Tourbillon
The tourbillon ( French for whirlwind ) is a device in which the oscillation and escapement system of a mechanical watch rotates around its axis in order to achieve a less position-dependent rate accuracy, especially for wrist and pocket watches . Due to the force of gravity , the accuracy of conventional watches is not the same in all positions. A tourbillon distributes the effect of gravity on the oscillating system (balance wheel and balance spring) evenly over all positions of at least one plane of rotation. Position-dependent rate deviations of the most sensitive parts cancel each other out in all these positions.
function
Abraham Louis Breguet (1747–1823) invented the tourbillon in 1795 to eliminate changes in the position of a pocket watch (and the resulting inaccuracy) . The patent was granted in Paris in 1801 and is referred to in the patent specification as "Régulateur à Tourbillon".
In this case, the escape wheel, the lever and the balance wheel are installed on a small plate in a bogie, a cage on the shaft of the seconds wheel . The second drive is screwed onto the bogie from below and permanently installed on the lower board. The bogie, in the middle of which the balance wheel swings exactly above the shaft of the second wheel, rotates around the screwed-on second wheel. The drive of the escape wheel runs on it. So if the fourth wheel rotates once per minute, the tourbillon (the circuit board) also makes this rotation. This means that errors in position or center of gravity no longer always occur immediately, but are compensated for once a minute (depending on the tourbillon).
A simple tourbillon cannot adjust the position in all positions. Temperature fluctuations also affect these watches almost as strongly as normal mechanical watch movements. Tourbillons are technically very complex and also not very robust.
The better the balance is balanced , the less precise the tourbillon will be. In gimbal- mounted watches (e.g. navigation chronometers ) the balance shaft is always vertical. A tourbillon is not useful in this case.
In the first 200 years, only about 700 tourbillons were built, as their production is particularly difficult. This is why tourbillon watches are expensive. Adjusting and repairing a tourbillon watch requires a great deal of expertise and care. In the meantime, however, almost every luxury watch manufacturer offers such watches, so that several thousand tourbillons have now been made.
A modification of these clocks was invented by the Danes Bahne Bonniksen . He used the barrel as a rotary bearing and stored the drive and balance on a rotating carousel. Because of their manufacture, such carousels are much heavier than a tourbillon and compensate for positional errors with a complete rotation every 261/4 minutes. This type of clock is called a carousel clock. The carousel was also an eye-catcher for the technology-loving people of the time. For example, window openings were often milled into the dial to reveal the carousel.
The "flying" tourbillon
The "flying" tourbillon is a further development or variant of the classic Breguet tourbillon. It was invented in 1920 by the watchmaker's teacher Alfred Helwig . The peculiarity of the flying tourbillon is that there is no upper bridge for storing the cage. The cage is only stored on the underside.
The gyro tourbillon
In theory, the tourbillon can compensate for a static change in position of the watch by rotating it around the pointer axis, but not dynamic disturbances (e.g. when jogging). The Gyrotourbillon was therefore developed at the Swiss luxury watch manufacturer Jaeger-LeCoultre : A complex mechanism continuously rotates the balance around three axes, analogous to a gyroscopic system . How it works is - even when viewed directly - very difficult to understand, even for experts. The gain in accuracy is hardly measurable and remains below the mechanical error (friction, etc.) that occurs even with the highest quality watch movements.
The double tourbillon
In 2004, the Swiss watch manufacturer Greubel Forsey developed the “Double Tourbillon 30 °” model, which is equipped with a double tourbillon. The special feature here is the use of a smaller tourbillon angled by 30 ° in a larger tourbillon bogie. While the smaller tourbillon takes one minute to complete one revolution, the tourbillon bogie takes four minutes to complete one revolution. The manufacturer expects this to achieve greater accuracy compared to simple tourbillon mechanisms.
