The Girard-Perregaux Tourbillon with Three Bridges 40 mm shows GP’s heritage as the basics come from the 1860s
The tourbillon (which is French for “whirlwind”) is an extra mechanism to the escapement of a watch. It aims to counter the effects of gravity by mounting the escapement and balance wheel in a rotating cage. This negates the effect of gravity when the timepiece, thus the escapement, is stuck in a certain position. Because of the continuous rotation of the entire balance wheel and escapement assembly positional errors are averaged out.
.
The tourbillon was developed around 1795 and patented by the French-Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet on June 26, 1801 as an attempt to improve accuracy.
.
The (mechanical) mechanisms of modern watches are so accurate that a tourbillon is not really necessary. Still, they can be found on (mostly expensive) watches, but more as a demonstration of watchmaking virtuosity.
.
Watches with a tourbillon
The Parmigiani Fleurier Bugatti Type 390 is a tribute to the newest Bugatti car named Chiron. Just like the car: extravagant and cool
A mouth full: the Bovet Récital 20 Astérium 10-day Flying Tourbillon Night Sky Annual Calendar with Astronomical Functions
The Ferdinand Berthoud FB 1.3 Chronometer is the third execution of the FB 1 Chronometer and comes in a platinum case
The IWC Portofino Hand-Wound Tourbillon Retrograde is one of the most high-end Portofino’s from Schaffhausen
This Roger Dubuis Excalibur Spider Double Flying Tourbillon is big (47 millimeters), impressive and inspired by super cars
The F.P. Journe Tourbillon Souverain Calibre 1403 is available in 38 or 40 millimeters, and in pink gold or platinum
Audemars Piguet
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph Selfwinding Color Editions
The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph Selfwinding is now available in four funky colors – all limited
The Girard-Perregaux Laureato Tourbillon is the top model in the new collection, still following the traditional design characteristics
The Bovet Ottantasei Flying Tourbillon comes in two limited editions: a titanium blue version and a bronze PVD version