Greubel Forsey redesigns its tourbillon to create the new titanium-cased Tourbillon Cardan, the watchmaker’s 8th Fundamental Invention and the latest in the series of patented, technically advanced timepieces. And while the oscillator here echoes the airy appearance of a traditional flying tourbillon, Greubel Forsey’s version is anything but classical.
The new Greubel Forsey Tourbillon Cardan.
Rather than the usual sixty-second rotation, the tourbillon here rotates once every sixteen seconds. In addition, the balance wheel is larger than usual (12.6mm), which tends to optimize its oscillations.
Greubel Forsey explains that not only do these two factors enhance chronometric precision, the tourbillon’s high inertia also makes it less sensitive to shocks and variations in speed.
Greubel Forsey combines this larger, faster tourbillon with a revolving 30 degree angle and two constantly tilting rings that guide the tourbillon, tilting backward and forward in forty-eight seconds. Though this movement may recall the use of gimbals in some marine chronometers, the new design is just a bit more complicated.
Greubel Forsey explains that in this new watch, the tilt of the rings is controlled with a range of +30° to -30°, which, when combined with the inclined tourbillon, offers a “better ratio of angular velocity to chronometric performance.”
With four stacked barrels, the Tourbillon Cardan offers an impressive eighty hours of highly chronometric power reserve.
Greubel Forsey showcases its new tourbillon within a 45.5mm titanium case with a domed sapphire crystal, which allows for a full view of the large balance wheel and swaying dual rings.
And of course Greubel Forsey hand-finishes each component of the Tourbillon Cardan.Many of the finishing procedures here are unique to the watch, including the frosted titanium finish on the tourbillon cage and the large polished flank finishes above the titanium mainplate. (See the Greubel Forsey website for a full list of specifications.)
Greubel Forsey plans to build about eleven Tourbillon Cardan watches annually, with a total output of fifty-five watches during the next five years.
Bell & Ross partners with the Tara Océan Foundation to create the BR 03-92 Diver Tara, a new dive watch built to meet the needs of the crew on board the oceanography exploration schooner Tara. The ship carries out the organization’s marine biodiversity research aimed at observing and anticipating the impacts of climate change and pollution.
The new Bell & Ross BR03 Diver Tara
On board the Tara, researchers are wearing the new watch, which features a 42mm matte blue ceramic case and unidirectional rotating blue and orange ceramic bezel.
Now joining the Bell & Ross BR 03 Diver series, the new watch (a limited edition of 999 pieces) retains all the required dive specs, including the high-visibility dial, the aforementioned graduated bezel and a solid 300-meter water resistance rating.
Echoing other watches within the BR 03 Diver series, the deep blue dial displays highly visible indications even underwater thanks to its generous helping of white SuperLuminova on the applied indexes and graduated bezel. The seconds hand features an orange tint,
Inside Bell & Ross fits its Sellita-based BR-CAL 302 automatic movement, which powers the hour, minute, seconds and date displays.
“At its core, Bell & Ross is a supplier for explorers and elite units, with each watch designed to meet precise specifications set by the professional world it will enter,” explains Carlos-A Rosillo, President and Co-Founder of Bell & Ross. “That’s why we felt it was important to mark this joining of forces and celebrate the first year of our partnership with a new piece, the BR 03 Diver Tara.”
Rosella adds that for every watch sold, part of the profits will be donated to the France-based Foundation. Even the strap is built for conducting research in extreme weather with its blue woven rubber lined with an ultra-resistant technical material, all held to the wrist with a steel pin buckle.
“The Tara teams on board the schooner, and even at the North Pole in the near future, will be required to dive on a regular basis,” explains Romain Troublé, general director of the Tara Ocean Foundation.
Louis Vuitton upgrades Tambour with a new in-house movement, a sleeker case and an integrated bracelet.
In the twenty-plus years since Louis Vuitton debuted its first Tambour watches, the global fashion house has achieved a goal that still eludes many much older watchmakers: to create a case shape and watch than can be easily recognized while on a wrist across the room.
