Baselworld 2014: Peter Speake-Marin Magister Tourbillon

The Magister Tourbillon is both a new timepiece and the first watch in a new collection from independent watchmaker Peter Speake-Marin.  The Magister Tourbillon incorporates several visual cues from Speake-Marin’s very first timepiece – a handmade pocket watch with tourbillon known as the Foundation Watch, which featured the same blued steel hands and tourbillon cage with topping tool motif.

Though the family resemblance is instantly clear, the Magister is sui generis. The tourbillon bridge is fashioned from Durnico maraging steel, an alloy in which nickel, cobalt, molybdenum, and titanium impart superior strength without reducing malleability. The trademark 42 mm Piccadilly case and fluted crown are fashioned from polished Grade 5 titanium, a mixture in which small amounts of aluminum, vanadium and other metals are combined with titanium to create an alloy that is both strong and corrosion-resistant.      

The multi-level dial is elegant white lacquer, and the thin, elongated Roman numerals are emblematic of Speake-Marin’s style. Behind the dial, the SM3 movement is wound by a platinum micro-rotor, producing a 72 hour power reserve that winds down in 25 jewels at the rate of 3 Hz, or 21,600 vph.

Turning the Magister Tourbillon over, the hand-finished movement is visible through a sapphire display back. The offset micro-rotor is mounted directly above the mainspring barrel. The lower tourbillon cage is supported by a paddle-shaped bridge offering a clear view of the tourbillon. The rhodium-finished German silver bridges and movement plates are circular-grained with polished screw heads and countersinks. Text describing technical details is engraved and gilded on the bridges on either side of the rotor.