Created 24 years before the first railways and 85 years before the Eiffel Tower graced the skyline of Paris, the tourbillon mechanism is still defining the standard for fine watchmaking over two centuries later. But how has this historic piece of engineering stayed relevant for centuries?
“Breguet has a history without compare,” says the globally renowned watch expert and collector Jeffrey Kingston. “Its founder, Abraham-Louis Breguet, is universally recognized as one of the most important watchmakers of all time – for his innovations, his insights, and creations that are not only revolutionary but stunning.”
Jeffrey Kingston
After identifying gravity as the enemy of the regularity of horological movements; Breguet harnessed his watchmaking expertise, engineering prowess and scientific ingenuity (gained as a distinguished member of the Academy of Sciences) to defy this law of nature. The tourbillon ensures that a watch remains perfectly on time regardless of the conditions in which it is worn.
Once the patent for the tourbillon was obtained in 1801, it then took Breguet several years to perfect and sell his first watch featuring the mechanism. The tourbillon was only patented for ten years after its creation, which seems difficult to fathom considering that it is now used by the entire fine watch industry. Revered for its exceptional functionality, it symbolizes the pinnacle of great watchmaking, despite being centuries old.
Jeffrey Kingston
In modern times, we expect to see the latest technology in computers and smart devices that get smaller and more powerful with each passing year. 220 years ago, timepieces were the vanguard of technology. Horological innovation has often represented the frontier of human technological achievement.
One of Breguet’s most marvellous tourbillons is called La Tradition 7047. Featuring a fusee-chain transmission system (this improves rate regularity by guaranteeing a constant movement regardless of the winding tension of its mainsprings) and a titanium cage and balance wheel, it seamlessly melds traditional design with modern materials.
Driven to continuously challenge boundaries and evolve this mechanism, Breguet have also developed one of the thinnest, automatic winding tourbillons in the world that contains hundreds of exquisitely small components and utilises titanium and silicon hairsprings in its construction.
Mechanisms that draw upon the special skills of a watchmaker are often referred to as complications. The more complex the mechanism, the more desirable and difficult the complication. As such, the tourbillon is a complication that only resides in the domain of the most skilled, master watchmakers, who proudly display their work under a clear sapphire casing.
“Tucked beneath the wearers sleeve, a fine watch is a private pleasure, it is something you can have with you all day long, it is a private piece of art,” says Jeffrey Kingston. “When you collect Breguet watches you can feel both history and technical advancements when you strap on the watch.”
Breguet is often referred to as one of the first modern watch designers and elements of the styles he defined can still be seen in contemporary watchmaking.
From The Royal Navy to writers, royalty and revolutionaries, Breguet timepieces and the tourbillon has witnessed moments in history that have defined the modern world. Although the tourbillon is celebrating its 220th anniversary, its timeless appeal and rebellious spirit has propelled it through the centuries. Always evolving, the tourbillon is a symbol of innovation and engineering brilliance, that’s enduring resonance has insured it has remained at the cutting edge of modernity.
