Wyler Genève’s WT3 Tourbillon is the first timepiece to be produced under the new Poinçon du Jura quality label. To meet the Poinçon du Jura criteria, a movement must be 100% Swiss made, and at least 90% of the components must be made in the Jura – the heart of Switzerland’s watchmaking industry. The movement must also be produced by a company that is independent from any watchmaking group.
The plates and bridges for the skeletonized WT3 tourbillon movement are produced individually from blocks of raw material, with no mass production stamping involved. The WT3’s flying tourbillon completes one rotation every 60 seconds from a balance operating at 21,600 vibrations per hour and its manually-wound movement offers a 72-hour power reserve.
The new WT3 models are available with the patented shock-absorbing Code-R case in matt black ceramic or 18-carat white gold. Inside this sandwich case, the movement is housed in a titanium container suspended on springs inside a carbon fiber frame to which the outer plates are fixed by polished titanium screws on the white-gold model and black DLC-coated screws on the ceramic model. The result is the world’s only sprung-mounted, shock-absorbing tourbillon.
The movement is decorated using a secret process described by Wyler as follows: “…11 consecutive operations and treatments are required to transform a solid and irregular sheet of silicium, by layer depositions, coloration by precious material etc., into very precise components within tolerances of one hundredth of a millimetre. The resulting composite lends itself to the decoration of flat surfaces, making it ideal for the decoration of the movement bridges, where it catches the light to draw the eye to the complex mechanism beneath.”
The WT3 Tourbillon is priced at $115,500 in 18K white gold and $110,000 in ceramic. Deliveries to retailers will begin in the next few weeks.
Technical specifications
Functions: Hours, minutes, 60-second tourbillon
Movement: Mechanical manual winding skeleton movement, 72-hour power reserve, 21,600 vibrations/hour, flying tourbillon. Movement bridges decorated with proprietary deposition for which each crystallization is unique
Case: Available in black ceramic or 18-carat white gold, 4 titanium screws
Case middle: Carbon fibre, 2 sapphire crystals
Inner movement case: Titanium, suspended on 4 independent shock absorbers
Water resistant to 100m
Crown: titanium or 18-carat white gold coated with natural rubber, stylised design motif
Crown protector: DLC-coated steel or 18-carat white gold with engraved Wyler logo
Crystal: Scratch-resistant sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating
Back: Screw-on case-back in ceramic or 18-carat white gold with scratch-resistant sapphire crystal aperture
Dimensions: Width: 42 mm
Length: 52 mm
Height: 12.5 mm
Strap: Black rubber with foldover clasp
References:
R05.T3X.00.00.BA001.RBA07.99 – Ceramic case with black rubber strap and PVD steel foldover clasp
R06.T3X.00.00.BA001.RBA07.41 – 18-carat white-gold case with black rubber strap and steel/titanium foldover clasp
