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Tourbillon Watches · Page 69

2,240 articles · Page 69 of 94
Vacheron Constantin Introduces the Grand Complication Split-Seconds Chronograph “Tempo” SJX Watches
Apr 24, 2020

Vacheron Constantin Introduces the Grand Complication Split-Seconds Chronograph “Tempo”

Three years after the debut of Les Cabinotiers Celestia Astronomical Grand Complication boasting 23 complications, Vacheron Constantin has topped its own achievement at Watches & Wonders 2020 by launching Les Cabinotiers Grand Complication Split-Seconds Chronograph “Tempo”. Without going into the minefield of what counts as a complication; the new Grand Complication incorporates 24 complications, if each function counts as one – with everything displayed on a massive, two-faced case. A reversible giant In addition to showing the time, the Grand Complication includes a minute repeater, tourbillon, perpetual calendar, split-seconds chronograph as well as a number of astronomical indications including equation of time, sunrise and sunset times, plus a retrograde moon phase. The reverse face Unsurprisingly, the case is enormous – 50 mm wide and 21 mm high. But it is intriguingly designed – perfectly symmetrical in profile, the case allows the watch to be worn with either side facing up thanks to a quick-release strap. Swapping faces is a matter of unlatching the strap, flipping the watch over, and reinstalling the strap. Time, chronograph and perpetual calendar on the front; tourbillon, running Equation of Time, retrograde moon phase and times for sunrise and sunset on the back Mechanical layer cake Inside is the cal. 2756, which is derived from the cal. 2755, a movement first found in the Traditionnelle Calibre 2755 grand complication that has since been iterated ...
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Vacheron Constantin Introduces the Overseas Ultra-Thin Perpetual Calendar Skeleton SJX Watches
Apr 24, 2020

Vacheron Constantin Introduces the Overseas Ultra-Thin Perpetual Calendar Skeleton

Since its 2016 relaunch after a major revamp, the Vacheron Constantin Overseas collection has filled out nicely with a diverse range of complications, ranging from world time to tourbillon – and even a one-off prototype that was sold for charity. At Watches & Wonders 2020, Vacheron Constantin debuts the first skeleton model in the line-up, the Overseas Ultra-Thin Perpetual Calendar Skeleton. It has the same gorgeously elegant lines as the standard Overseas perpetual calendar, but now enhanced by the intricately open-worked movement. Rendered only in pink gold for now – other variants will surely emerge if the rest of the collection is anything to go by – the case measures 41.5 mm across and just 8.1 mm high, leaving it surprisingly slimmer than both the Patrimony Ultra-Thin Perpetual Calendar that’s powered by the same movement. In typical Overseas style, both the case and bracelet are finely executed, with alternating brushed and polished surfaces. Even the inner faces of the notches on the bezel are brushed, while the deeply-set inner angles on the bracelet are polished. Framed by a minute ring, the dial is mostly clear sapphire with applied hour markers in pink gold, as well as day, date and month counter rings. The moon phase disc at six o’clock is covered by a frosted portion of the crystal to delineate the age of the moon, with a gold Maltese cross applied on the frosted display. The movement is the cal. 1120QPSQ/1, the skeletonised version of the ultra-t...
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Vacheron Constantin Introduces the Traditionnelle Tourbillon Chronograph SJX Watches
Apr 24, 2020

Vacheron Constantin Introduces the Traditionnelle Tourbillon Chronograph

Vacheron Constantin’s hand-wound chronographs are, for the most part, powered by either the Lemania-based cal. 1142 or the mono-pusher cal. 3300 that was developed in-house. Freshly unveiled at Watches & Wonders 2020, the Traditionnelle Tourbillon Chronograph belongs in the latter camp. Notably, the new tourbillon-chronograph is powered by the same movement that was last seen in 2015 inside the Harmony Tourbillon Chronograph made to mark the 260th anniversary of the brand. The in-house movement combines a mono-pusher chronograph with the brand’s signature Maltese-cross tourbillon and was absent from the line-up for several years, but now it returns in fine form. While the Harmony was a cushion shape, the Traditionnelle Tourbillon Chronograph is conventionally round in form. Entirely polished, the case is in pink gold and measures 42.5 mm across and 11.7 mm high, making it large but fairly slim. The silver dial with a tachymeter scale is characterised by a rather unusual, asymmetric layout, with the tourbillon at 12 o’clock, 45-minute chronograph counter just below, and a small power reserve indicator at six. The impressive cal. 3200 Inside is the cal. 3200, which is identical to movement inside the Harmony Tourbillon Chronograph, with one difference –  this lacks the gilded and engraved tourbillon bridge that was unique to the 260th anniversary watches. Instead the tourbillon here is secured on the back by a simpler brass bridge decorated with Cotes de Geneve...
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Jaeger-LeCoultre Introduces the New Master Control Collection SJX Watches
Apr 24, 2020

