Tourbillon

FEATURE

Progress Through Technology: 10 Tourbillon Watches with High-Tech Designs

Audi’s "progress through technology" motto also applies to the importance of the tourbillon for watch design, because this eye-catching complication greatly enhances a timepiece’s visual appeal. From our Special Design Issue, here are 10 highly technical tourbillon watches.

Read the article

Aug 13, 2022 by Alexander Krupp

Sponsored: Turn Your Watch Collection into a Revolving Line of Credit

Quickly gaining access to capital can be a critical step in securing fast-moving opportunities and solving circumstantial problems. Luxury watches are a valuable asset for many collectors, though most financial institutions don’t accept them as loan collateral. The ability to gain access to the equity stored in these watches without selling them is a largely...

Read the article

Aug 18, 2022 by WatchTime

TIMEPIECE TIMELINE

7 Important TAG Heuer Chronographs, From 1887 to Now

The TAG Heuer Monaco is one of several significant watch models celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2019, but it is far from the only important, innovative chronograph the Swiss watchmaker has created in its distinguished history. In fact, few watch brands are better known for chronographs than TAG Heuer. The first ones appeared in the company’s catalog in 1882; they were followed by a parade of technically innovative chronographs that continues to this day. Here are seven highlights from TAG Heuer's history of chronograph watches.

Read the article

Aug 6, 2022 by Gisbert Brunner

From Space to Auction: Jacob & Co. Astronomia Tourbillon Bucherer BLUE

Not shy to feats— mechanical or otherwise— of grand proportion, Jacob & Co. this summer is highlighting its latest marvel in the Astronomia Tourbillon Bucherer BLUE. The new watch is a piece unique, being specially produced for the Rakia space mission, a special Israeli-led, four-person flight to and from the International Space Station that took...

Read the article

Jul 26, 2022 by Caleb Anderson

Sponsored: The Re-Edition of the First G-Shock Gets a New Color Variant

Unlike the MRG-B5000B, which was closely based on the first-generation model and whose dial used the key G-Shock color of red, the defining tone of the new MRG-B5000BA is blue. The concept behind the design is the “ao-zumi” (blue ink) used in Japanese calligraphy. The deep blue creates a mood of peace and serenity quite...

Read the article

Aug 15, 2022 by WatchTime

Mechanical Masterpieces: A Closer Look at the Grand Seiko Kodo Constant-Force Tourbillon

The tourbillon, invented over 200 years ago by the brilliant watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet in order to improve the precision of pocket watches, is still considered the pinnacle of precision watchmaking. The filigree mechanism, with its balance and escapement permanently rotating in a cage to defy the influence of gravity, literally makes the hearts of aficionados...

Read the article

Jul 22, 2022 by Sabine Zwettler

Horological Avant-garde: Greubel Forsey Introduces the Tourbillon 24 Secondes Architecture Titanium

Greubel Forsey continues their legacy of tourbillon innovation with a timepiece that is breathtaking both in mechanics and design, the Tourbillon 24 Secondes Architecture. As the name suggests, the titanium watch features a convex and conical shaped case that was created in order to highlight the beautiful haute horlogerie movement it houses. While it looks...

Read the article

Jul 20, 2022 by Sabine Zwettler

PORTFOLIO

Transitional Solutions: Six Watches with Gradient Dials

All of a sudden, they’re everywhere — watches with colorful gradient dials that transition from a pale hue in the center to a dark one at the periphery. In this excerpt from our upcoming WatchTime Design Issue 2020, on sale October 29, we offer you some highlights.

Read the article

May 15, 2022 by Alexander Krupp

Grand Seiko: A Constant Force in Watchmaking

During the past six decades, Grand Seiko has constantly been pursuing the creation of the world’s most accurate wristwatch, pushing the development of quartz, mechanical and Spring Drive movements. Now, the Japanesegiant is ready to finally enter the haute horlogerie segment. In September 2020, Seiko Watch Corporation revealed the T-zero Constant-force Tourbillon (abbreviated as “T0”)...

Read the article

Apr 10, 2022 by Roger Ruegger

Vacheron Constantin Unveils Overseas Tourbillon Skeleton at Watches & Wonders

Vacheron Constantin introduced the Overseas Tourbillon Skeleton at this year’s Watches & Wonders. Available in platinum and rose gold, the haute horlogerie timepiece does not only represent top-notch craftsmanship and technical prowess, but also mark some premieres for the Geneva-based manufacture. Firstly, it introduces the tourbillon complication to the Overseas collection. Secondly, it is also...

Read the article

Apr 1, 2022 by Sabine Zwettler

Little Helpers: A Closer Look at Subdials

Chronograph (stopwatch), chronometer (precision certificate), tourbillon (an escapement to increase accuracy) and Geneva Waves (a traditional Swiss decoration technique): the horological dictionary is full of terminology that gets enthusiasts excited but may mean very little to outsiders. However, some expressions are self-explanatory, such as the subdials. As their name suggests, these are small dials that...

