HANDS-ON: The complete package – Ulysse Nardin’s Marine Tourbillon
When it was originally conceived, the tourbillon was a technical solution to a specific problem — the impact of gravity on the accuracy of a pocket watch’s movement. These days the whirling cage of finely finished metal represents something else. For brands, it’s a bravura statement of prowess. For watch lovers, it’s typically the crowning piece in a collection, the finest point in fine watchmaking. If we’re honest, the appeal of the tourbillon is only partially due to an appreciation of the watchmaker’s art. There’s also an element of conspicuous consumption to wearing a tourbillon. Dress it up however you like — wearing a watch with a dial-facing tourbillon is a pretty powerful statement. Dig a little deeper into the complication and you’ll discover that not all tourbillons are created equal. TAG Heuer’s vaunted $20k Heuer-02T is CNC printed, and many other brands rely on outsourced, third-party movements. Ulysse Nardin’s Marine Tourbillon avoids these pitfalls and manages to offer one of the most compelling value propositions of 2017. Before we get to the movement, let’s talk about the watch as a whole. The 43mm steel case has modern touches, like the angular, integrated lugs, squared-off crown guard and rubber inset…
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Sitting between the now nostalgia-laden ‘80s and the innovation explosion of the 2000s, the 1990s is seen as something of a watchmaking wasteland; a bold (and brash) period that’s currently out of fashion, but not far enough away to be viewed through the rose tinted glasses of history. But were the ‘90s really a write-off? Here are nine groundbreaking ‘90s watches that redeem watchmaking’s forgotten decade. 1991 – Audemars Piguet Star Wheel What is it? Watchmakers are, by and large, bound by tradition and stick to tried and true methods, like telling the time with hands. In 1991 Audemars Piguet proposed something new, using a series of spinning sapphire discs, all mounted on rotating star shaped wheels. An oddity, but a technically impressive one. Why is it important? Audemars Piguet were well and truly ahead of the trend on this one. Now we’re used to brands like Urwerk messing with how time is told, but 26 years ago, the Star Wheel was something out of this world. 1992 – IWC Doppelchrono What is it? The split seconds chronograph, used for timing two events simultaneously, is widely regarded as being one of the most prestigious complications available. It was a space dominated by…