillon will temper the effects of these position errors.
In modern watchmaking, specifically mechanical watchmaking, there are more advanced ways to handle this concern. This is one of the reasons why Rolex, known for their unmatched horological chops, never released a tourbillon of their own.
However, a tourbillon is still considered a high-end addition to any timepiece because of how beautiful and impressive it is.
Sure, we don’t need tourbillons to fight gravity, but we also don’t need watches to tell time.
Types of Tourbillons
There aren’t really different types of tourbillons in the sense that they all do the same thing. However, beyond the basic version, there are multi-axis tourbillons.
A double-axis tourbillon is mounted in a cage that rotates the balance wheel and escapement on two different axes. Meanwhile, a triple tourbillon rotates it on, you guessed it, three different axes.
Some watches have two escapements and regulators to maintain their rate errors further. When both escapements are placed in a tourbillon cage, this is what’s known as a quadruple tourbillon.
The point of having more axes is to have more control over the regulation simply. It’s like adding more wood to a fire.
Tourbillon Movement Watches: A Brief History
The watchmaker behind several timepieces in Europe’s royal courts, Abraham-Louis Breguet, invented the tourbillon. After years of conceptualization and trial and error, he patented and debuted the regulator in the early 1800s.
The famed Swiss watchmaker would go on to head the development of around 40 tourbillon models. Naturally, these timepieces ended up in the hands of royals and famous adventurers and travelers.
In 1889, Girard-Perregaux built the La Esmeralda pocket watch. It was a tourbillon with the brand’s exquisite gold bridges designed into the regulator.
Innovations and developments continued after World War II. Patek Philippe got into the game around this time. Today, Patek, along with Audemars Piguet, is still making noteworthy tourbillon watches.
Many Patek tourbillons fetch high numbers in the auction world since they’re known for combining gadgetness with elegance. You’ll find several models that combine tourbillons with minute repeaters, perpetual calendars, enamel dials, and generous use of precious metals.
Arguably, Patek is keeping the tradition of the pocket watch origins of the tourbillon alive and well in modern wristwatches.
FAQs
Tourbillons are a complicated mechanism. Here are some simple answers to common questions on the matter!
Why Is a Tourbillon So Special?
Tourbillons are a complex mechanism with a prestigious history. On top of that, they add an aesthetic quality to the watch that combines engineering with visual beauty.
Why Is a Tourbillon So Expensive?
Whether or not you think tourbillons have practical value, they’re undeniably difficult to make. They often require the use of high-end materials, and they certainly always need a skilled watchmaker to assemble and implement them.
Does Rolex Use a Tourbillon?
No, Rolex doesn’t use a tourbillon in any of their models. They’re a relatively conservative watchmaker. It’s safe to say if they haven’t gotten into the tourbillon game now, they likely won’t. Plus, they have other proprietary technologies that focus on regulation.
Conclusion: Are Tourbillons Relevant?
As mentioned, the tourbillon may or may not have any pragmatic use these days. I’ve heard several jokes regarding its main function being to separate its acquirer from as much money as possible.
Again, though, watches aren’t a thing we need these days either. Like watches in general, the tourbillon is prestigious because it’s an exhibition of impressive engineering. It’s an art and a science.
And finally, though I never referred to it as a complication here, there’s some controversy on that matter. It’s not technically a complication the same way a date window or chronograph is. After all, it doesn’t add function but improves it.
Still, I’m of the mindset that how you categorize it doesn’t matter. It does everything else a complication does, including adding visual intrigue and extra zeros to the price tag.
Questions? Comments? Leave them below!
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