Read the article

Mar 15, 2022 by Sabine Zwettler

Did You Know That: A Tourbillon Is Not A Complication

In a successful attempt to cancel out as much of the influence of gravity on the precision of a pocket watch, Abraham-Louis Breguet invented the tourbillon. On June 26, 1801, he was granted a patent for it, yet the production for clients didn’t commence before 1805. Even after the patent expired, a pocket watch with...

Read the article

Feb 22, 2022 by Martin Green

The Sound of Blue: Bulgari Octo Roma Blue Carillon Tourbillon

Bulgari wowed the watch community last year with the release of its first Octo Roma Carillon Tourbillon, a limited-edition masterpiece that incorporated a skeletonized caliber, with an avant-garde chiming mechanism and a tourbillon, inside a case made of black DLC-coated titanium. This year, the haute horlogerie timepiece makes its debut in a new iteration with...

Read the article

Jan 31, 2022 by WatchTime

Haute Utilité: Spotlighting Richard Mille’s Most “Practical” High Complications

The difference between Richard Mille and every other watch manufacturer that works with brand “ambassadors” can perhaps best be summed up in a visual from the sporting world of tennis. Picture a Grand Slam final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Federer’s left wrist is bare; his signature Rolex is hastily strapped on only in...

Read the article

Jan 20, 2022 by Mark Bernardo

Inspired by Ancestry: Exploring the Blancpain Villeret Collection

Blancpain’s Villeret collection channels the haute horlogerie roots of the world’s oldest watchmaking brand and continues to innovate with an array of grand and practical complications. We explore the collection’s origins, as well as its historical and modern highlights, in this feature from the WatchTime archives. The author Thomas Wolfe is often credited with coining...

Read the article

Jan 13, 2022 by Mark Bernardo

Bovet Partners with Automobili Pininfarina to Roll Out the Supercar-Inspired Battista Tourbillon

Bovet is not a watchmaker that is known for a flurry of new releases. It’s the nature of the haute horologerie end of the market, which Bovet inhabits, to focus on making timepieces that are ultra-luxurious in their details, design, and finishing as well as more limited in their production. That said, all brands need...

Read the article

Jan 12, 2022 by Caleb Anderson

A Horological Tribute to the Master of Light: Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Westminster Sonnerie – Tribute to Johannes Vermeer

Vermeer’s most famous painting is now part of a bespoke single-piece edition. The Les Cabinotiers Westminster Sonnerie from Vacheron Constantin is powered by a new 806-part manual winding movement, regulated by a tourbillon and comprising grande and petite sonnerie Westminster chimes, coupled with a minute repeater. Johannes Vermeer (October 1632 – December 1675) painted the...

Read the article

Jan 10, 2022 by Roger Ruegger

Clockwork Orange: Five Watches With Orange Dials, Details, and Straps

As watches continue to embrace a wider range of color options for their dial, straps, and other details, orange remains relatively scarce in the expanding spectrum, though undeniably appealing to a core of loyal fans. Here are five timepieces where orange tones dominate. HUBLOT BIG BANG TOURBILLON AUTOMATIC ORANGE SAPPHIRE Hublot takes pride in...

Read the article

Jan 4, 2022 by Mark Bernardo

2021, The Watch Year in Review: Seven Tantalizing Tourbillons

By almost any standard, the luxury watch world enjoyed a successful year in 2021 despite the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and its worldwide economic consequences — with high-profile retailers reopening and expanding, new auction records set, some large-scale industry events (like our own WatchTime New York) returning, and of course, a host of...

Read the article

Dec 31, 2021 by Mark Bernardo

Ready for a Week and More: Blancpain Launches the Updated Fifty Fathoms Tourbillon 8 Jours

Blancpain’s famed Fifty Fathoms collection is known today as one of the brand’s most utilitarian design families. However, in addition to the collection’s practical, dive-focused wearability, it’s also become a series known for its sense of refined luxury. At this past fall’s WatchTime New York event, for example, the brand showcased one of its more...

Read the article

Dec 22, 2021 by Caleb Anderson

Defiant Transparency: Zenith’s Defy Zero-G and Defy 21 Double Tourbillon Sapphire Editions

On the heels of copping the Chronograph Watch Prize at the 2021 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie Genève for its boldly dynamic Chronomaster Sport, Zenith returned to its avant-garde Defy collection, namely two of its most highly complicated denizens, to introduce its first sapphire-cased watches since 2014’s wildly experimental Pilot Type 20 Grand Feu. Here is what...

Read the article

Dec 8, 2021 by Mark Bernardo

Whirlwind Romance: The 220-Year History of the Tourbillon

From its utilitarian roots in the 19th century, the tourbillon has evolved in the modern era to become the ultimate expression of watchmakers’ technical prowess and avant-garde creativity. We trace its fascinating two-century-plus evolution in this feature from the WatchTime archives. Throughout the centuries-long history of timekeeping, mechanisms originally developed for entirely practical purposes have...

Read the article

Nov 28, 2021 by Mark Bernardo

1
2
3
…
10
…
20
…
26
»