Louis Vuitton has carefully tailored Tambour’s drum-shaped case while also applying technical and aesthetic updates. The collection’s success has eased the French couture house’s entry into high-end watchmaking, steering Louis Vuitton into position as a peer among the world’s leading makers of high-end watches.
The new Louis Vuitton Tambour, here in its debut steel case and bracelet.
This year, Louis Vuitton updates Tambour with new finishes and a decidedly slimmer, sculpted case. The new collection is more luxurious overall and notably highlights an all-new in-house movement and a sleek integrated steel bracelet.
Two new models
Two new steel watches launch the collection’s upgrade. One is a chic monochrome model with a silver grey dial and the second one sports a deep blue dial. Both are built to highlight the new unisex 40mm by 8.3mm case, its new caliber LFT023 and the new bracelet. A rose gold model and a two-tone gold and steel edition are also now available.
The 22 karat gold microrotor helps provide fifty hours of power reserve.
The movement here is Louis Vuitton’s first proprietary automatic three-hand movement. It has been designed by La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton in conjunction with movement specialists Le Cercle des Horlogers.
With its 22-karat gold micro-rotor, stylized Louis Vuitton decor, micro-sandblasted bridges, polished edges and chamfers, the new caliber announces a new era of three-hand movements for Tambour, which has previously utilized modified ETA-based and Zenith-El Primero-based calibers, as well as quartz movements for certain models.
Boasting a strong fifty-hour power reserve, the new movement is chronometer certified, withtimekeeping accuracy of between -4s and +6s per day. The certification, from the Geneva Chronometric Observatory under the auspices of the TIMELAB Foundation, ensures that the movement complies with ISO 3159 a serious level of accuracy that befits this new higher-end Tambour series.
“With this launch, we seek to open a new chapter in the history of the Maison’s watchmaking by creating a watch with strong horological credentials while identifiably Louis Vuitton in style”, adds Arnault.
The watches
Louis Vuitton has retained Tambour’s curves for these new designs, but has softened them with fluid edges and a curved back that gently hugs the wrist. The sloped, sandblast-finish bezel here is thinner than on existing Tambour models, but still retains the twelve Louis Vuitton namesake letters at each hour mark.
Louis Vuitton has taken great care to bring comfort to its premiere integrated steel bracelet. The bracelet, particularly novel for Tambour, offers no hint of even the small lugs we’ve seen previously within Tambour. Its clean integration into the case echoes the almost sporty look you’ve likely already seen in other well-known, high-end integrated steel watches.
A closer look at the bracelet reveals links that are convex on both sides to create a rounded profile, which guarantees smooth contact with the wrist. The folks at Louis Vuitton, a company built on fine leather products, remind us that this new bracelet, while all steel, offers “slim, curved links providing a close and comfortable fit on the wrist to rival the softest leather strap.”
Louis Vuitton has brush-finished the new Tambour case and bracelet—with a few exceptions. These include the polished bracelet chamfers and central links and the polished, drum-shaped crown.
The dial
Tambour’s new, three-dimensional dial features micro-sandblasted surfaces, gold indexes and a clean layout despite the seconds sub-dial. The markers are nicely separated as are the minute ring and the hour ring, all of which enhances the sense of balance on the dial.
Louis Vuitton revels in the details here. The watchmaker has paired recessed five-minute markers with raised, applied hour markers. The company explains that this difference in the height level of the markers allows for quick reading, since the light interacts variably between them. All numerals and hands are filled with Super-LumiNova.
Price: $18,500. The collection also includes a rose gold edition, price at $52,000, and a two-tone model price at $26,500.
Specifications:
Louis Vuitton Tambour, silver dial (W1ST10)
Case: 40mm by 8.3mm stainless steel, sapphire crystal and back.Water-resistant to 50 meters.
Dial: Grey/silver with small seconds counter at 6 o’clock; white gold hands, numerals and indexes, with SuperLumiNova coating on the hands and numerals.
