Tourbillon Watches

Hands On: FVF Genève FVF2 Openwork

Watch designer Franc Vila kicked off his comeback with the FVF1 skeleton tourbillon, which he then followed up with the FVF2, a non-tourbillon watch that likewise indicates the time and day. The FVF2 Openwork strips away the dial, giving the watch a more mechanical appearance thanks to the exposed under-dial works, revealing the jumper spring for the retrograde day indicator. The reverse of the Openwork is identical to that of the standard model. The manual-wind movement blends contemporary and traditional elements — the striking, angular design works surprisingly well as a canvas for haute horlogerie finishing. Notably, the FVF2 movement is also its case: the base plate is one with the case middle, an approach FVF describes as a “unibody” architecture. Initial thoughts Because the FVF2 was created by a designer, it has a unique aesthetic that blends many elements and inspirations. The look doesn’t overemphasise any singular influence, making it more interesting than most time-only watches on the market today, many of which converge on the same few historical styles. Even though the FVF2 is a little bit of this and a little bit of that, everything comes together well. The standard FVF2 has a dial, offered in a wide range of materials, while the Openwork version does not. That is essentially the sole distinction between the two, but it makes a big difference in terms of aesthetics. In this sense the Openwork is similar to Roger Smith’s open-dialled watches, especi...

Hands-On: The Breguet Classique Tourbillon 7357

If there was a way to celebrate the 225th anniversary of Breguet patenting the tourbillon, re-launching a version of the brand's iconic ref. 3350 was the obvious crowd-pleasing option. There was always something charming about that original tourbillon from the 1980s, but there were some downsides too. The new ref. 7357 is Breguet's best effort to solve those downsides, modernize, and give buyers what they say they've wanted for a long time. At a true-to-vintage 35mm diameter by 9.2mm thick (43mm lug-to-lug), with 30m of water resistance, it's the same but different. In a lot of great ways. For those not in the vintage or neo-vintage space, Breguet created an all-time great watch when Daniel Roth (prior to his own brand) worked for Breguet and modified a Nouvelle Lemania ébauche into a compact and impressive tourbillon wristwatch. You can see an original platinum ref. 3357 example below (the quick successor to the 3550). The tourbillon bridge design is different between these generations (both front and rear).  The guilloché pattern, finishing, and even the movement-side treatment are different, with a very neo-vintage hand engraving on the earlier example. That watch would forge the future of the Breguet brand and, after Breguet's then-owner, Chaumet, went bankrupt, push Roth to found his own brand, where the tourbillon became a focal point. So let's look at those changes a bit more closely. First things first, the new 7357 is, by no means, a budget option. Coming in at...

Introducing - The H. Moser & Cie. Endeavour Minute Repeater Cylindrical Tourbillon Skeleton Cosmic Rain

H. Moser & Cie. released its first minute repeater coupled with a tourbillon in 2019, exposing both complications on the dial. After several iterations, Moser unveiled an impressive, skeletonised take on the double-complication combo earlier this year. Since skeletonisation is often considered a complication in its own right, the triple-complication Endeavour Minute Repeater Cylindrical Tourbillon […]

Auctions: Phillips Announces Sale Of A Pre-Production  F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance In November

Here we go again. It's been a blue ribbon auction year so far, particularly for rare examples of timepieces from independents, including F.P. Journe. During a record-setting spring auction season marked by a stunning shift in valuations and collector interest in top-notch independent watchmakers, an early Chronomètre à Résonance (no. 007) fetched a record $13.9 million, making it the most expensive F.P. Journe watch ever sold at auction and the fifth most expensive watch of all time.  Mark wrote up a great piece on the record-breaking result that dives deep into the history of the Résonance and why it's such an important achievement in haute horology, and why it is François-Paul Journe's signature watch. With the prototype produced in 1998, and with 'Souscription' commercial pieces produced and delivered beginning in 2000, Journe's Chronomètre à Résonance marks the first time that the concept of "résonance," combining two movements with separate balances into a single case and bringing them into perfect synchronization, was brought to a wristwatch. For many collectors, the model represents the ultimate expression of Journe's vision and talent as a watchmaker. Just 20 'Souscription' pieces—offered to those who bought Journe's first watch, a tourbillon—were produced, and collectors have come to covet the series, with the earliest watches fetching a premium. When it comes to the Résonance, the earlier the better, it seems. That's why it's newsworthy and worth ...

