The Roger Dubuis Orbis in Machina is a central mono-tourbillon, which comes with a challenge: where to put the hands?
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
The H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton Alpine is the result of a collaboration with Alpine Motorsports
The Vacheron Constantin Overseas Tourbillon Titanium is number six in the Overseas collection with a tourbillon, now with a lot of titanium
The A. Lange & Sohne Datograph Perpetual Tourbillon Honeygold Lumen is a limited edition to mark 25 years of the Datograph
The IWC Portugieser Hand-wound Tourbillon Day & Night is a technical showcase with a special dial from volcanic material
Vacheron Constantin
Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Tourbillon Chronograph Collection Excellence Platine
The Vacheron Constantin Traditionnelle Tourbillon Chronograph Collection Excellence Platine is the most platinum watch available, we think
The Jacob & Co. Astronomia Regulateur is a carousel-styled timepiece that shows the hours, minutes and seconds on separate positions
The Bovet Recital 28 Prowess 1 is a technical masterpiece that resolves the problem of daylight saving time (DST) in the world’s time zones
The Louis Erard Le Régulateur Tourbillon x Alain Silberstein Black might be one of the most affordable tourbillons on the market
The MB&F LM FlyingT Onyx is the tenth variant of the FlyingT series, the second that comes in yellow gold and the first with a black onyx dial