SAVOIR FAIRE Everything you need to know about the tourbillon

Let’s start at the beginning. The tourbillon is a regulating mechanism — an essential part of any watch — that consists of the balance wheel, balance screw, escape wheel and lever all encased within a tourbillon cage that constantly rotates on its axis. It’s a visually stunning mechanism, one invented to solve a very specific problem. The tourbillon was created to improve accuracy by offsetting the impact of gravity on the delicate inner workings of a watch. 

There are plenty of factors that can impact the accuracy of a regulating mechanism. Movement and changes in temperature for example. But the subtle pull of earth’s gravity on the balance wheel will, in theory, cause it to become less accurate over time. On a wristwatch this is not too much of a concern as, by its very nature, a wristwatch is constantly moving when its worn. But when the tourbillon was invented pocket watches were the norm, and they would often remain in the same position for long periods of time. The tourbillon was a clever solution to this problem. By constantly rotating the balance wheel in the tourbillon cage, gravity would not impact the motion of the wheel in any one position more than another. Today the tourbillon serves little practical purpose, but they’re more popular than ever. 

Up until the 1980s, it was exceptionally uncommon to find a tourbillon in a wristwatch — and even then they were typically hidden away behind the dial. Over the course of the 80s and 90s, watchmakers realised that the tourbillon was visually impressive and that the constantly rotating cage of this little whirlwind was an attractive and compelling addition to modern wristwatches. By the 2000s, the tourbillon was an integral part of many brand’s collections, and is a powerful symbol of a watchmaker’s expertise and skill.

In 2012, TAG Heuer re-invented the concept of the tourbillon with the remarkable Mikrotourbillons, a high horology concept watch that boasted a unique dual tourbillon design, featuring a highly accurate, high-frequency 50hz tourbillon that rotated once every five seconds (most tourbillons today take 60 seconds to rotate). This lightning-fast tourbillon allowed a chronograph accurate to 1/100th of a second. A few years later, TAG Heuer once again created an innovative tourbillon, with the TAG Heuer Monaco V4 Tourbillon, an ingenious design that used a microscopic 0.07mm thin rubber and metal belt to rotate the tourbillon cage. It’s clear that TAG Heuer’s approach to tourbillon design was particularly avant-garde. 

In 2016, TAG Heuer created another tourbillon that disrupted watchmaking: The TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 02T. This watch, a sporty chronograph, was remarkable because, at the time, it was the most affordable Swiss-made tourbillon on the market, a move by TAG Heuer that made one of the most prestigious watch complications more accessible than ever. TAG Heuer’s chronometer grade tourbillon, with a lightweight cage made from carbon fiber and titanium. It was a bold move, and exactly the sort of innovation TAG Heuer excels at. 

One of the most recent tourbillons added to TAG Heuer’s catalogue debuted in 2023. The TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon is a 42mm steel watch that uses the ‘glassbox’ style design as its base, and gives the tourbillon a more heritage aesthetic, while still displaying the ever-whirling cage of the tourbillon — a complication which has been entrancing us for over 200 years — front and center, right where it should be.