Did some reading on the above and would like to share with everyone in MWF.
(Note : Information mostly extracted from "wiki")
What Is TourbillonTourbillion (in French = “whirlwind”) watch - is a watch with an addition to the mechanics of a watch escapement. It was first developed around 1795 by the French - Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet (patented in 1801) and throughout the century has evolved into a fine piece of horological advancement. Originally an attempt to improve accuracy, tourbillons are still included in some expensive modern watches as a novelty and demonstration of watchmaking virtuosity. The mechanism is usually exposed on the watch's face to show it off.
How It Came AboutGravity has a direct effect on the most delicate parts of the escapement in the pocket watch, ie the pallet fork, balance wheel and hairspring. Many different inventions have been developed to counteract these problems. Temperature and magnetism have all but been eliminated as problems with new materials. Shocks have much less effect today than at Breguet's time thanks to stronger and more resistive materials. The escapement still gets deregulated at the moment of the shock, but the hairspring does not get as easily deformed from shocks as before.
A tourbillon most often makes one complete revolution per minute, which has no effect in the two horizontal positions, but makes all the difference in the 4 vertical positions, since even if a watch is stationary in a random vertical position, the tourbillon makes the escapement spin around its own axis, effectively cancelling out the effects of gravity of each of the 4 generalized positions. Even today with new materials and improved theories, it is nearly impossible to regulate a watch so it keeps the same time in all positions. A tourbillon allows watchmakers today to obtain results that are better than normal mechanical watches. Although, this is still immensely inferior to quartz, which normally vary 3 seconds per month, where a good mechanical watch keeps 3 seconds per day!
Types
There are generally 4 different types of tourbillion watches (from “wiki”) –
i) double axis,
ii) double and quadruple tourbillons
iii) triple-axis tourbillon and
iv) Flying tourbillion (using cantilever)
Throughout the years, there were the “merry-go-round”(by Danish watchmaker Bahne Bonnikson) or also known as karussel, “flying tourbillon”, and multi-axis or “torkel” tourbillon. But in the modern day, a tourbillon watch can be summarized into the above 4 category.
Modern implementations typically allow the tourbillon to be seen through a window in the watch face. In addition to enhancing the charm of the piece, the tourbillon can act as a second hand for some watches as it generally rotates once per minute. However some Tourbillons spin faster (Gruebel Forsey's 24-second tourbillon for example.). There are many watches that feature the oscillating balance wheel visible through the watch dial that are not tourbillons. This feature is often referred to as "open heart".
In the late 20th century, the first research into multi-axis tourbillon movements was done by British clock makers Anthony Randall and Richard Good, eventually producing two and three-axis tourbillon movements.
SpeedThe faster a tourbillon rotates, the more fascinating it is to the eyes, but it will need more energy from the movement. Therefore a slower rotational rate is preferred for the overall performance of the watch. Some modern makers choose 18,000 bph so the balance can be seen as it oscillates. Breguet often worked with 21,600 bph for an improved rate but wear and tear becomes a consideration. Today, 28,800 bph is the preferred frequency for use in watches though it remains uncommon in tourbillons. Zenith and De Bethune use the ultra fast frequency 36,000 bph for their tourbillons.
Breguet experimented with tourbillons rotating at different speed, ie one minute, two minute, four minute and even six minute tourbillons. All in Brequet lifetime, he created 26 tourbillon watches. Usually a tourbillon cage consumes a lot of energy, which leads to using a lower frequency(eg. 3 Hz instead of 4 Hz) and a smaller balance wheel.
IMO the advantage brought by tourbillon to offset the vertical position discrepancy is lost by the intrinsic lower potential of precission of the oscillator. Also it seems pointless to have a nice, slowly tourbillon cage housing a balance that beats too fast to see.
Figures (Numbers and Pricing)Before the late 1980s there were fewer than 100 tourbillions in existence.
In 1986, when watchmaker Frank Muller created an automatic tourbillon wristwatch for Audemars Piguet, the numbers of tourbillon increased exponentially.
In 1999 there are a total of 35 brands offering tourbillons and the number of brands increased to 100 in 2004.
