From its utilitarian roots in the 19th century, the tourbillon has evolved in the modern era to become the ultimate expression of watchmakers? technical prowess and avant-garde creativity. We trace its fascinating two-century-plus evolution in this feature from the WatchTime archives.

An early tourbillon pocketwatch by Abraham-Louis Breguet

Throughout the centuries-long history of timekeeping, mechanisms originally developed for entirely practical purposes have been rediscovered and repurposed by contemporary watchmaking visionaries into elements of luxury, much of their charm derived from their seeming obsolescence. Consider the example of the tourbillon, patented 220 years ago by its inventor as a regulating device, which now, in the 21st century, stands as a showcase feature in many of the world?s most coveted timepieces.
The Beginnings

Few pioneers have been as influential in the history of horology as Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823), who counted among his numerous inventions the Perpetuelle, one of the earliest self-winding watches; the tactile watch, which could be read by the touch of fingertips; the so-called Sympathique clock, designed to reset and synchronize watches placed on top of it; and one of the first constant-force escapements. From the atelier he set up in Paris? Ìle de la Cité in 1775, Breguet plied his trade for a roster of clients that included King Louis XVI and Queen-Marie-Antoinette, before fleeing to Switzerland in the wake of the ...