Louis Breguet multi-functional watch, can't get off the tiger's back

by biao156am91 on 2012-02-11 16:35:47

In 2005, Breguet re-released the No. 5 pocket watch originally manufactured by Louis Breguet (Abraham-Louis Breguet, 1747-1823) at the end of the 18th century. This famous pocket watch was purchased back by Mr. Hayek for a large sum of money. In fact, this antique pocket watch serves as the best testament to the use of power reserve display, with a 60-hour power reserve function. Additionally, it features multiple functions such as minute repeater and moon phase. From today's perspective, this renowned pocket watch can be considered a precursor to power reserve multifunction watches. Perhaps, Mr. Breguet did not anticipate that more than 200 years after he created the No. 5 pocket watch, power reserve displays would be more frequently used in the realm of multifunction watches, and even become an indispensable feature. Take the hottest tourbillon watches of the year as an example; as the pioneer of tourbillons, Breguet's introduced model 5317 perfectly combines tourbillon with power reserve display. The power reserve indicator is located at the 12 o'clock position on the dial, showing a five-day reserve. The overall design retains some elements of marine clocks, but the small seconds sub-dial houses a delicate tourbillon mechanism.

The "Flying Tourbillon" watch also closely integrates power reserve display. Blancpain, which adopted multi-day power reserve earlier, represents this trend. Its "Transparent Tourbillon (Tourbillon Transparence)" wristwatch launched in 2005 combines flying tourbillon mechanism, large window date, and power reserve display. The fully transparent dial reveals the operation of many components. Roger Dubuis, with similar functions, differs in the arrangement of the dial: the flying tourbillon mechanism and power reserve display are arranged parallelly, while the large window date is positioned below the 12 o'clock mark. Piaget, which created the ultra-thin flying tourbillon caliber 600P, also crafted this year’s tourbillon and power reserve display with a luxurious appearance (set with diamonds).

Besides these famous manufacturers, independent watchmakers have also released many ingenious works. As AHCI candidate members, Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey combined their surnames to create the Greubel Forsey brand, releasing the stunning 30-degree inclined tourbillon watch. Unlike traditional tourbillons, it features two rotating frames of different sizes, with a 30-degree angle between them. The larger frame rotates once every four minutes, while the smaller one completes a rotation in 60 seconds. The ultimate goal of this structure is to minimize positional errors on timekeeping accuracy regardless of the watch's orientation. The power reserve display is a crucial indicator mechanism, located between the 2-3 o'clock marks on the dial, indicating a 72-hour power reserve to ensure smooth operation of the tourbillon mechanism.

In addition to tourbillon watches, perpetual calendar and minute repeater watches also feature power reserve displays. For instance, IWC launched a perpetual calendar watch with a 7-day power reserve in 2003, and Daniel Nove produced the "Ellipsocurvex" wristwatch this year, combining power reserve display with minute repeater function. Of course, the most outstanding super complicated watches of the year also adopted power reserve display, including Vacheron Constantin's "Tour de l'Ile" double-sided watch, featuring hour, minute, small seconds, moon phase, tourbillon mechanism, striking mechanism power display on the front side, with power reserve located between the 8-9 o'clock marks. The back side includes calendar, day, month, leap year, equation of time, sunrise and sunset times, and celestial chart displays. Another example is Franck Muller's "Evolution 3-1", which combines spherical tourbillon, perpetual calendar, and retrograde date pointer on the same surface, with power reserve display located below the 12 o'clock mark, indicated by a red needle for a 10-day power reserve.

Related thematic articles:

Agnès B. Earth Watch - Loving Earth is the Latest Fashion

IWC Portuguese Perpetual Calendar Exclusive Store Watch - Globally Limited to 50 Pieces