With the Big Pilot Shock Absorber Tourbillon Skeleton XPL, IWC has found a way to truly protect one of the most sophisticated complications in horology.
Ask the average person in the street to name a human invention that defies gravity, and they will inevitably say an aircraft. Ask the same question to passers-by in the Vallée de Joux, or the streets of Geneva around the time of the Watches & Wonders trade fair, and you may instead receive an enthused lecture on an horological breakthrough achieved by Abraham-Louis Breguet around 1795, when the watch was still something worn in the pocket.
Frustrated by gravity’s injurious effect on timepieces’ accuracy (notably when they were removed from the pocket to consult or laid on a flat surface) he discovered that, if the escapement and balance wheel were housed in a rotating cage, it would compensate for positional anomalies. He named his mechanical triumph after the French word for “whirlwind” (tourbillon) and patented it in 1801.
Since then, we’ve had Glashütte master watchmaker Alfred Helwig removing the upper bridge, and with it, excessive friction, with his Flying Tourbillon in the 1920s. We’ve had Jaeger-LeCoultre’s spherical, multi-axis tourbillon adding visual complexity as well as further accuracy. We’ve had double-, triple-, and even quad-axis tourbillons – which better compensate for positional errors – enter the fray.
Left: the dial of the IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Shock Absorber Tourbillon XPL stays true to the Big Pilot’s DNA: ultra-legible with a bold, clean design.
Right: The caseback helps maintain the watch’s structural integrity, especially important considering its advanced shock-resistant capabilities.
This, the latest contribution to the canon by IWC Schaffhausen, introduced at this year’s Watches & Wonders – the Big Pilot’s Watch Shock Absorber Tourbillon Skeleton XPL sees the brand’s patented shock protection technology work as bodyguard to its highly sensitive, complex and rather delicate friend, the tourbillon. During these tests, protected tourbillon movements have survived shocks in excess of 10,000g.
IWC’s SPRIN-g PROTECT system – essentially a cantilever spring made from Bulk Metallic Glass (BMG) which spring suspends the movement within the case – took eight years to develop. The result is a stunning piece of horological theatre – another reason, on top of weight minimisation, that IWC has skeletonised the plates, bridges, rotor, hands, and dial. The resulting sci-fi effect elegantly complements the case and crown, made of Ceratanium® (a titanium alloy with a hardness and scratch-resistance similar to ceramic) with indices taking the form of simple minute markings around a plain black ring, and a black rubber strap with futuristic pattern, completing the aesthetics.
What makes this tourbillon special is the constant-force mechanism integrated into it, which ensures that the escapement receives a perfectly even supply of energy.
“Protecting a tourbillon against the high g-forces generated by impacts on the watch represents a major leap forward and a break-through in shock protection,” explains Lorenz Brunner, Department Manager Research and Innovation at IWC Schaffhausen, “proving that this innovative system can also be used for high complications.”
Only 100 pieces of a piece aimed at serious students of horological micro-technology are available.
Author: Nick Scott
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