Old is New Again as F.P. Journe Recreates Groundbreaking Tourbillon Watch

F.P. Journe Historical Anniversary Tourbillon.

François-Paul Journe was in Manhattan recently as part of a world tour celebrating his 30 years as the founder and head watchmaker of F.P. Journe. He also was in the city to introduce the Historical Anniversary Tourbillon, a recreation of the watch that began his career as an independent watchmaker.

The tourbillon movement

Journe was barely in his 20s when he set about making a complex watch entirely by hand. It took him five years to create the tourbillon pocket watch, which launched F.P. Journe. Thirty years later the independent watch company based in Geneva, Switzerland, is now an international brand with nine boutiques around the world, including Manhattan, where Journe made his appearance.

The original pocket watch created by François-Paul Journe 30 years ago.

The anniversary wristwatch, limited to 99 pieces, is a reinterpretation of the original pocket watch, using some of the same materials, such as a guilloche silver case enhanced by two gold bezels in rose gold 4N.

The transparent sapphire back reveals the tourbillon movement of classic construction made in grained and gilded brass, identical to the original of 1983. Two parallel barrels distribute energy to a wheels train, arranged in the axis of the watch, which runs the tourbillon revolving in a minute. The lateral pallet escapement, which is more compatible with a wristwatch, replaces the detent escapement of the original, and the winding and time setting with a key have now been replaced by the 3 o’clock crown.

Made today in the company’s Geneva workshops, the movement features high quality components with modern polishing, beveling and finishing techniques that weren’t available 30 years ago. It encompasses a sobriety and a nobility of first generation tourbillon movements.

The movement is protected by a silver guilloche case back cover. The dial in grained silver is engraved with filled roman numerals and a steel hour circle, identical to the original tourbillon of 1983. The hours are indicated by blued steel Abraham-Louis Breguet hands, identical to those of the original pocket watch.

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The Triple-Axis Flying Tourbillon Wristwatch

It’s difficult to say, much less build, but independent Swiss watchmaker Thomas Prescher says he has created the world’s only triple-axis flying tourbillon wristwatch.

As Prescher explain it, a normal tourbillon is supported by bridges top and bottom that obstruct a clear view into the tourbillon. He said he chose to make his triple-axis tourbillon fully “flying,” in other words supported by just one side so the triple-axis tourbillion can easily be seen.

The triple-axis tourbillon mechanism is driven by two conical gears. Prescher says the difficulty in supporting anything by just one end is balance. “When an object is supported on two sides its equilibrium is not as critical as if it is supported on only one. However, imagine balancing an object moving through not one, not two, but three different planes.”

The triple-axis tourbillon mechanism includes an escapement wheel, pallets, anchor, balance spring and balance wheel. It is extremely light, with the smallest screw weighing less than 1/1000th of a gram. But he says it is actually heavy in relation to the amount of energy available.

Prescher says one of the major issues regarding multi-axis tourbillons is ensuring an ample supply of power to the escapement, the mechanism that regulates timekeeping. To resolve this problem, Prescher added a constant-force device inside the tourbillon cage turning around the first axis. This device transmits energy directly to the escapement six times per second. The main power train drives the tourbillon and recharges the constant-force spring so that it always has sufficient power on tap for the escapement.

The triple-axis tourbillon mechanism can easily be seen inside its black onyx dial. Regulator-style hours and seconds are each indicated in their own separate sub-dial, while the constantly animated tourbillon tracks the minutes during its one-hour rotation. The dial and mechanism is housed in a pink-gold case.

Prescher is offering tours of his workshop in Twann, Switzerland, this summer. Visitors will be able to see how a timepiece is developed, produced, assembled and regulated; and learn about the machines used by watchmakers as well as the techniques they use to master their craft.

In addition, visitors will be able to sit at a watchmaker's bench and use their tools to work on real watch components, practice fine finishing techniques on a tiny steel part and, finish a real tourbillon bridge.

Contact Thomas Prescher at office@prescher.ch or at +41 (0)32 315 28 66 for more details.

Geo.Graham Tourbillon Orrery: A Watch Built For the Cosmos and for the Centuries

The watch displays the rotations of the Earth, Moon, and Mars with exceptional accuracy.

