Showing at WatchTime New York 2017: Antoine Preziuso Chronometer Tourbillon of Tourbillons

America’s largest luxury watch show, WatchTime New York, returns to Manhattan’s Gotham Hall on October 13-14 (Click here for event details and to purchase tickets). For the first time, independent Swiss complications specialist Antoine Preziuso will be among the exhibitors, showcasing his groundbreaking AFP-TTR-3X Chronometer “Tourbillon of Tourbillons.”

The watch — the product of a decade-long collaboration between Preziuso, a Geneva native with Italian roots who has been been making watches under his own name since 1991, and his son, Florian — is distinguished by its three tourbillons on a revolving plate, governed by a central planetary triple differential, and its use of the world’s smallest ball bearing, just 1.6 mm in diameter, in its manual-winding movement.

Preziuso has obtained three patents for the Chronometer Tourbillon of Tourbillons, each of which plays a role in the watch’s timekeeping accuracy:

Multiple Tourbillons on a Revolving Plate: Each of the the three independent regulating tourbillons — separated by three masselottes made of meteorite, which Preziuso has been using in his timepieces since 2002 — completes one rotation per minute, at a faster rhythm than the plate, which completes six rotations per hour, or one rotation every ten minutes. The speed at which the tourbillons rotate is accelerated by this double revolution. The tourbillons are placed equidistant from the center of the plate, with their respective axes forming an equilateral triangle; the three cages, rotating on different axes and at variable speeds, enhances the movement’s isochronism.

Resonance: The closeness of the three tourbillons, and their positions on the plate, enable them to resonate, and naturally adopt an identical frequency through a phenomenon known as “synchronism.” When the tourbillons start to resonate, their amplitude increases significantly and in a manner perceptible to the naked eye. The system as a whole thus forms a single regulator, vibrating at a stable frequency of 21,600 vph (3 Hz).

Triple-Differential or Synchronizer: The watch’s brain,” the central planetary differential, distributes a constant flow of energy from the movement’s double barrel to the three tourbillons, through the center of the watch, without affecting the axis of the hands. It is also designed to react if one of the tourbillons stops working and correct any variations in frequency. As mentioned, the movement boasts the tiniest ball-bearing in the world — barely 1.6mm in diameter — among its 570 components, as well as 65 jewels.

Preziuso points out that the watch is “imbued with the symbolism of the figure 3,” noting the three tourbillons, 3-Hz frequency, the triple differential, the three meteorite masselottes, the 60-second revolutions of the tourbillons on their axes, and the six revolutions per hour made by the plate.

This triple-tourbillon movement is visible through a sapphire caseback, allowing the wearer to view the plethora of hand-finished parts, including bridges enhanced with côtes de Genève, and the series-coupled barrels that amass the watch’s 65-hour power reserve. Also on display are three jewels at 6 o’clock and three smaller jewels at 12 o’clock, a further nod to the symbolism of the number “3.”

The Antoine Preziuso Chronometer Tourbillon of Tourbillons is housed in a round, 48-mm-diameter case made of 18k rose gold, with a sapphire crystal over the openworked dial and a gold crown with an engraved “AFP” inscription (for “Antoine, Florian Preziuso,” marking the timepiece as the product of a family business). It comes on a crocodile leather strap with a gold folding buckle.

If you’d like the rare opportunity to see how this exceptional and rarely seen timepiece looks and feels on your own wrist, click here to reserve your spot at WatchTime New York 2017!