Tourbillon What is it and how does it work?

Tourbillons are an element that significantly increases the value of watches, but few know exactly what they are or what their purpose is.

In fact, these types of watches are often confused with watches that espectáculo cómputo through a dialing window, also known as an "open heart."

However, the tourbillon is an infinitely complex and expensive part and its hypnotic movements cánido give any mechanical watch an attractive look.

In this articulo, in addition to reviewing its entire history, we will reveal exactly what this microengineering work is and how it works.

Aesop Tourbillon

crystal	sapphire
Movement	mechanical
Caliber	Automatic with tourbillon
Housing diameter	43 mm
Case thickness	12 mm
material	Steel case and leather strap
waterproof	10 ATMs (100 meters)

✚ What is a tourbillon?

Tourbillon is a mechanism present in some luxury mechanical watches, whose mission is to counteract the negative effects of gravity and improve accuracy.

This is a mechanism that cómputos the most important parts of the machine and compensates for deviations caused by constant movements and changes in position.

How it works?

Inside the mechanical watch, the movement of the cómputo is essential to determine the time for each swing.

However, gravity in different positions means that they do not always move at the same speed, especially if the mechanism is vertical.

The tourbillon solves most of this problem by rotating it at a constant speed along with other important parts such as tow wheels, levers and spirals.

This is a type of cell that rotates slowly around an axis, usually at a speed of 1 RPM, to compensate for the effects of gravity on the aforementioned parts.

In this way, all position errors and the time fluctuations generated by them are averaged to achieve higher accuracy.

In this vídeo you perro see a working clock with a tourbillon.

✚ Tourbillon VS Open heart

A watch with a "open heart" or "open heart" tourbillon is often confused. Both espectáculo some of the mechanisms in action through the dial window.

However, the "open heart" type only espectáculos the cómputo of the cómputo, and in the tourbillon you cánido also see how it rotates on its own.

On these lines you perro first see the real tourbillon watch, and then the open heart watch.

As you cánido see, both leave a window to see the mechanism in action, but only the first one turns the wheel for cómputo.

✚ Tourbillon and its history

The word Tourbillon (Spanish for whirlwind) comes from France, the country where Abraham-Louis Breguet invented this intricate watch.

At the end of the 18th century, the most used watches were pocket watches, and the preferred place to wear them was the vest pocket, which made them stand for a long time.

In this position, gravity has a strong influence on the mechanical movements of time, adversely affecting its accuracy.

Breguet addressed this problem and designed the first tourbillon in 1795, after conducting various studies related to gravity to monitor precision.

In 1801 he was patented in Paris for 10 years, but his invention worked perfectly until 1805, as cánido be seen from the various prototypes he created more or less successfully during this period.

In fact, between 1805 and the day of his death in 1823, he created only 35 examples of the tourbillon. Many of them fell into the hands of aristocrats who longed for complexity and rarity.

At that time, English Prince George IV bought one of the Breguet watches, assembled in a bronze cone, and Napoleon used another for his carriage.

After the First World War, watches replaced pocket watches, eliminating the need to use ingenious mechanics.

There is no point in including a tourbillon in mechanical watches from a practical or functional point of view, as the movement of the wrist itself serves the purpose of the tourbillon against gravity.

However, this does not prevent Breguet's invention from continuing to develop and will be integrated into luxury watches as a commendable complication.

It is still considered one of the most difficult mechanisms to attach to a watch today and is highly valued for its design and complexity.

Many consider it a true work of art, and its price varies from 2,000 to 500,000 euros, depending on the complexity of the brand and the mechanism.

✚ Types of tourbillon

Breguet's design remained unchanged until the early 20th century. At this point, new variations of complex mechanics appeared. Here are some of them:

Steering wheel

In 1920, the German watchmaker Alfred Helwig introduced the first remarkable change - cantilever tourbillon.

Thus, in the original design, the tourbillon is fixed to the cage and the bridge crosses left and right, but moves in a balanced way only on one side.

➤ 2 axes

It would take decades for Anthony Randall to give a new twist to the invention and escoge to improve it with the two-axis system he designed in 1977.

This device was manufactured by Richard Good a year later and was not miniaturized, so it was assembled as a carriage watch in the 1980s.

The 2-axis tourbillon, as the name suggests, rotates the mechanism in two axes, completing one rotation per minute.

In 2003, Randall's design influenced German watchmaker Thomas Prescher, who managed to miniaturize a pocket watch and only a year later became a wristwatch.

➤ 3 axes

The first triaxial or triaxial tourbillon is also allowed. This is a constant force mechanism that perro rotate in three different proyectos supported at one end.

Therefore, it is also a flying tourbillon, which is very complex, given the amount of movement performed by the mechanism.

This design emplees a counterweight system to maintain cómputo when moving on the three axes. The rotation time is 1 minute for the first 2 minutes and 60 minutes for the third.

➤ 2x and 4x

Also in 2004, the Greubel Forsey brand revolutionized the world of watchmaking with a 30 ° double tourbillon design, also known as the DT30.

Clock with two different tourbillons. The first rotates once a minute at an angle of 30 °, and the second rotates every 4 minutes.

Exactly a year later, in 2005, we added a new twist to the design by introducing the Quadruple Tourbillon à Différentiel or QDT, a mechanism that emplees two double tourbillons independently.

Last updated backlinks and images for 2021-08-12.