The Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Armillary Tourbillon – High Jewellery celebrates the 175th anniversary of Harrods’
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
For those who want to see every tiny move of their watch the H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Tourbillon Skeleton Double Hairspring is a great option
Super light and super shock-resistant is what makes the Richard Mille RM 27-05 Flying Tourbillon Rafael Nadal unique
The Louis Moinet Geopolis Opal is a one-off timepiece by the Swiss brand and focusses on the use of colorful opal on a black background
The Roger Dubuis Excalibur Sunrise Double Tourbillon has no less than 108 radiant gems and is fully skeletonized. All with the renewed RD design
The masters of fluidic watchmaking mechanics present the HYT Conical Tourbillon Panda, a white with black timepiece with unique features
Give your life some color with one of these Carl F. Bucherer Manero Tourbillon Double Peripheral models. Available in blue, green or purple
The full Panerai signature design packed in carbon; this is the Panerai Submersible Tourbillon GMT Luna Rossa Experience Edition
Wearing the Jaeger-LeCoultre Duometre Heliotourbillon Perpetual offers a permanent view on the spinning top effect of the tourbillon
The Piaget Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon 150th Anniversary is the thinnest tourbillon in the world with just 2 millimeters