Greubel Forsey has been producing another model since 2008: the "Quadruple Tourbillon à différentiel" has two double tourbillons combined in one case. A spherical differential is used in this watch, which connects the four tourbillon frames. Similar to a differential gear in a car, the differential ensures an even power transmission, even if the tourbillon frames have different speeds.
The double-axis tourbillon
In 2003, the German watchmaker Thomas Prescher developed the “Double-Axis Tourbillon” model for the “Thomas Prescher Haute Horlogerie” in a pocket watch and in 2004 in a wristwatch equipped with a two-axis tourbillon. The special feature here is that the tourbillon rotates around two axes. The first axis and the second axis each rotate 1 / min around their own axis. The whole tourbillon is equipped with a constant force mechanism, also called remontoire, in the tourbillon cage. Prescher has implemented the constant force again and used it for the necessary effort in his double-axis tourbillon. He used the mechanism to equalize the different power supply, due to strong to weakly tensioned mainspring , friction, gravitational and center of gravity effects, so that the vibration control system of the double-axis tourbillon is always supplied with even power. He uses a modified system after Henri Jeanneret.
The triple-axis tourbillon
In 2004 Prescher developed a “triple-axis tourbillon” in a wristwatch for “Thomas Prescher Haute Horlogerie”. The special feature here is that the tourbillon rotates around three axes. The first and second axes each rotate at 1 / min, the third axis rotates at 1 / h around its own axis. Like the double-axis tourbillon , the entire tourbillon is equipped with a constant force mechanism.
Availability
Almost all luxury watch manufacturers now offer tourbillon watches. The tourbillon, although its effect on accuracy is limited in wristwatches, is still very popular. Its high complexity is suitable as a distinguishing feature. This is why the dial of these watches is usually open-work, so that it reveals the tourbillon and parts of the movement. Chinese manufacturers are now producing tourbillon watches that are sold under various (often European-sounding) pseudonyms, mostly via internet auctions. The quality, price and value of these watches are discussed in watch collectors' circles.
Another trend in Internet auctions is to advertise watches with a visible balance with the predicate "Tourbillon Style" or even "Tourbillon", although it is only a simple balance escapement with a fixed escape wheel.
Individual evidence
- ^ Gisbert L. Brunner: wrist watches . Heyne, Munich 1996, ISBN 978-3453114906 .
- ^ Gisbert L. Brunner, Christian Pfeiffer-Belli: Wristwatches. Wrist watches. Montres bracelets . Könemann, Cologne 2002, ISBN 978-3829006606 . P. 252
- ↑ Gerhard Claußen, Karl-Hermann Ströde: The great clock ABC, vol. 1 . Ebner, Bremen 1999, ISBN 978-3980367509 . P. 156
- ↑ George Daniels: Watchmaking. Sotheby's Publications, 1985, ISBN 978-0856674976 , p. 264
- ^ Henri Jeanneret, Techniker, La Chaux-de-Fonds: Escapement carrier for industrial apparatus with constant drive , Verlag ART. Institut Orell Füssli A.-G., Zurich - Special reprint from the Swiss technical journal Volume 144, No. 11
- ↑ [1]
literature
- Reinhard Meis : pocket watches. From the neck watch to the tourbillon. 2nd, corrected edition. Callwey, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-7667-0568-7 .
- Reinhard Meis: The tourbillon. Fascination of watch technology. 2nd, expanded edition. Callwey, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-7667-1059-1 .
- Otto Habinger: Tourbillon constructions for wristwatches. In: Old clocks. No. 1, 1984, pp. 32-36.
- George Daniels : Watchmaking. Revised edition. Philip Wilson, London 2009, ISBN 978-0-85667-679-6 .
- Helmut Kahlert , Richard Mühe , Gisbert L. Brunner , Christian Pfeiffer-Belli: Wristwatches: 100 years of development history. Callwey, Munich 1983; 5th edition ibid 1996, ISBN 3-7667-1241-1 , pp. 85 and 506.