Introducing - The Bianchet Rotondo UltraFino now in Rose Gold

Earlier this year, independent Swiss brand Bianchet expanded beyond its signature tonneau-shaped watches with the launch of the Rotondo UltraFino, a sleek round interpretation of its distinctive designs. With an ultra-thin profile, an integrated bracelet and a flying tourbillon movement, the titanium and carbon models introduced a more versatile side to the young brand while […]

Hands On: A. Lange & Söhne Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar “Lumen”

A. Lange & Söhne’s flagship launch for the year, so far, is the Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar “Lumen”. It follows a familiar template, applying the desirable “Lumen” treatment to a complicated, top-of-the-line model. But unlike earlier Lumen editions, the Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar is more than a mere cosmetic makeover. The unique calendar display requires a more complex dial construction, and the movement has been reworked for visual impact. Even though the concept is predictable – and predictably pricey – the Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar “Lumen” is unexpectedly appealing. Initial thoughts This is stating the obvious, but the Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar “Lumen” is clearly the most appealing iteration of the most complicated Lange 1. Visually it is more striking in both light and darkness, with the new look also adding to the intricacy of the dial construction. And because Lange doesn’t do things in half measures when it comes to movements, the L225.1 inside this has been reworked by some margin to solve one of the shortcomings of the original model, a tourbillon that was barely visible. The original Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar was and still is the most complicated version of Lange’s iconic watch design. All perpetual calendar indicators were cleverly incorporated in the Lange 1’s distinctive yet sensible layout. Add to that a tourbillon visible only on the back meant there was a lot going on ins...

In-Depth - The Urban Jürgensen UJ-1 Tourbillon, a Pocket Watch Masterpiece Reborn for the Wrist

When Urban Jürgensen returned in 2025 under the co-direction of Kari Voutilainen and Alex Rosenfield, three watches formed the inaugural collection. The UJ-2 introduced a time-only calibre with a double-wheel natural escapement; the UJ-3, an integrated perpetual calendar; while the UJ-1 Tourbillon 250th Anniversary Watch was meant to be the technical masterpiece for the return […]

The Complete Story of the Multi-Axis Tourbillon

Concepto Marks 20 Years of Movement Making

One of the leading names in movement development, Concepto marks its 20th year in 2026. Concepto’s founder, Valérien Jaquet, has led the company since its founding in 2006, advised by his father, Jean-Pierre Jaquet, a fabled watch entrepreneur with a controversial history. Now a vertically integrated manufacture capable of creating and producing almost every part of a watch, Concepto is one of the rare handful of movement suppliers that have survived and prospered over the economic cycles of the watch industry. Some of its peers have gone bust, like Christophe Claret, while others, like La Fabrique du Temps, have been acquired by the industry’s giants. From left: Valérien Jaquet, Jean-Pierre Jaquet, and Jacob Arabo. Image – Concepto The company released a statement for its 20th anniversary that reveals some interesting facts about a little-known but crucial aspect of the industry — the specialist suppliers that feed watch brands with movements. Concepto remains a family business boasting some impressive numbers: according to the company, last year’s sales exceeded CHF60 million while output was some 30,000 movements, including about 1,100 tourbillon calibres. According to Concepto, its client list exceeds 100 brands. The list includes names large and small — the firm helped Bulgari set the record for the world’s thinnest tourbillon, while Jacob & Co. tapped Concepto for the V-16 engine automaton in the Bugatti Tourbillon wristwatch. Even Bugatti itself turn...

