Tourbillons masterpieces
The two watches in this section are among the highlights of OMEGA’s innovative, state-of-the-industry horological tradition. One was the world’s first Tourbillon wristwatch; the other was the world’s first wristwatch equipped with a Central Tourbillon.
History of a classic – the Tourbillon
The Tourbillon was invented by Abraham Louis Breguet in 1801. The two main external influences on the accuracy of a timepiece are gravity and temperature. Breguet figured out how to offset the effect of gravity with the Tourbillon by assembling all of the escapement’s components in a rotating cage, thus negating positional error.
The first Tourbillon wristwatch – created by OMEGA
In 1947, OMEGA created its calibre 30I, the first Tourbillon wristwatch calibre in the world. Only twelve of these movements were made, intended for inclusion in the observatory trials in Geneva, Neuchâtel and Kew-Teddington, and they were known as the OMEGA Observatory Tourbillons. Unlike conventional Tourbillion movement’s whose cages rotate once per minute, the 30I’s cage rotated one time each seven and a half minutes. In 1949, one of these delivered the best results ever recorded by a wristwatch up to that time. A year later, OMEGA broke its own record, in the Geneva Observatory Trials of 1950.
In 1987, a small number of the original twelve Tourbillon movements were discovered in storage and were entirely overhauled. The movements were rhodium-plated, bevelled, polished, decorated with Geneva stripes and complemented by a silver or 18 Ct gold case complete with a sapphire crystal and transparent case back. Two of these Observatory Tourbillons were offered in the 2007 Omegamania auction, one in 18 Ct gold and one in silver. They were purchased for CHF215,750 and CHF 256,000 respectively.
OMEGA’s continuing legacy – the first Central Tourbillon
In 1994, OMEGA started production of its Central Tourbillon, the first and only such wristwatch in the world. All Omega Central Tourbillons are hand assembled and hand decorated. The movement’s and case’s components are produced exclusively for the Central Tourbillon (none of the components come from another movement or watch).
The creation of each new Central Tourbillon movement is a labour of love. Unlike watches made in conventional ateliers, in the Tourbillon workshop, the skilled watchmakers are responsible for every step in the making the movement. Because one watchmaker is responsible for the production of one Tourbillon from beginning to end at OMEGA, if a Tourbillon watch needs servicing, it will be done by the same watchmaker who initially produced that watch.
The OMEGA Central Tourbillon is equipped with the Co-Axial calibre 2635. It is distinguished by its hand polished bridges and mechanisms and a platinum oscillating weight. It has an 18 Ct red gold case and a leather strap.
The OMEGA Central Tourbillon represents the state of the art in mechanical watchmaking. It takes around 180 hours to create each movement; the completely unique and individual skeletonized versions require some 540 hours of patient, painstaking handcrafting.
It is fitting that OMEGA, the company which created the first Tourbillon wristwatch, continues to lead the industry in the application of extraordinary, innovative Tourbillon technology.