Jaeger-LeCoultre Introduces the New Master Control Collection

A mainstay of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s catalogue for almost three decades, the Master Control made its debut in 1992 and has been facelifted every couple of years since. Fresh off the press at Watches & Wonders 2020, the latest Master Control collection forgets the facelifts and is instead throwback to the inaugural line-up of three decades ago. The new range reproduces the models and style of the originals, including the popular, entry-level Master Control Date, but it also includes an all-new model, the Master Control Chronograph Calendar. From left: Master Control Date, Master Control Calendar, and Master Control Geographic And the Master Control Chronograph Calendar New tech, classic style While retaining the look of the originals, the new Master Control models are ever-so-slightly larger, now measuring 40 mm (while the 1990s originals were mostly 37 mm). More importantly, the new watches have been fitted with newly-upgraded movements equipped with silicon escapements. The cal. 899AA of the Master Control Date Though JLC has used silicon escapements in the past, most notably in the Master Compressor Extreme LAB 2 and the more recent Tourbillon Celeste, the movements in the new Master Control watches are the first affordable, regular-production models to feature such escapements. The use of silicon pallet levers and escape wheels, coupled with the use of new lubricants and a stronger and longer mainspring, means substantial improvements in operating efficiency, with power ...
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Panerai Introduces the Luminor Marina Titanio DMLS PAM01117 SJX Watches
Apr 24, 2020

Panerai Introduces the Luminor Marina Titanio DMLS PAM01117

At a glance, Panerai’s latest Luminor unveiled at Watches & Wonders 2020 might look like, well, just another Luminor. But the Luminor Marina Titanio DMLS (PAM01117) is more than that. It incorporates a new type of luminous paint with an extra-bright glow, while boasting a titanium case produced via a process similar to 3D printing. And most crucially, the watch is covered by a 70-year warranty. Given that Panerai’s identity is inextricably linked with legible, glow-in-the-dark dials, the new “lume” found on the Luminor DMLS makes sense. The watch features Super-Luminova X – a lot of it. Beyond the usual dial and hands, the new Luminor also had luminous paint on the flange around the dial, crown locking bridge and lever, and the stitching of the fabric strap. The use of “lume” as a decorative element brings to mind the Lumen series of A. Lange & Söhne (which is a sister brand of Panerai within Swiss luxury group Richemont), but here the luminous paint is executed in clean lines for a geometric pattern. Though the Luminor DMLS is a large 44 mm in diameter, it is only 100 g, making it the lightest Panerai watch with a metal alloy case. The case is produced via direct metal laser sintering (DMLS), the same process to make the case of the Lo Scienzato Luminor 1950 Tourbillon GMT Titanio PAM00578 from 2016. DMLS is a form of 3D printing where a laser is used to melt titanium powder tiny amounts at a time, layer by layer as the case is built up. The nature of the p...
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Cartier Introduces the Pasha de Cartier SJX Watches
Apr 24, 2020

Cartier Introduces the Pasha de Cartier

As it does every couple of years, or decades, Cartier reintroduces one of its iconic wristwatches, this time the Pasha de Cartier. Launched in 1985 and a big hit in the decade after, the Pasha was Cartier’s original round-case bestseller, long before the Ballon Bleu. Three decades on, the new Pasha makes its debut once again at Watches & Wonders 2020 as a full-fledged collection with models for both men and women, from time-only to skeleton tourbillon, as well as diamond-set versions. Variants of the new Pasha 41 mm for men Mysterious origins Despite having a round case – Cartier is most famous for its shaped watches like the Tank and Santos – the Pasha is amongst the most historically-important Cartier timepieces, apparently. Legend has it that Cartier first created a water-resistant watch in 1934 for the fabulously wealthy Pasha of Marrakesh, Thami El Glaoui, who wanted a watch he could wear while swimming. The result was one of the first-ever luxury-sports watches. While the Parisian jeweller no doubt made a watch to fulfil the Pasha’s request, it was most likely a rectangular Tank Etanche, rather than anything resembling today’s Pasha watch. Inspired by that tale, the modern-day Pasha was born in 1985, penned by the hand of Gerald Genta, the prolific designer whose heyday in the 1970s and 1980s saw him create a string of hits, ranging from the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak to the Bulgari Bulgari. Genta’s creations were often avant-garde in their day, and his...
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Up Close: Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer Tourbillon SJX Watches
Apr 22, 2020

