Defying the Pull of Earth

The whirlwind complication designed to average out positional errors.

The Genesis of the Whirlwind

Patented in 1801 by Abraham-Louis Breguet, the tourbillon was originally designed for pocket watches which remained in a vertical position inside a waistcoat pocket for hours. By rotating the regulating organ, gravitational pull on the hairspring was perfectly averaged over 60 seconds.

The Flying Tourbillon

Developed much later, the flying tourbillon removes the upper support bridge, cantilevering the entire rotating assembly from the baseplate alone. This provides an unobstructed view of the beating heart of the caliber but requires immense structural rigidity.

Multi-Axis Gyroscopes

Because modern wristwatches move through all three dimensions, horizontal single-axis tourbillons are often deemed functionally obsolete. The horological response was the creation of bi-axial and tri-axial gyroscopic tourbillons that tumble through space, conquering gravity at every conceivable angle.