Recently launched, the latest Franck Muller Tourbillon is a force to be reckoned with. The new Thunderbolt Tourbillon is being touted as the fastest of its kind in the world. Baroque Access has all the details
Tourbillon timepieces have been around for a while, created by numerous watchmakers around the world. But the latest Tourbillon, created by Franck Muller, who has been one of the leaders in Tourbillon timepieces, is quite exceptional. The new iteration, which has taken three years of research and development to create, was the result of a collaboration between Franck Muller and watchmaker Pierre-Michele Golay. The result is quite spectacular, and is being called “the fastest Tourbillon in the world”.
The Franck Muller Thunderbolt Tourbillon is powered by four barrels that provide the required energy so that the tourbillon can make a full rotation every five seconds on a ceramic bearing. This results in 12 rotations per minute, an achievement in a tourbillon that is rare and extremely exciting.
Conventional tourbillons all feature an escape wheel that is carried around a fixed fourth wheel via the tourbillon carriage, which is driven by the third wheel. But the new Thunderbolt Tourbillon is quite different. There are only three wheels – and instead of the escape wheel, the teeth of the tourbillon are inverted so that they face inwards and the entire escape wheel is fixed to the periphery of the tourbillon.
In addition, and most importantly, the inverted escape wheel takes the place of the fixed fourth wheel, and uses less energy than a conventional tourbillon. By incorporating multiplying gears, Franck Muller has speeded up the tourbillon without compromising the integrity of the balance. This is a major feat.
The new Thunderbolt Tourbillon is also made from extremely light material to ensure that it uses less energy. It’s said to be approximately 12 times faster than an average tourbillon watch, and its innovative, unique set-up is patented, completely designed and conceptualized in-house. The result is the world’s fastest tourbillon that runs for approximately 60 hours when fully wound. Using Franck Muller’s traditional skeletonized styling, the new Thunderbolt Tourbillon is finished with a combination of engraving, rhodium plating, hand-beveling and graining. It’s housed in a 55.05mm Cintrée Curvex case in a choice of precious metals.
The new tourbillon is created specifically to this Franck Muller timepiece, proving yet again how innovative and technologically advanced the brand really is.