Interview: PS Horology’s Peter Speake is Still a Romantic About Watchmaking

Independent watchmaking is in a vastly different place than it was when legendary English watchmaker Peter Speake founded the Speake-Marin brand in 2002. While it might be a stretch to say indie watchmaking has gone fully mainstream, it’s certainly on its way–and Speake has seen that evolution from the ground floor.  The work Speake did with the Speake-Marin brand was undeniably influential. While Speake-Marin’s offerings were innovative, often highly technical, and decidedly modern in aesthetics, they embodied the kind of old world craftsmanship that this sector of watchmaking obsesses over. Perhaps more importantly, many of the pieces Speake-Marin crafted with Speake at the helm were some of the first to really push the concept of watches with a narrative. They played in the space between function and art with their designs, and did so boldly. That period of his career turned Speake into something of a hero of independent watchmaking.  Speake departed the Speake-Marin brand in 2017, at which point he founded an education platform called the Naked Watchmaker. With the Naked Watchmaker, Speake–whose early watchmaking background was in restoration and historical preservation–spent several years immersed in the inner workings of everything from the great mainstream brands to original Breguet tourbillions. Though he dabbled in consultancy throughout it all, it was unclear if  he would return full-time to the creative and retail side of watchmaking. With his new b...

Northern Exposure: Louis Vuitton’s Escale en Alaska

Louis Vuitton (LV) has taken the covers off its latest unique Escale Autour du Monde pocket watch — the Escale en Alaska is the most complicated Escale pocket watch yet, including both a minute repeater and a tourbillon along with nine dial-side animations. Initial thoughts Possibly more than any other so-called ‘fashion brand’, LV excels in creativity and world-building, which has only become more stylish, whimsical and nuanced. The Escale en Alaska exemplifies this development, and demonstrates the breadth of artistic crafts practised by La Fabrique du Temps (LFT). Translating as ‘Stopovers Around the World’, the Escale Autour du Monde collection embodies the expressive flair of a leading fashion house — something many traditional watch brands simply can’t match. Following LV’s previous Escale pocket watches celebrating the beauty of Mount Fuji and the Pont-Neuf in Paris, the brand’s latest creation has looked north for inspiration, this time celebrating the desolate beauty of Alaskan glaciers and their exotic inhabitants. Arctic artistry The term ‘fashion watch’ is often used pejoratively to describe a watch with no real watchmaking value that trades solely off the fashion name, but watches like Escale en Alaska transcend this categorisation. The Escale Autour du Monde is a double-sided pocket watch with animated jacquemarts on one side and an exposed movement with an inverted hand stack on the other. The latter is unchanged from that of previous e...

Introducing - The new Ferdinand Berthoud Chronometre FB 3SPC.2-1

Following the resurrection of the name Ferdinand Berthoud by Chopard’s co-president Karl-Friedrich Scheufele in 2015, with the introduction of the Chronomètre FB1, a superb tourbillon watch with fusée-and-chain device, followed by the no less spectacular Chronomètre FB2, the brand presented another award-winning watch, a superb wrist chronometer with cylindrical balance-spring named the Chronomètre FB 3SPC – […]

Hands-On: The Greubel Forsey Balancier 3 Blue And An Intro To Bonniksen

Double tourbillons, quadruple tourbillons, movements assembled with such three-dimensional ambition that they sit like sci-fi architecture on the wrist, every time I have a Greubel Forsey in hand, I'm reminded just how much the brand operates in its own lane. Yet there has always been something faintly contradictory about the Balancier 3, the model the brand first introduced in 2023 as its most moderate, most structurally legible entry point. With three bridges, a clean balance, no tourbillon, and no theatre, the Balancier 3 on paper is reserved. And yet my first thought with this recently released version on the wrist is that even a restrained Greubel Forsey is a startling object. Balanced beautifully between spotlighting its technicality and marrying that with a new execution, this might be the brand's simplest watch on paper, but it is not, by any reasonable measure, a simple watch. The Balancier 3 has been with us for three years now, and with this latest edition, the large central bridge has been hand-frosted across its entire curved surface. The result is a deep, matte texture, the kind of pronounced surface that a machine couldn't lay down convincingly on a shape this complex, running from the edge of the movement between one and two o'clock down to the seconds between seven and eight. Around it, the balance and barrel bridges remain in a bright, polished titanium, producing an incredibly captivating contrast of reflection and depth. Then there is the blue, worked i...

