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Is the mighty tourbillon going down?
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Is the mighty tourbillon going down?

Sunday, 05 February 2017
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Carol Besler
Journalist

“Watches are functional art.”

Carol Besler covers watches and jewelry worldwide.

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4 min read

Some say we are now living in a post-luxury world, and if it’s true, we may be seeing the last of the tourbillons. This difficult, beautiful and expensive complication became the symbol of the now-waning 20-year boom in luxury watches. Have we encountered a luxury apocalypse? If so, these five great tourbillons introduced at SIHH 2017 may be the last of a dying species.

Piaget has a knack for creating unisex watches, largely because of its ultra-thin movements and sleek styling. The Piaget Altiplano Tourbillon High Jewellery makes a great men’s or ladies’ watch. It combines the minimalist dial so loved by purists, a tourbillon escapement for complication geeks, a flinqué enamel dial for lovers of métiers and a bezel set with 2.5 carats of baguette diamonds for those who appreciate quality bling – baguette cuts are seen as more masculine, perhaps because of the angles, and are therefore often used in men’s watches; women of course prefer all diamond cuts. The watch is a very wearable 41mm wide and 7.4mm thick, making it ideal for either men’s or women’s wrists. This is a boutique-only limited edition of 38 pieces, and contains the ultra-thin, manual-wound Caliber 670P. It is one of several watches that celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Altiplano collection, which is inscribed on the caseback.

Piaget Altiplano Tourbillon High Jewellery
Piaget Altiplano Tourbillon High Jewellery
Combining tourbillons

By contrast, Girard Perregaux’s Tri-Axial Tourbillon Planetarium is gigantic, at 48mm wide and 18.66mm thick – 21.52mm thick if you include the dome over the globe. As a tri-axial tourbillon, it is spectacular, yet the escapement is overshadowed here by the decorative, hand-painted moon-phase indicator and large globular day/night indicator. The globe turns once every 24 hours as an arrow indicates where in the world it is day time. Night time is indicated on the back, where the globe is also visible. In a great trick borrowed from the concept of the prong setting in jewelling, there is a window on the case side allowing light to flood into the assembly, illuminating the entire works. The hand-wound Caliber GP09310-0001 has a tourbillon escapement that rotates on three axes, one at 60 seconds, another at 30 seconds and one every two minutes.

Girard Perregaux Tri-Axial Tourbillon Planetarium
Girard Perregaux Tri-Axial Tourbillon Planetarium

Cartier also combines a tourbillon with other complications this year. The Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater Mysterious Double Tourbillon adds a minute repeater and its iconic mysterious movement – a first-ever combo for the brand. It contains the Geneva Seal Caliber 9407, treated with dramatic black rhodium plating. The tourbillon carriage, in addition to rotating once every 60 seconds, is lodged in a sapphire disk that completes one rotation every five minutes. The gongs and hammers of the minute repeater are visible at 6 o’clock. A silencer ensures a clear chime, free of the sounds of the governor that regulates the chime. The square-profile gongs, made of hardened steel, create a richer, more consistent sound says Cartier, because they provide a more precise surface for the hammers to hit. The watch is a limited edition of 50 pieces.

Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater Mysterious Double Tourbillon.
Rotonde de Cartier Minute Repeater Mysterious Double Tourbillon
Signature pieces

Montblanc’s Exo Tourbillon Rattrapante combines the signature developments of its high watchmaking workshop in Villeret, a manufacture that has produced watches under the Minerva brand since 1858. The Exo Tourbillon bridge famously takes a full week to hand finish. The “Exo” in the name (Greek for “outside”) refers to the balance wheel, which is positioned outside of the tourbillon cage. This allows the cage to be smaller and lighter, and combined with the fact that it rotates once every four minutes, means it uses 30% less energy than a conventional tourbillon. This leaves enough power to efficiently run the rattrapante. The dial plate is made of solid gold, with a grey grené (grained) base finish. It’s also a dual timer, with home time in a subdial at 6 o’clock and a day/night indicator.

Montblanc Exo Tourbillon Rattrapante
Montblanc Exo Tourbillon Rattrapante

The A. Lange & Söhne Tourbograph Perpetual is the most complicated so far of the Pour le Mérite series, which is made with a fusée and chain constant force system. The tourbillon and rattrapante chronograph are now joined by a perpetual calendar with moon phase, for a watch that is 43mm by 16.6mm. Integrating a perpetual calendar created extra depth for the case – the perpetual calendar is built on top of the other functions, under the dial plate – so the bridge is deeply stepped in order to reach from the dial to the escapement. This adds a depth to the Mérite series not seen before. It contains the new hand-wound Caliber L133.1, which you can see through the caseback, including the two column wheels that control the rattrapante chronograph functions and the brand’s signature engraved balance cock. It is a limited edition of 50 pieces.

The Lange & Söhne Tourbograph Perpetual Pour le Mérite
The Lange & Söhne Tourbograph Perpetual Pour le Mérite
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