Movement: Automatic caliber LFT023, visible through the sapphire caseback, 22-karat rose gold micro-rotor, 50 hours of power reserve, 28,800 vph, certified chronometer by the Geneva Chronometric Observatory.
Bracelet: Stainless steel with invisible 3-blade folding buckle.
Price: $18,500.
Louis Vuitton Tambour, blue dial (W1ST20)
Case: 40mm by 8.3mm stainless steel, sapphire crystal and back.Water-resistant to 50 meters.
Dial: Blue with small seconds counter at 6 o’clock; white gold hands, numerals and indexes, with SuperLumiNova coating on the hands and numerals.
Movement: Automatic caliber LFT023, visible through the sapphire caseback, 22-karat rose gold micro-rotor, 50 hours of power reserve, 28,800 vph, certified chronometer by the Geneva Chronometric Observatory.
Bracelet: Stainless steel with invisible 3-blade folding buckle.
It will come as no surprise to any fashionista that the retro-chic design of the Briston Clubmaster is a child of a Franco-Italian collaboration – in this case with a bit of Brit influence mixed in for good measure.
The Briston Clubmaster Sport
Crafted in cellulose acetate supplied by the sixth-generation-owned Italian manufacturer Mazzucchelli 1849, the watch has Briston making a case for a watch case in the form of a “squircle”. What’s a squircle you say? It’s actually a portmanteau of “square” and “circle” and really best describes the softened corners and flowing lines of this Briston case out of round.
Emulating the style of both luxury eyewear and fine writing instruments originally crafted in tortoise shell (a misnomer as most often sea turtle shell was used), the main body of the Briston Clubmaster case is sensually smooth and soft to the touch, hypo-allergenic, and even recyclable.
Variegated patterns evoke the tortoise-shell effect of its biological predecessor, and like natural shell, the man-made acetate versions will vary with no two cases being exactly alike. Unlike the original shell, the cellulose acetate can be brought to life in an amazing array of colors beyond the amber and cognacs of the original – including solid tone colors crafted in the same material.
In our Ice Blue Briston Clubmaster sample, the steel lugs spaced 20mm apart seamlessly emerge from the semi translucent case, while a threaded steel back and domed sapphire crystal protect the inner workings and lume-enhanced dial and hands.
Various colors are available in a 40mm x 40mm three-hand model as well as a 42mm x 42mm chronograph with day/night indicator at 3 o’clock. All are water resistant to 10atm and powered by Miyota quartz movements.
For smaller wrists there are also options in 36mm and 24mm in a variety of cool case colors and matching dials.
Lightweight and stylish, Briston watches are an easy purchase with prices ranging from $195 to $440 at www.briston-watches.com
Watchmaker and RGM founder Roland Murphy will headline the November Horological Society of New York (HSNY) lecture at the organization’s New York headquarters on Nov. 6. with his discussion “Inside the James Arthur Collection: A Patek Philippe Grand Complication.”
The Pennsylvania-based Murphy was asked in the mid-1990s by the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC) Museum to repair a Patek Philippe Grand Complication — an important timepiece in the James Arthur collection. The Association at the time was making a video and needed the repeater mechanism inside the watch to function. Additionally, photographs were taken during the repair and restoration process to give a glimpse inside the extremely rare and complicated watch.
Roland G. Murphy
Earlier this year, the 35mm negatives were shared for the first time, and during his lecture Murphy will share the scans and his experience of repairing one of the most important watches in horological history.
The lecture is free of charge (RSVP required) and takes place at the HSNY headquarters at the General Society Library, 20 West 44th Street in New York City. Click here for details and to RSVP.
Doors open at 6 p,m. with the lecture set to begin at 7 p.m.
Various colors are available in a 40mm x 40mm three-hand model as well as a 42mm x 42mm chronograph with day/night indicator at 3 o’clock. All are water resistant to 10atm and powered by Miyota quartz movements.