Nearly all the talk among the nine tradeshows at “Las Vegas Jewelry Week” involved jewelry, which, of course, is natural. However, watch brands of all types and stripes were in the mix in “Sin City.”

The most prominent watch gathering in Vegas is JCK Swiss Watch, which accommodates the discretion of the luxury watch industry by holding the event in private suites in the Mandalay Bay Resort complex. Entrance to the brands is by appointment only. The Couture Show at the Wynn Las Vegas also provides private space for a smaller group of watch brands. In addition, there are two shows in Vegas that deal in the collectibles market for watches: International Watch and Jewelry Guild Show at the Tropicana Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Antique Jewelry & Watch Show at Paris Las Vegas.

Many of the new releases in Vegas were actually unveiled at Baselworld in April, which I covered extensively. What’s left is an exceptional timepiece I did not see at Baselworld because it was shown offsite.

It’s more than a timepiece. It is also an orrey, a device that shows the relative positions and motions of bodies in the solar system by balls moved by clockwork. There’s currently only one available and it was on the wrist of Eric Loth, CEO of the watch brand, Graham, who was in a suite at the Wynn Las Vegas, separate from the tradeshows on the Las Vegas Strip.

The Geo.Graham Tourbillon Orrery shows the orbital patterns of the Earth, Moon and Mars rotating around the Sun, represented by 18k fiery pink gold lattice design. Beneath the sun, slightly visible, is the tourbillion. The moon, represented by a steel rhodium ball, rotates around the earth as the earth, represented as a clear blue sapphire ball, rotates around the “sun.” Mars, represented by a round red ruby, circles the sun on the outer edge of the dial.

Graham is a maker of automatic watches, the mechanical movement that powers this timepiece was made exclusively for Graham by independent watchmaker, Christophe Claret. Its accuracy is uncanny. Loth explained that the earth revolves at exactly 365 ¼ days so there is no adjustment for the leap year. Corrections to the orbital patterns are minimal and are planned and indicated on the back of the watch. For the moon it’s every seven years, for Mars it’s every 25 years and for the earth (wait for it) every 1,152 years. The moon and mars have self correcting indicators. Loth said the orrery should be functional for 300 years before needing to be taken to a watchmaker for a minor adjustment to the perpetual calendar.

The dial also contains the months on an outer disc track with the inner track indicating the 12 astrological signs.

There’s an historical aspect to this timepiece. It honors the 300th anniversary of the invention of the orrery by British clock and watchmaker George Graham, the company’s namesake.

When the timepiece goes into production, it will be limited to 20 pieces at a cost of $330,000.  

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Breguet Tourbillon Exhibit Opens in Geneva and will Tour the World

A modern-day Breguet tourbillon timepiece

Swiss luxury watch brand, Breguet, is celebrating the invention of the tourbillion through an exhibition titled, “Breguet, the innovator. Inventor of the Tourbillon,” at the Cité du Temps exhibition space in Geneva.

The exhibition will run till February 24 and then will tour cities in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the United States.

On June 26, 1801 (or rather on 7 Messidor Year 9, since the Republic calendar was still in force at the time), the French Minister of the Interior awarded Abraham-Louis Breguet, the founder of Breguet, a patent for the invention of the tourbillon. This new type of regulator was developed in response to a longstanding problem: the detrimental effects of gravity on the regularity of a movement by generating variations in rate. Breguet understood that in order to reduce such errors, he would need to install the entire escapement within a mobile carriage that would perform a complete rotation, generally in one, four or six minutes. The regular repetition of the variations would allow them to compensate for each other.

This invention turned out to be difficult for Breguet to produce and implement. One reason is because the tourbillon must not weigh more than one gram, and yet be robust enough to avoid inducing rating errors rather than eliminating them. This inherent difficulty was compounded by the delicate work of finishing more than70 tiny parts that must fit and mesh together with absolute precision. Making a tourbillon was not within reach of all watchmakers, and only the finest proved capable of producing one after the 10-year patent had expired.

La Cité du Temps

La Cité du Temps, owned by the Swatch Group, is a public exhibition center focusing on the world of time. It hosts a variety of exhibitions and activities. It’s the only place in the world where you can find a permanent exhibition of Swatch watches.

The Swatch Group, the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of finished watches, acquired Montres Breguet in 1999.

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