What Is a Tourbillon Watch, and Why Are They So Expensive?


Mechanical watches with hundreds of pieces inside their mechanisms come with different complications like power reserve, moon phase, date, and day trackers. A tourbillon is a feature that can only be found in high-end luxury watches. Most of the well-made tourbillon watches are sold for a few grands. What makes tourbillon watches so special? The following sections will help you understand more about tourbillon watches. 

What Is a Tourbillon?

Mechanical watches are made of springs, coils, and discs. The timekeeping in these watches can be affected by gravity or magnetic fields. A tourbillon is an addition to the escapement in the mechanical watch to boost accuracy even when gravity may otherwise affect it. This marvelous tourbillon movement then is exposed on the watch’s face to showcase it.

There are different types of tourbillon watches like triple-axis tourbillon, flying tourbillon, gyro tourbillon, double axis tourbillon, and quadruple tourbillon. 

Why Are Tourbillon Watches So Expensive?

Every tourbillon watch comes with an high-end craftsmanship. On top of this, because the mechanics in the watch are more complex and expensive to make raises the price. Also, the prices vary depending on the type of complication. However, there are also affordable tourbillons in the market like Geneva Pionier Tourbillon and Zürich Theorema Tourbillon. Although watches with tourbillons have excellent accuracy, many experts suggest that the accuracy is negligible compared to today’s mechanical wristwatches. 

Watch collectors still show great interest in owning a tourbillon to watch the beautiful rotation in the cage. It’s an engineering marvel that is unique and highly valued by watch enthusiasts. The flying tourbillon allows you to enjoy a better view. It removes a portion of the dial, and multiple axes rotate in many planes. You can also find watches with multiple tourbillons, which may be costlier than regular tourbillon watches. 

Should You Add a Tourbillon Watch to Your Collection?

If you can afford one of these watches, it can be an excellent timepiece to have. A tourbillon watch is an engineering marvel that requires a highly advanced and time-consuming process to make them. People respect the complication for what it takes to create them.  

Although Swiss-made tourbillons are sold above $30,000, you can look for affordable timepieces with the same features from other luxury watch brands. For example, Tufina Watches offers high-quality tourbillon watches starting from $1,999. 



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