Hands-On With The Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic Yellow Neon Saxem

Hublot’s Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic Yellow Neon SAXEM is one of those watches that leave you in awe, combining neon sapphire brilliance with high-complication tourbillon watchmaking. What We Love The bold Yellow Neon SAXEM case completely transforms under different lighting. The skeletonised dial offers a beautifully balanced design that gives the watch real mechanical theatre. Few watches in watchmaking will command attention quite like this, especially in natural light. What We Don’t The 44mm case size wears better than expected, but it is still on the larger side. Even sapphire lovers may find the Yellow Neon SAXEM a lot to handle. A black structured strap option would let the case and dial take centre stage even more, while simultaneously reducing the overall ‘distinctive’ presence of the watch. Overall Rating: 8.6 / 10 Value For Money: 8.5/10 Design: 9.0/10 Wearability: 8.0/10 Build Quality: 9.0/10 Few timepieces in the world of watchmaking can grab attention like a bright yellow-coloured watch. Now imagine adding a transparent sapphire case to the mix, and suddenly, you have something that becomes almost impossible to ignore on the wrist. That is exactly what we get with the Hublot Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic Yellow Neon SAXEM. This is a watch that does not ask to be seen, but rather commands it the moment you see it. In that regard, this, in my opinion, is the kind of timepiece that perfectly encapsulates what Hublot is all about. Since the beginnin...

First Look - The Impressive Finishings of the Greubel Forsey Balancier QM

Greubel Forsey, the high-end independent brand founded in 2004, has long been associated with multi-axis tourbillons, often staged in enormous, asymmetric cases with protrusions to accommodate the mechanics and offer panoramic views. The first model to appear without a tourbillon was the Balancier, equipped with an enormous 12.6mm dial-side balance wheel. Ever evolving, the latest […]

Breguet’s Four New Tourbillons for the 225th Anniversary | with Gregory Kissling, CEO of Breguet

First Look - Breguet Releases 3 new Tourbillon Watches for the 225th Anniversary of its Invention

Precisely 225 years ago on this day (on June 26, 1801, or on 7 Messidor An IX, to use the French Republican calendar in force at the time), Abraham-Louis Breguet was granted the patent for what is, without a doubt, its most famous invention: the tourbillon. Designed to counter the problem of gravity affecting the […]

In-Depth - The Superbly Elegant new 35mm Breguet Classique Tourbillon 7357

Tourbillon and Breguet are two words that belong in the same story. Indeed, on 26 June 1801, and thus exactly 225 years ago, Abraham-Louis Breguet was granted the patent for his invention, an anti-gravity device that he would name the tourbillon. And today, the brand celebrates this crucial invention by releasing a series of new […]

Fratello Talks: Breguet’s CEO On The Latest Tradition 7047, 225 Years Of The Tourbillon, And The Brand’s Future

On the 225th anniversary of the tourbillon patent, we sit down with Breguet CEO Gregory Kissling to discuss the latest version of the Tourbillon 7047, the brand’s enduring appeal, and the future of one of watchmaking’s most historic names. Before taking the helm at Breguet on October 1st, 2024, Kissling served as Vice President of […] Visit Fratello Talks: Breguet’s CEO On The Latest Tradition 7047, 225 Years Of The Tourbillon, And The Brand’s Future to read the full article.

