Horology is a fascinating art – more so because despite the leaps and bounds that technology has made, the wrist watch remains an accessory of choice. Between your cell phone, car, laptop and iPad, there is little need to look at your watch to know the time. But then again, today it is considered the ultimate symbol of good taste.

Taking the mechanical art of watch making to the next level is the intricate addition called the ‘tourbillon’. Avid watch collectors and horology aficionados may be familiar with the term, but what really is this feature that’s so visually appealing on the face of a dial?

Whirlwind on your wrist

Taken from the French word for whirlpool or whirlwind, ‘tourbillon’ (pronounced toor-bee-yon) is basically an addition to the escapement of a watch to balance the unwanted inaccuracies that creep in because of gravity.

Yes, gravity, beloved gravity that we hardly notice in everyday life has an unprecedented impact on the inner workings of a timepiece. Invented by Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1795, the tourbillon was originally meant to prevent the three second time lapse caused by the effect of gravity on the commonly used pocket watch. Back in the 18th century, pocket watches were de rigueur and since they were hung in the same vertical position for extended periods of time, this affected the balance of the balance wheel.For an average person, three seconds out of an entire day wouldn’t amount to much but for a watch maker, precision is everything and three seconds is monumental when you’re focussed on creating an accurate time piece.

Breguet’s solution to the problem of gravity was to rotate the entire escapement while it oscillates so that it is affected by gravity from all angles. The basic idea was to rotate the tourbillon cage, once every minute, thereby negating the effect of gravity since it never stands still in one position. While the explanation may seem simple, recreating it on a miniscule scale to fit a watch is much more complicated. This is why the tourbillon today is considered one of the most sought after additions to a watch, making it high on both cost and availability. This feat of micro-engineering is still revered despite the leaps and bounds that technology has taken since Breguet created the first tourbillon, and most watches that feature a tourbillon place it on the dial and ensure that this tiny piece of mechanical art is visible through the glass.

Single, double or flying?

The original tourbillon invented in 1795 was made mainly to counter the fact that pocket watches were kept in a permanently vertical position. Today, the average wrist watch is constantly changing its position based on what the wearer is doing and hence the classic single axis tourbillon – as the original is now called - has evolved with different watch manufacturers coming out with their own variations. The double axis tourbillon – referred to as such because it adds another plane to the balance wheel, making it rotate on its edge and then back on itself as well.

While traditional tourbillons – both single and double axis – use a metallic bridge to hold it in place, this also obstructs clear viewing of the tourbillon in operation. To rectify this, the tourbillon was redesigned without the bridge and instead connected to the movement from below, and this is referred to as a Flying tourbillon. These appear to be flying or floating when viewed from the dial side and is effective at negating gravity at any angle.

Another major player in the watch business is a relative newcomer – a brand named Greubel Forsey that started in 2004. Named after their founders the brand was founded by two men who had worked at Renaud & Papi as developers of complicated watch movements. In 2004, they quit and started their own luxury timepiece manufacturing brand, specialising in tourbillons. Their first piece – the Double Tourbillon 30degrees – was revolutionary since it featured one tourbillon cage rotating at 30 deg at a rate of once per minute inside another tourbillon cage, which rotated once every four minutes. They claimed that this double arrangement minimised errors of gravity on the balance.

Their next creation was one step ahead – the Quadruple Tourbillon – which featured two double tourbillons that worked individually to reduce errors on the balance. Four tourbillons connected by a spherical differential, this featured in the brand’s 2012 creation called the Quadruple Tourbillon Secret.

And it doesn’t end here, triple axis tourbillons are already making an impact and as long as the demand for these intricate mechanised additions continues, there are sure to be newer and more complicated variations.

Today, with technological advances made, a tourbillon is considered a more aesthetic addition, since accuracy is no longer an issue. So why have a tourbillon at all? Why are the major watch companies – including Audemars Piguet, Blancpain and even the original inventor Breguet – working to perfect the tourbillon and inventing fascinating versions of it, when accurate timepieces can now be created without one? The answer lies in the same reason as the demand for old-school mechanical watches fetching higher prices than modern day quartz ones. A watch is no longer a device that tells the time, it has moved on and now is a status symbol and for collectors, a piece of art. And then of course, there is the visual appeal. Few things make a luxury watch more interesting than a tourbillon addition, and imagine sporting something as intricate and complicated as a tourbillon on your wrist – for those who have everything, this is the perfect acquisition.

Now considered the ultimate in watch making craft, owning a piece with a tourbillon makes you part of an elite club and shows that you know the value ofwearing a little bit of horological artistry on your wrist. With aesthetic appeal, complicated manufacturing process and high price, the tourbillon has all the makings of the ultimate luxury product!

elizabeth.mathew@thehindu.co.in

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