Up Close: Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer Tourbillon

One of the more interesting complicated watches launched in 2019 was a surprising one, the Glashütte Original Senator Chronometer Tourbillon. While “Chronometer Tourbillon” might seem to be a pair of impressive words meaninglessly strung together as is often done for high-end watches, the Chronometer Tourbillon actually takes them seriously. Though the new watch doesn’t look particularly interesting – the design is handsome but conventional – it combines a particularly logical set of complications that were conceived for exact setting of the time, namely a hacking tourbillon with zero-reset carriage (and not just the seconds hand), and a minute hand that is set in discrete, one-minute steps. In fact, the Chronometer Tourbillon derived from the already sensible, but less fancy, Senator Chronometer that has many of the same time-setting functions. Though the Chronometer Tourbillon is an expensive watch by the standards of Glashütte Original, it is eminently sensible and smart from a technical perspective. And to prove that chronometric competence, Glashütte Original also tests the Chronometer Tourbillon to the German chronometer standard, DIN 8319, laid out by the country’s all-encompassing federal standards body. Testing takes place at the Sternwarte Glashütte, the town’s astronomical observatory, which was given a new lease of life by German watch retailer Wempe, which also has its own line of chronometer wristwatches. The process, however, is conduc...
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Up Close: Louis Vuitton Tambour Curve Flying Tourbillon SJX Watches
Apr 20, 2020

Up Close: Louis Vuitton Tambour Curve Flying Tourbillon

Since Louis Vuitton acquired complications specialist La Fabrique du Temps (LFDT) in 2012, the trunk maker has made impressive strides in its haute horlogerie. The newly launched Tambour Curve Flying Tourbillon Poinçon de Genève encapsulates Louis Vuitton’s complicated watchmaking – confident, modern styling combined with a first-rate calibre. Granted, the Tambour Curve is pricey – US$250,000 pricey – but it is clearly catered for a specific consumer. That buyer wants an ultra-high end, contemporary, and slightly sporty watch, the type of watch found in the segment dominated by Richard Mille and Hublot. But Louis Vuitton has executed the Tambour Curve extremely well, creating an appealing – and importantly, cohesively designed – wristwatch that is more than just looks. The LV 108 movement inside was developed and made by LFDT, which is led by veteran watchmakers Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini, both of whom I hold in very high regard. Louis Vuitton long-term strategy in developing its watchmaking – essentially do it well and expensively – is demonstrated by the quality of the Tambour Curve. The brand could have gotten away with building a so-so watch, just because it is Louis Vuitton. But it didn’t, and the Tambour Curve exhibits a notable level of attention to detail in styling and craft. CarboStratum The Tambour Curve is a big watch with a streamlined, rounded form that is almost organic. Not only is the case round, its flanks are concave, whil...
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Up Close: Purnell Escape II Double Tourbillon SJX Watches
Apr 14, 2020

Up Close: Purnell Escape II Double Tourbillon

Given that the tourbillon was invented for the pocket watch, adapting Abraham-Louis Breguet’s invention for the wristwatch opened the floodgate for tourbillon innovations in the beginning of the 21st century – the golden age of the tourbillon, perhaps technically but surely commercially. In fact, many watchmakers have gone far beyond the traditional concept of a tourbillon since English watchmaker Anthony G. Randall invented the double-axis tourbillon in 1978. But as the years passed, tourbillons evolved into elaborate constructions seemingly just for the sake of visual complexity. And there have been so many of them. For this reason, exotic tourbillons now seem dated, with sophisticated or truly interesting technical solutions being hard to come by. Potter and Purnell But the latest development in tourbillons is one of the most intriguing of recent times: maximising the visual effect of a tourbillon regulator not just by multiplying the axes of rotation, but speeding them up with the use of a specialised escapement invented two centuries ago by Albert H. Potter, a highly regarded American watchmaker based Geneva. The full potential of the Potter escapement was recently realised when it was combined with a carrousel outer cage in the MB&F LM Thunderdome, the world’s fastest rotating triple-axis tourbillon. But the concept was first applied, arguably in a more elaborate manner, in the Spherion tourbillon of Purnell – which was developed by the same watchmaker behin...
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H. Moser & Cie. Introduces the Vantablack Black Hands SJX Watches
Apr 2, 2020

H. Moser & Cie. Introduces the Vantablack Black Hands

On April Fools’ Day last year, H. Moser & Cie. published a doctored image of a watch with an all-black dial missing hands, a riff on its watches with blacker-than-black dials. The hoax watch turned into something of a hit, which has led to the latest trio of limited editions, the Vantablack Black Hands – which will also be available online directly from the brand. All three watches – ranging from a stainless-steel base model to a limited-edition tourbillon – feature dials coated in Vantablack, a high-tech coating that absorbs almost all incident light – making it extremely and almost absolutely black – matched with black-coated hands. Because the coating on the hands is more of a dark grey, and also glossy, the hands do actually stand apart from the dial, appearing to be suspended in nothing because the dial is so black. The Endeavour Tourbillon with the reflection being on the crystal, rather than the dial Venturer Vantablack Black Hands XL in steel Invented by a spin-off from the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, Vantablack is made up of carbon nanotubes arranged vertically, like a surface covered in really fine fur. The carbon nanotubes absorb 99.965% of incident light, resulting in a surface that resembles a deep, dark hole, which is an quirky and strangely appealing finish for a watch dial. Even though other substances are even blacker than Vantablack – with the record held by an MIT invention from 2019 –  Vantablack is the best-known...
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CELEBRITY WATCH DEATH MATCH: Jay-Z Vs. Drake’s watch collection – and the winner is… Time+Tide
Mar 27, 2020

