‘X’ MARKS THE (FINAL) SPOT

The development of the tourbillon in 1795 remains one of the most notable in the history of mechanical watchmaking and one that takes an unusually creative mind to invent, certainly — most people wouldn’t have thought to invent a rotating escapement in order to average out chronometric inaccuracies in timekeeping on a timepiece, let alone actually design a working product. But one thing is for sure: no one in the 18th century would imagine the tourbillon would come to attain such renown or attention internationally, nor that hundreds of brands across the world would come to market the tourbillon’s qualities as the ultimate standard of high watchmaking.

Fortunately for us, the tourbillon was successfully invented, and since then, other watchmakers