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THE LONG HISTORY of the tourbillon  watch is a story of gravity. Today it is one of the most fashionable complications, but it was devised by the legendary Abraham-Louis Breguet, who filed a patent for the tourbillon mechanism in 1801.

The tourbillon has been described as the holy grail of watchmaking: it is a great test of a watchmaker's skill and yet it is not really relevant to the modern wristwatch and adds no practical functions. It is something of an enigma.

Breguet devised the tourbillon mechanism in the days of pocket watches. He realised that because they spent much of their working life in a vertical position, the accuracy of pocket watches was impaired by the effect of gravity on the balance spring.

He reasoned that the pull of gravity also meant that the pinions of the balance wheel were not evenly oiled when kept in a vertical position for long periods.

The tourbillon was his ingenious solution to these problems. It consists of a mobile carriage or cage that contains the components of the escapement, the regulating mechanism of the watch. This cage rotates inside the watch, most commonly once a minute.

Although Breguet's introduction of the tourbillon improved the accuracy of pocket watches considerably, it was perhaps too sophisticated technically for most people.

Only 35 of the advanced watches were sold by the time of Breguet's death in 1823. It came into its own in the hands of his successors, who recognised that it was one of the most ingenious of all horological inventions.

Despite its brilliance, the tourbillon is not likely to improve the timekeeping of modern wristwatches, which do not suffer from the same positional problems as a pocket watch.

In a wristwatch, the tourbillon has even been described as an additional mechanism that consumes energy without serving any useful function.

Despite this, the tourbillon is the complication that watch companies have been clamouring to include in their collections in the past few years, largely in response to increasing demand from enthusiasts.

Until very recently, perhaps two or three years ago, it was believed that fewer than 250 watchmakers had ever proved that they had sufficient skill to  make such a watch. Since then, both demand and supply have exploded and many companies now include tourbillon models in their collections.

As a result, the number of watchmakers who work with tourbillons has  increased dramatically, although few of them make such watches entirely by themselves.

Some manufacturers buy the basic tourbillon mechanism from specialist suppliers and add it to their own watch movements. Although tourbillons are much more widely available than ever before, they are certainly not commonplace and they still signify quality: regulating a tourbillon watch is still a task that is undertaken only by top-class watchmakers.

Five years ago, tourbillon watches were a very rare commodity, but since Patek Philippe introduced two important models in 2003, one with a power reserve of 10 days and the other incorporating a minute repeater, the popularity of the tourbillon has increased at breakneck speed, a public acceptance that has been limited mainly by production capacity.

Among the companies whose collections include a tourbillon are Breguet, Blancpain, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Omega, Zenith, de Grisogono,  Gerald Genta,  Daniel Roth, Bulgari,  Gerald Charles,  Harry Winston,  A. Lange & Sohne, Louis Vuitton, Channel, Jorg Hysek, Parmigiani, International Watch Company (IWC), Glashutte Original  and Vacheron Constantin.  Even this list is far from exhaustive. Jean-Claude Monachon,  vice-president for product, at Omega in Switzerland,  explained why so many watch companies were focusing on the tourbillon: 'The tourbillon is the pinnacle of watchmaking excellence because it is such a difficult movement to build and regulate.' Karl-Friedrich Scheufele,  marketing director of Chopard,  singled out Chopard's L.U.C  4T Quattro Tourbillon as his favourite complication. 'It was a real technical challenge and demonstrates our passion for the true world of watchmaking,' he explained.

Until very recently, tourbillons followed the lead set by Breguet: the tourbillon cage rotated around a single axis. Now, several companies have introduced an even more complex version that turns simultaneously on two different axes.

Independent master watchmaker Thomas Prescher  has made one version and others have been created by Franck Muller.  Another beautiful example, the Gyromax,  is produced by Jaeger-LeCoultre, in Le Sentier.

These new variations mark a new level of difficulty and sophistication in the long history of tourbillon watches. Not surprisingly, they make a strong design feature of the tourbillon cage, which is visible through the dial and is almost hypnotic to observe.

It seems likely that we will soon see  tourbillons in which the balance rotates around three axes.

One Swiss company, which specialises in making components and assemblies for other watch companies, recently announced that it had created a tourbillon that used three axes and it would be offering it to watch houses.

It claims this  tourbillon achieves unrivalled accuracy and is much less prone to damage than  single-axis tourbillons. It is not yet known which companies will use the breakthrough.

However, this manufacturer will not be the first to market a triple-axis tourbillon. Thomas Prescher, a member of the Academie Horlogere des Createurs Independants,  has already produced a triple-axis tourbillon watch, as has the much larger company, Franck Muller, at its  Watchland complex on the shores of  Lake Geneva.

Mr Prescher has created an outstanding Trilogy watch set ...  one with a single-axis flying tourbillon, the second with a double-axis flying tourbillon and the third with a triple-axis flying tourbillon. All three are housed in a specially made presentation box.

Only 10 of these sets will be made, and most have been sold. He has reserved two sets for his own family, but says that if he receives a very attractive offer, he would consider selling one set. As a two-man company he does not have extensive sales and marketing teams. Instead, customers make contact through his website at www.prescher.ch.

Some idea of the finely detailed work involved in such a watch can be gained from the fact that the smallest screw in this watch weighs just 0.0009 gram and the movement contains 327 components, including 59 jewels.

What makes Mr Prescher's achievement all the more remarkable is that his company is not a large one with vast research facilities.

The name of Breguet lives on and today the company that bears his name is the flagship brand of the Swatch Group.

Breguet and Swatch Group president and chief executive Nicholas G. Hayek claims that Breguet today makes more tourbillon watches than all other brands together.

He believes this success can be attributed to the fact that his company concentrates on the great tradition of watchmaking and not on gimmicks. The tourbillon is very much a part of that tradition and the success of the modern Breguet company is a great tribute to Abraham-Louis Breguet.



A legend is resurrected