CELEBRITY WATCH DEATH MATCH: Jay-Z Vs. Drake’s watch collection – and the winner is…

Well, the results are in for the inaugural round of Celebrity Watch Death Match, and everything is coming up not just roses for Jay-Z, but “Rose Gold Concepts”. Which the man himself raps about in ‘Summer’ from the Everything Is Love album, a reference to his Royal Oak Concept Tourbillon Chronograph in 18KT Rose Gold. Hove smashed Drizzy … ContinuedThe post CELEBRITY WATCH DEATH MATCH: Jay-Z Vs. Drake’s watch collection – and the winner is… appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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Breguet Introduces the Marine Tourbillon Équation Marchante 5887 SJX Watches
Mar 21, 2020

Breguet Introduces the Marine Tourbillon Équation Marchante 5887

One of the most exotic Breguet watches in production today, the Marine Tourbillon Équation Marchante 5887 combines a tourbillon regulator, perpetual calendar, and running equation of time. Complexity aside, the watch is mechanically fascinating: the traditional complications within are executed in a modern and practical way. The equation of time, for instance, relies on an open-worked cam produced via the high-tech LIGA photolithography technique. And the tourbillon cage is lightweight titanium with a silicon escapement, while the automatic winding is equipped with a peripheral rotor. Breguet has now introduced a new version of the grand complication, in pink gold with a slate-grey dial. While it is mechanically identical to the two earlier versions – in platinum with a blue dial or pink gold with a silver dial – the new watch is striking and harmonious, shedding a bit of the sports-watch aesthetic of the Marine by way of the richer colours. Being a facelift, the dimensions of the watch remain unchanged. It is still a massive 43.9 mm in width, though a svelte 11.75 mm high, thanks to the ultra-thin movement inside. Like the movement, aesthetics across the case and dial are very much a blend of new and old. The case has the traditional fluted band, but is paired with modern integrated lugs. Similarly, the dial is solid gold and decorated with traditionally-executed guilloche engraved with a rose engine, but in a modern, stylised wave motif. In a nod to the age-o...
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INTRODUCING: The Franck Muller Vanguard Classic that can take you from boardroom to beach Time+Tide
Mar 17, 2020

INTRODUCING: The Franck Muller Vanguard Classic that can take you from boardroom to beach

Fans of Franck Muller will know there is something in the Vanguard collection for everyone. With more than 30 different references in the current lineup, including chronographs, tourbillons and skeletonised movements, the independent watchmaker has ensured that no matter where you want to take your watch, there is a generously curved creation for you. Despite … ContinuedThe post INTRODUCING: The Franck Muller Vanguard Classic that can take you from boardroom to beach appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
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Up Close: Kiu Tai Yu Year of the Pig Commemoration SJX Watches
Mar 13, 2020

Up Close: Kiu Tai Yu Year of the Pig Commemoration

Kiu Tai Yu (1946-2020) was famed for achieving several firsts in watchmaking. He was the first watchmaker in Asia to build a tourbillon wristwatch – he debuted the Kiu Tai Yu tourbillon no. 1 in 1991 – and also the first Asian member of the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (AHCI). Kiu preceded today’s Asian independent watchmakers by some two decades. He joined the AHCI in 1992, making him one of the earliest entrants into the trade body for independent watchmakers that counts George Daniels (1987), Francois-Paul Journe (1988), and Philippe Dufour (1997) as pioneer members. Working out of a tiny shop named Kew & Cie. in Hong Kong’s Central business district, Kiu did one better after building conventional tourbillons – he invented his very own Mystery Tourbillon that had neither a cage nor visible bridge, for which he was granted patents in China, Switzerland, and the United States. Though he was inactive since 2007 when he suffered a stroke, Kiu was prominent internationally in the 1990s, being a regular at Baselworld where he exhibited his exceptionally distinctive watches. His timepieces encapsulated his philosophy of watchmaking – he did it his way. Kiu Tai Yu in his shop. Photo – Vincent Calabrese Inimitable design The aesthetic of his watches was strikingly Chinese and evocative of a particular period in East Asia. It was not so much the elegant, classical style of historical China, but the over-the-top, exuberant look of Hong Kong and ...
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