another new watch- a tourbillon- beautiful

[toph]

i am going through a phase at the moment of buying different types of watches to contrast against my rolexes. i cannot afford to spend thousand of pounds every time (unfortunately) but i need to feed my addiction


I just bought this tourbillon. the quality and detail is actually taken my breath away for the price of it. i would have paid double and still been happy- the tourbillon also rotates ( i don't know if all do this) but seriously i love it already
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316L Solid Stainless Steel case - Rose Gold plated
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Steel hands
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Brown leather Croc
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Domical Sapphire crystal front + Sapphire back
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AR Coated sapphire (Blue tint)
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40mm case
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Onion Crown
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21,600bpm bespoke TOURBILLION Movement - Hand wind - 50 hour power reserve
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[toph]

some more pics

[Jedi]

Is it a Sea-Gull?

[toph]

Originally Posted by Jedi

Is it a Sea-Gull?

no, i saw a few of them- but they are all in Hong Kong and a bit more expensive. this one is from the UK from a shop called exclusive watches (on ebay)

there were many great reviews about it so i just bought it.

[Alcan]

Looks good, nice deployant too.

[toph]

Originally Posted by Alcan

Looks good, nice deployant too.

thanks!
yes it is a nice deployant- i can't believe i never knew that until yesterday

[mfer]

Originally Posted by toph

... the tourbillon also rotates ( i don't know if all do this) ...

Yeah, it should rotate once per minute. That is how it helps overcome the effects of gravity...

I didn't know tourbillon's could be had so cost effectively.

Congrats, , and

[Jedi]

By definition all tourbillons have to rotate. Specifically, the elements which make up he escapement such as the pallet fork and escape wheel have to rotate too. Once a minute is simply one of the configurations. Some rotate every 30 seconds, some 120, and some 5 minutes. 60 seconds, however, is the most common.

What I'm uncertain about with your piece, Chris, is why does it appear that the balance wheel only rotates about the central axis formed by the case, as the balance wheel seems to orbit this axis, rather than rotate around it's own axis as is the case with all tourbillons I've seen to date.

[BigHat]

Originally Posted by Jedi

By definition all tourbillons have to rotate. Specifically, the elements which make up he escapement such as the pallet fork and escape wheel have to rotate too. Once a minute is simply one of the configurations. Some rotate every 30 seconds, some 120, and some 5 minutes. 60 seconds, however, is the most common.

What I'm uncertain about with your piece, Chris, is why does it appear that the balance wheel only rotates about the central axis formed by the case, as the balance wheel seems to orbit this axis, rather than rotate around it's own axis as is the case with all tourbillons I've seen to date.

Thought the same. As I haven't seen this watch in action I can't say, but thought it more of a "turbillion-look." Is this a $20K+ watch? Certainly rare to find a turbillion under $50K, let alone under $20K. Please educate me on this model. I'm curious.

[toph]

Originally Posted by Jedi

By definition all tourbillons have to rotate. Specifically, the elements which make up he escapement such as the pallet fork and escape wheel have to rotate too. Once a minute is simply one of the configurations. Some rotate every 30 seconds, some 120, and some 5 minutes. 60 seconds, however, is the most common.

What I'm uncertain about with your piece, Chris, is why does it appear that the balance wheel only rotates about the central axis formed by the case, as the balance wheel seems to orbit this axis, rather than rotate around it's own axis as is the case with all tourbillons I've seen to date.

ok this rotates every 60 seconds.

now this is where i am a litle confused. you are probably right but just to try and clarify what you mean? you think that the balance wheel is being forced to rotate round by it fitting into the case rather than it turning independently.? what would be the difference and what effect does this have on the watch?
On this information and what i see in my watch , i believe it would just be a simplified tourbillon. without an "extra ring" for the tourbillon to rotate around its own axis. the case is used instead but it is still rotating on its own axis to a certain extent. does this alter the effect? the price yes- but please tell me what you all think as i am by no means an expert on this topic? P.S it was just over $500. and for that money i am very very happy.

[BigHat]

Originally Posted by toph

ok this rotates every 60 seconds.

now this is where i am a litle confused. you are probably right but just to try and clarify what you mean? you think that the balance wheel is being forced to rotate round by it fitting into the case rather than it turning independently.? what would be the difference and what effect does this have on the watch?
On this information and what i see in my watch , i believe it would just be a simplified tourbillon. without an "extra ring" for the tourbillon to rotate around its own axis. the case is used instead but it is still rotating on its own axis to a certain extent. does this alter the effect? the price yes- but please tell me what you all think as i am by no means an expert on this topic? P.S it was just over $500. and for that money i am very very happy.

No expert either, but read this:

What may be referred to as a tourbillon regulator, or more simply a tourbillon, is a mechanical device consisting essentially of a rotating cage carrying at least the balance and the escapement.

The cage is driven in rotation by the gear-train. It turns co-axially to a toothed crown fixed on to the plate. This crown serves to maintain the oscillator by means of a pinion carried by the cage. In conventional tourbillons, this pinion is that of the escape wheel, but this is not obligatory.

