• Girard Perregaux Tip of the Week #79
• Girard Perregaux Tip of the Week #79
• Girard Perregaux Tip of the Week #79
• read more Tourbillon Articles |
Now appreciated more for the intricate workmanship they display than their original technical purpose, the Tourbillon was invented over 200 years ago by A.L. Breguet. The impetus for the invention of the Tourbillon was the deleterious results of gravity on the timekeeping rate of pocketwatches; hung as they were on a fob in a coat, gravity exerted a negative effect upon the escapement of these watches, principally the balance wheel and its helically-shaped hairspring. The Tourbillon provides an ingenious solution to this problem by containing the escapement within a cage, which rotates upon its own axis, usually once per minute. Through this continual rotation, the positional error is, in effect, annulled. Within a wristwatch, whose wearing position is seldom vertical, the tourbillon serves to much less effect, although some manufacturers have introduced brilliant multi-axis tourbillons which are specifically intended to deal with the vast range of motion which wristwatches are subjected to. Ultimately, the tourbillon is a supreme expression of mechanical ingenuity, and a challenge to the manual dexterity of a gifted watchmaker. Therefore, the intricate beauty of the Tourbillon will ensure its continued place amongst the hierarchy of elite watchmaking complications. |