Exploring the Tourbillon, one of the most exclusive complications there is, is a challenge equal to the constant quest for innovation that characterises Harry Winston. Indeed, since 2009, the Maison has been imagining, designing and producing extraordinary timepieces that revisit this horological feat. Today, the saga continues and feeds on previous stories. Building on the challenges already taken up, from Histoire de Tourbillon 1, which turns the complication into a sculpture, to Histoire de Tourbillon 4, an extraordinary concentration of precision, a new idea is being launched: Histoire de Tourbillon 5, which will for the first time reveal the mechanisms at the heart of the Tourbillon by exposing them completely to the gaze. To focus attention on the triaxial Tourbillon and its flawless execution, a new approach to watchmaking has been devised. The movement and its various elements have been reorganised in height like a mechanical landscape: movement at the bottom, bridges emerging, and the triaxial Tourbillon dominating from its dome. First of all, the skeletonisation of the movement follows a minimalist geography. There is only one aim: to get to the essentials of mechanics by deconstructing matter. Then, space for the volumes. In order to emerge from the watch glass, the porthole glass is sealed on a truncated base, a veritable tour de force. Surmounted by the Tourbillon, the bridges are spherical in shape. Skeletonized, they create passages beneath which the power reserve is placed, but lose nothing in terms of functionality and coherence. The case, which is literally one with the movement, is worked like a one-piece sculpture. Made of sharp and blind angles, of two- and three-dimensional volumes, this contemporary work is the result of extraordinary design work. As far as functions are concerned, hours and minutes are symmetrically 'isolated': an ambitious goal that generates a whole series of mechanical and architectural constraints. The counters must fit into a confined space, while remaining perfectly legible but smaller than the tourbillon, the one and only star. The continuous dialogue between all the interlocutors performs the miracle of symmetry, the hallmark of this exceptional watch. The precision of proportions and dimensions is the result of the same complex balancing act. The thickness of the movement imposes critical choices of materials. With the exception of the three-dimensional metal bridges, all other bridges are made of titanium and the discs of galvanic growth. Weight calculation remains an omnipresent parameter: to compensate for the extreme lightness of the tourbillon cages, a gold bridge had to be created to ensure the delicate balance. Despite the spectacular nature of the Tourbillon, the watch remains credible and therefore easy to wear. Histoire de Tourbillon 5 is a story dedicated to excellence and freedom. It is the first in its range to be made in pink gold, a cultural shock for a futuristic watch. The transgression continues with the black skeleton movement, instead of the traditional grey. The aim of symmetry, in an almost impossible harmony between geometry and volume, and the choice of radical colours take the Histoire de Tourbillon 5 into unexplored territory.
Technical specifications
Histoire de Tourbillon 5
Reference HCOMTT47RR001
Mechanical movement, hand-wound, triaxial tourbillon, calibre HW4303
Movement size:
Diameter of 40.40 mm - thickness of 17.30 mm.
Number of components: 381.
Tourbillon: 143 components.
Tourbillon weight: 1.85 g.
Number of rubies: 57.
Power reserve: 50 hours.
Two quick-rotating barrels in series (1 revolution in 3.2 hours).
A barrel equipped with a sliding spring to prevent excess tension.
Variable inertia rocker arm equipped with gold adjustment screws.
Frequency: 21,600 vibrations per hour (3Hz).
Spiral with Phillips curve.
Plate in micro-pallinated, hand-bevelled, PVD-treated titanium.
Three-dimensional metal bridges, micro-bevelled, hand-chamfered and PVD-treated.
Titanium bridges, micro-bevelled, hand-bevelled and PVD-treated.
Upper bridge of the intermediate cage in gold, 'traits tirés' finish, hand bevelled.
18K white gold tourbillon cage bridge.
Tourbillon bridges in titanium.
Functions:
Off-centre hours at 2 o'clock, galvanic growth disc, sandblasted and red anodised aluminium indicator; off-centre minutes at 4 o'clock, galvanic growth disc, sandblasted and red anodised aluminium indicator; seconds indication on triaxial tourbillon at 9 o'clock; power reserve at 11 o'clock, red anodised aluminium indicator
Polished and micro-palleted 18K pink gold case, polished bezel.
Case dimensions - diameter: 47 mm; thickness: 21.7 mm.
Shaped sapphire crystal for the bridges.
Domed sapphire crystal on the tourbillon with lacquered engraving of the minute track.
Exposed back.
Water resistance: 3 atmospheres.
Black alligator strap, hand-stitched.
Limited edition of 20.