Some people say mechanical watch price rose > 300% throught the 1980s.
In 1994, Blancpain’s tourbillon Ref. 0023 cost 86,000 German Marks(GM) but went up to 62,500 GM in 1998 (Blancpains tourbillon Caliber 25).
So, one can conclude that a tourbillon nowadays will cost “an arm and a leg”. For an average Malaysian wage earner, it will cost him/her from as low as the cost of a motor vehicle to as a high as a landed property.
What Happens In Near Future
Several Chinese manufacturers now produce a variety of tourbillon movements. These movements are bought as ébauches by some foreign manufacturers and incorporated into watches that meet the requirements of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry to be sold as Swiss watches. The availability of cheap tourbillons has led industry spectators to worry that another Quartz crisis may occur, where the Swiss watch industry will not be able to adapt quickly to cheaper complicated mechanical watches produced in other countries.
Most tourbillon watches will cost you over US$20,000 at the least, but there are some places where you can buy a cheap tourbillon. The thing that most people don’t realize is that a high quality, authentic tourbillon watch will easily set you back US$100,000, but there are alternatives. If you are interested in an authentic tourbillon watch you are still going to end up paying a few thousand dollars for the watch even for a cheap one at a big discount. This is a good option for people who really want the tourbillon workings of the watch as well as the styling. Just keep in mind that even places that sell these watches on sale will still have them listed for several thousand dollars, but it is definitely better than paying full price.
One alternative is buy a Swiss brand tourbillon with a Chinese movement.
Another option for buying a cheap tourbillon watch is to look at Chinese tourbillon watches. Most of these watches are not true tourbillons but they have the same style and look into the inside workings of the watch. If you can’t afford to shell out several thousand dollars for an authentic and genuine tourbillon, you may want to consider a cheap Chinese tourbillon watch instead.
Summary
In short, one can say that the bane of the mechanical watch is gravity. That's because some parts in a mechanical watch are so tiny and vulnerable that gravity disorients them, causing accuracy fluctuations depending on the position in which the watch is kept. A tourbillon (pronounced "TOUR-bee-yon") is a device in the mechanical watch that provides greater precision in the timekeeping of a mechanical watch by “protecting” those parts or is most cases negating the gravity effects..
For centuries, watches with tourbillons have been the pinnacle in watchmaking. It may cost a house or a car just to get one. Now, one can simply buy a tourbillon watch from China, and it won’t cost an arm and a leg. But connoisseurs will have a hard time suppressing vomit when they see these cheap imitations of watchmaking genius.
Attached pictures below showed:
i) Tourbillon watch by Omega, costing US$280,000.
ii) Glashutte Original using Meissen porcelain to make the Senator Meissen model costing US$115,000.
iii) Blancpain Carrousel Repetition Minutes Le Brassus, wound by hand with a beautiful open worked piece; power reserve = 60 hours, movement has 1414 components and only 10 of these pieces will be made. Price at US$365,500
iv) Audemars Piguet Milenart Carbon One Tourbillon Chronograph has only 120 pieces (limited edition) is made from ultra light forged carbon. Movement is caliber 2884. Retails at US$268,100.
References1. Wikipedia
2. Jean-Claude Nicolet. "The tourbillon".
3. ^ "The assembling and testing of a tourbillon watch".
http://mytourbillon.com/the-assembling-and-testing-of-a-tourbillon-watch/. Retrieved June 2011.
4. ^
http://www.prescher.ch/Collection/Tourbillion/TripleAxisTourbillon/tabid/77/language/en-US/language/de-DE/Default.aspx5. ^ Various. "Current Chinese Developments".
http://www.tractionink.com/watch_wiki/index.php?title=Tourbillon#Current_Chinese_Developments. Retrieved June 2010.
6. ^ Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. "Swiss Made".
http://www.fhs.ch/en/swissm.php. Retrieved June 2010.
7. ^ Velociphile. "New 'Quartz' Crisis Ahead?". Retrieved June 2010.
8. International Watch magazines
9. Tourbillon Gallery by Jonathan Bues
(Edit : To include pictures)
