While the once-rare tourbillon has by now been firmly established as a mainstay in the haute horlogerie world, there are still some watchmakers that can come up with clever new variations on it. At Baselworld 2018, Corum became one of these innovators, with the release of a new timepiece with an eye-catching centrally mounted tourbillon in its “playful and contemporary” Bubble collection.
Corum Bubble 47 Central Tourbillon in with synthetic rubber-lined strap (Ref. L406/03664)
The Corum Bubble Central Tourbillon ? which is officially, and somewhat perplexingly, named the Bubble 47 Swoosh ? is the latest and most ambitious step in the full-speed-ahead relaunch of the cult-classic Bubble collection, which began in 2015 after the model had lain dormant for several years following its meteoric rise and fall in the early-to-mid-2000s. It is also, Corum teases, likely a harbinger of more “Fine Watchmaking” pieces to come in the revamped collection. It has a large, round, 47-mm case made of grade 5 titanium ? in one of the three versions, coated with black PVD and enhanced with an 18k rose gold bezel and crown ?  covered by the Bubble’s emblematic domed sapphire crystal and featuring an another pane of sapphire in the back to showcase the movement. On the dial side is the main attraction, a centrally positioned tourbillon that required a technically complex inline movement construction and which uses a non-soldered pallet to position the tourbillon a...