The Jaeger-LeCoultre Geophysic Tourbillon Universal Time is the first time ever a tourbillon is combined with a world timer
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.
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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.
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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.
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Watches with a tourbillon
These are the 16 best watches of 2016. We think. And we have categorized them by topic. Sort of. Here we go!
Over a hundred years of repeater manufacturing: this Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Concept Supersonnerie is their latest milestone
This Ateliers deMonaco Tourbillon Ronde d’Or – Wat Arun is dedicated to the most famous temple of Thailand, the Wat Arun in Bangkok
The Zenith El Primero Tourbillon Skeleton Intense Black combines sinister looks with great technology. Almost everything is black
The Cartier Rotonde De Cartier Minute Repeater Mysterious Double Tourbillon combines a couple of prestigious complications
The Jaeger-LeCoultre Duomètre Sphérotourbillon is one out of three new Jaeger-LeCoultre models within the Duomètre collection
The Bell & Ross BR-X1 Tourbillon Sapphire shows you everything possible of the watch as its 45-millimeters case is fully transparent
Revived in 2015 and price-winning in 2016: this is the La Chronométrie Ferdinand Berthoud FB 1 Chronometer. Time for some history
The Patek Philippe Ref. 5016A was Patek’s contribution to the Only Watch edition 2015. It is a unique piece sold for more than 7 million