Whirlwind by name, whirlwind by nature

The tourbillon is among the most beguiling instruments in watchmaking

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ONE is expected to gasp with awe watching a SpaceX rocket take off and land back on its launchpad.

Yet consider this: in 1795, without electricity, Abraham-Louis Breguet created a mechanism by candlelight to reduce the effects of gravity on a watch's working parts—mitigating the number of slip-ups, delays and lost seconds that naturally occur on the dial.

Back then, a pocket watch sat vertically inside one's jacket, which exerted pressure on its various components and risked sending the whole thing south. Breguet's instrument, known as the tourbillon (French for 'whirlwind'), tackled this vertical conundrum in the interest of accurate timekeeping. In the late 18th century, such precision—or lack thereof—could be the difference between setting sail for New York and ending up in Newfoundland.

The late 19th century, however, saw the arrival of the wristwatch, an innovation that appeared to render the tourbillon obsolete. Even today, people may say that a modern watch's sophisticated metals and advanced configurations have replaced the need for an internal mechanism designed to ensure accuracy. Yet the tourbillon is still considered a vital tool of the watchmaker's arsenal, its inclusion pushing a price well into six figures. It is one of the most miraculous and important horological innovations in history.