Breguet Quartet for Tourbillon 225th Anniversary

Enjoying a new lease of life under chief executive Gregory Kissling, Breguet is continuing with the revamp and revival of its product range, this time marking the 225th anniversary of Abraham-Louis Breguet invention of the tourbillon. Breguet is rolling out a quartet of models for the occasion, starting with the compact and enthusiast-oriented Classique Tourbillon ref. 7357 that’s an old school 35 mm in diameter. That’s followed by variants of existing models. The Classique Tourbillon Sidéral ref. 7255PT takes things up a notch with a “mysterious” flying tourbillon and aventurine enamel dial, while the Tradition Tourbillon ref. 7047PT is a new look for the long-tenured model featuring a chain-and-fusee transmission. Lastly the Marine Tourbillon Équation Marchante ref. 5887PT gains a translucent, luminous grand feu enamel dial. The enamel dial of the Marine Tourbillon Équation Marchante ref. 5887PT features a Super-Luminova star chart Initial thoughts Breguet has steadily refreshed its current line up since Mr Kissling took over, while releasing a handful of all new models, like the innovative Experimentale 1. The new tourbillons mostly fall into the former category; all are based on existing models to varying degrees. Ironically, of the four new models, it’s the entry-level piece that’s arguably the most novel. The Classique Tourbillon 7357 is clearly based on the ref. 3350 of 1989, but it has a new case and dial (but retaining the small case size). The mov...

225 Years After The Tourbillon’s Invention, The Breguet Tradition Tourbillon 7047 Spins In The Best Of Traditions

The year after Breguet turned 250, the brand celebrates another big milestone, the 225th anniversary of the tourbillon. It does so with several gravity-defying watches, and we had the chance to experience the newest Breguet Tradition Tourbillon 7047, a platinum 25-piece limited edition outfitted with a spinning one-minute tourbillon and a fascinating fusée-and-chain mechanism. The […] Visit 225 Years After The Tourbillon’s Invention, The Breguet Tradition Tourbillon 7047 Spins In The Best Of Traditions to read the full article.

Breguet Marks the 225th Anniversary of the Tourbillon with Four New Watches

Introducing: Breguet Celebrates the 225th Anniversary of the Tourbillon with Four New Releases, And the Return of a Collector Favorite (Live Pics)

The year was 7 Messidor Year IX—or for those who don't follow the French Republican Calendar, June 26, 1801. After years of intense study and experimentation and some correspondence with his friend John Arnold (who similarly experimented with the concept before his death in 1799), Abraham-Louis Breguet was granted a 10-year patent for the "tourbillon." By 1829, Breguet and his workshop would only make 40 watches with the regulating organ, which was designed to eliminate positional errors and distribute oil (which often thickened in place), thereby lubricating parts more evenly. A Breguet four-minute tourbillon watch with échappement naturel, which sold at Sotheby's last year for CHF 1,880,000. Photo courtesy Sotheby's. Well, Abraham-Louis Breguet (and John Arnold) would be proud of how far the concept of the tourbillon has come—he may even be spinning himself if he saw some of the things that have happened with the tourbillon, like Alfred Helwig's invention of the flying tourbillon, let alone the first tourbillon wristwatch—and how many of those concepts have been integrated into watches made under his name. Add to that the fact that Breguet annually makes multiple times the number of his lifetime production, and it's just pretty cool how far things have come in 225 years. The Breguet Experimentale 1, which was launched late last year. The 10Hz, 1-minute tourbillon was one of the most extreme tourbillons ever made. Exposition out of the way, Breguet is celebrating t...

Chinese Haute Horlogerie From “The Geneva of the East?” - The New Peacock Haiyi Tourbillon Yu Limited Edition

Please meet Peacock, a Chinese watch brand that has been creating complicated timepieces since 1957, and its Haiyi Tourbillon, a 40mm limited-edition dive watch with a colorful Lindsay-engraved enameled dial in three colors. You might not be familiar with Liaoning Peacock, also known as the Peacock Watch Company, but the manufacturer from Dandong, China, is […] Visit Chinese Haute Horlogerie From “The Geneva of the East?” — The New Peacock Haiyi Tourbillon Yu Limited Edition to read the full article.