Tourbillon

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      Whirlwind watches - what is a tourbillon?

      Tourbillon watches are mechanical watches with a very special and highly complicated mechanism which compensates for gravity-related time deviations. In 1795 Abraham-Louis Breguet invented the tourbillon (“whirlwind”). At that time, many men carried pocket watches in der vests vertically which lead to a one-sided exposure to gravity. To counter this effect, Breguet designed an escapement mechanism which continuously rotated the entire balance wheel and escapement assembly about one revolution per minute so that positional errors are averaged out.

      How much do tourbillon watches cost?

      Swiss tourbillon watches typically retail for several tens of thousands of euros. Being considered as one of the most challenging watch complication to make, this is no surprise. However, due to a recent renaissance of tourbillon watches, the demand and also the supply are increasing. A tourbillon watch will still cost considerably more than a similar model without this mechanism.

      Are there cheap tourbillon watches?

      We’re sorry, but these mechanical watches are not cheap to get. But there are affordable tourbillon watches with a very attractive price point like Memorigin’s tourbillons.

      Model

      Price (approx.)

      Zenith El Primero Tourbillon, Ref. 03.2050.4035/21.C630

      45.000 €

      IWC Portugieser Tourbillon, Ref. IW544705

      40.000 €

      Frédérique Constant Manufacture Tourbillon, Ref. FC-980N4S6

      30.000 €

      Memorigin Stellar Series, Ref. 4894379660110

      4.500 €

      Memorigin Grand Series, Ref. 4894379750248

      3.750 €

      Types of tourbillon watches

      • Tourbillon
      • Double-axis tourbillon
      • Double and quadruple tourbillons
      • Triple-axis tourbillon
      • Flying tourbillon