In a variant of tourbillon called "carousel", the cage is driven by the medium pinion, while the third wheel drives the second pinion which is co-axial to the carousel cage. There is no fixed crown in this system, but the angular speed of the second wheel is increased by that of the cage carrying it. This must be taken into account in calculations. We owe the invention of the carousel, in 1895, to the Dane, Bonniksen (1859-1935).

The existence or not of a crown wheel fixed on the plate makes it possible to distinguish the tourbillon from the carousel.

[toph]

Originally Posted by BigHat

No expert either, but read this:

What may be referred to as a tourbillon regulator, or more simply a tourbillon, is a mechanical device consisting essentially of a rotating cage carrying at least the balance and the escapement.
.

thanks for all of that i just wish i could completely understand it all but i am getting there. From the section above i would believe that mine is correct- basic but correct? would you disagree or can you not tell form the pictures?

[BigHat]

Originally Posted by toph

thanks for all of that i just wish i could completely understand it all but i am getting there. From the section above i would believe that mine is correct- basic but correct? would you disagree or can you not tell form the pictures?

Chris,
I don't feel qualified to comment as I can't tell from the pics. Maybe Lee will check-in. I'm just wondering because "true turbos" (and by that I mean the others I've seen and read about) sell closer to $100K than $500.

No question thought that it looks nice.

[mfer]

Thanks for the info Lee. I've never seen anything other than 60 sec. I stayed away from tourbillon's b/c I thought they were so expensive.

[topcat30093]

Toph
Its a nice looking watch and with a tourbillon as well.

[mfer]

Keep us up-to-date on how it keeps time. I'm interested.

[toph]

Originally Posted by mfer

Keep us up-to-date on how it keeps time. I'm interested.

no problem. i will post in a couple of days

[C. Davidson]

.

[C. Davidson]

From one Christopher to another, $500 is a great deal for a tourbillon watch. Way to go.

Also looks like it has an Incabloc shock absorber, blued screws, ruby jewels and a nice geneva stripes finish on the movement. Great value.

[toph]

Originally Posted by C. Davidson

From one Christopher to another, $500 is a great deal for a tourbillon watch. Way to go.

Also looks like it has an Incabloc shock absorber, blued screws, ruby jewels and a nice geneva stripes finish on the movement. Great value.

Christopher
much appreciated
thanks

[toph]

To anyone is interested i have done quite alot of reading tonight- about a few non-swiss tourbillon manufacturers. Most of them Chinese

Firstly i have no idea if this is Chinese but i would think so. This is a flying tourbillon - Blancpain do this style and that is why there is no additional wheel.

Quoting a fellow WIS who seemed to be a bit of an expert on this
"A tourbillon generally is defined as an escapement that rotates once per minute in its own cage. This design is exactly the same design as Blancpain uses. You are 100% correct that it is not a high quality tourbillon but it is without any question a true and real tourbillon."

They are genuine tourbillons but not to your Swiss level of craftmanship or complication but many people have paid between $600 to $1500 for a similar watch and have been happy.


Tourous and Sea-gull seem to be the most prominent. The general consensus is that they are not cheap chinese fakes but well made and finished watches all round with a fairly good standard of movement- not Swiss quality but still value for money. in 24 hours it has gained around 6 seconds on my milgauss and 8 on the GMT IIC. (they are both within COSC spec) so the timekeeping is not great (not bad though)- but no tourbillon is that great.
Anyway i am still exceedingly happy and the watch really looks and feels like a quality timepiece.

here are a few links and a review for you to read. There were more but i forgot to bookmark them and can't find them again


http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/...hina~25333.php
http://forums.timezone.com/index.php...=2878213&rid=0
http://www.tourbillonwatches.com/tou...n-watches.html

[Jedi]

Nice investigative work Chris.

Check out the Blancpain FF Tourbillon. Very similar appearance.

[toph]

Originally Posted by Jedi

Nice investigative work Chris.

Check out the Blancpain FF Tourbillon. Very similar appearance.

yes they are very similar but the FF has a little more to it, which is pretty understandable

[mfer]

Thanks for the update toph! Got me thinking about trading one of my boxed watches in....

[eric23]

Hi Christopher,

I might get one of these, could you post me a link to there web Store?

Thanks,

Eric

[toph]

Originally Posted by eric23

Hi Christopher,

I might get one of these, could you post me a link to there web Store?

Thanks,

Eric

here you go

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/merchant/excl...Q_fromZQQ_mdoZ

[eric23]

Originally Posted by toph

here you go

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/merchant/excl...Q_fromZQQ_mdoZ

Thanks Christopher.

[BigHat]

Great. I wanted to learn a bit more about this and appreciate the follow-up.

[buz-lh]

Toph, that may be the best looking $500 watch I've ever seen. Congrats.

[eric23]

Hi Christopher,

Do you know where you can get this model from? I found it on that review you posted but it is not on the guys eBay store.

Thanks,

Eric