Thomas Prescher did create excitement amongst watch collectors, he created a mechanical timepiece that is absolutely unique. A triple-axis tourbillon movement in a wrist watch. The Triple Axis Tourbillon Regulator, as the watch is being named, is again one of these great inventions of Thomas Prescher, since he started working for himself in 2002 and joined the AHCI in 2003.

Before 2002, Thomas Prescher followed an appreniceship at IWC, followed by a great carreer at Audemars Piguet where he earned his Master Watchmaker certificate. Just before Thomas Prescher opened his own atelier, he was hired as a Production Manager for another big name in Swiss horology, Blancpain.

Tourbillons seem to be the specialty of Thomas Prescher, as he already made a half-flying tourbillon watch during his apprenticeship at IWC. In 2002, he introduced the world’s first double-axis tourbillon with constant force-device. Actually, it was this invention that made him a candidate for the AHCI in 2003.

Although I don’t want to neglect his great other collection of time pieces, such as the trilogy comprising single-axes, double-axis and triple-axis tourbillons, Thomas Prescher now introduces his Triple Axis Tourbillon Regulator time piece.

This piece of art has a 43mm x 16.5mm watch case in either 18 carat pink gold or platinum (Pt950) and an absolutely stunning dial made out of natural black onyx, 50% thicker than usual onyx dials to guarantee a richer blackness. Of course, the hand made black alligator strap comes with a matching buckle in either 18 carat pink gold or platinum.

All very nice and impressive, but the mechanical movement is the object and real piece of art we watch nuts are looking for, of course. So how about it?

I am pretty sure you all know the tourbillon basics, since there are a lot of them on the market (lately). Myself, I got a pretty good understanding of them when Bernhard Lederer of BLU watches took the time to explain the tourbillon movement to me during the meeting we had in 2009 at BaselWorld.

Thomas Prescher’s tourbillon movements are so-called flying tourbillons, since they only connect to one side. This will give the owner (or admirer) of the time piece a much better and clearer view on the tourbillon mechanism. The triple-axis tourbillon of this new time piece, uses two conical gears to ensure nothing gets in your way of gazing at this beautiful tourbillon construction. See the picture above for a close-up of this magnificent art of work. As you can clearly see on the picture, a counter weight is in place to keep the tourbillon in balance when moving around on all three axes. The tourbillon moves one minute on the first axis, one minute on the 2nd axis and 60 minutes on the third axis (as a minutes indicator on the dial).

Specifications of this movement are as follows:

Movement dimension is 37mm x 6.5mm and has a total of 327 parts, including 43 jewels. This movement (caliber TP 3W6A.3) has a power reserve of 40 hours, 2 main spring barrels and ticks at 21.600 beats per hour. Nice detail: the smallest screw in this movement weighs 0.0009 grams.

When you turn this watch around, you’ll see a magnificent finish movement. The gold plated brass plates and bridges have turned into true art of haute horlogerie! Below is a picture of the watch in full (seen from the back side) and a blow-up of the incredible detailed perfection of its movement finish.

More information about the Thomas Prescher Triple Axis Tourbillon Regulator can be found at the official website. These watches will sell as unique pieces only, prices starting at 525.000 CHF.

Greubel Forsey is renowned for their impressive tourbillon timepieces, especially the Quadruple Tourbillon made a huge impression last year. This timepiece was even honoured as the ‘Best Complicated Watch’ during the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie Asia on the 25th of September in 2009, hosted in Singapore.

Now, Greubel Forsey opened a dedicated ‘private room’ for their timepieces located in the central district of Hong Kong, as part of the Elegant Watch & Jewellery boutique. This way, customers and aficionados of the Greubel Forsey brand can admire these tourbillon master pieces in a special and serene environment aligned with the Greubel Forsey Manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.

This special private room includes the three exciting new models that Greubel Forsey presented during their first attendence of the SIHH in Geneve earlier this year: a Double Tourbillon Technique with 5N red gold case, a Tourbillon 24 Secondes with platinum case and black gold dial, and Invention Piece 3, the homage to the third invention, with platinum case.

More information through the Greubel Forsey official website. www.greubelforsey.com

Cabestan proudly announces a partnership with Ferrari to celebrate the oldest and still existing Formula 1 racing team in the world, Scuderia Ferrari. With their debut in Formula 1 in 1950 (Grandprix of Italy), the Scuderia Ferrari team is active in Formula 1 for 60 years now. The Scuderia Ferrari One time piece by Cabestan has been created by Jean-Francois Ruchonnet, who is deeply passionate by high performance cars and car races, such as Formula 1.

Mr. Ruchonnet created the Scuderia Ferrari One to embody the excitement, the innovation, the technology, the style and the attention to details of Ferrari. A time piece that will only be made available to the clients of the Italian prestige car brand Ferrari. Unfortunately, I am not one of them, but perhaps one day Until that time, I’ll have to live with these beautiful sketches of the Scuderia Ferrari One time piece:

Jean-Francois Ruchonnet teamed up with the Ferrari design team in Maranello, led by Design Director Flavio Manzoni. For the Scuderia Ferrari One time piece, the same high-tech materials have been used that Ferrari uses for their Formula 1 race cars. Its titanium alloy case houses the revolutionary motor Ruchonnet developed to power the Cabestan Winch Tourbillon Vertical. For this time piece, Cabestan uses only a single crystal to cover its engine instead of two crystals as we have seen on the Winch Tourbillon Vertical time piece. This crystal surpasses the edges of the high-tech watch case, enhances the distinctive visual linage that is unmistakably Ferrari. On the sides, a special magnesium alloy was used to create likenesses of race car wheels and the lug nuts that are emblematic of pit stop tire changes during Grand Prix races.

The lightweight aluminium drums are engraved with numbers that are the same on the Ferrari instrument panels, providing the F1 driver real time data that he needs to win. In the center, you’ll see the carbon block created by Ferrari for use in F1 cars due to its light weight and strength. The leather strap reminds us of the leather Daytona seats, used in Ferraris.

Of course, some special attention for the engine of this time piece. The vertical tourbillon, designed and engineered by master watchmaker Eric Coudray. The vertical tourbillon movement has been designed this way to compensate for variations in the balance amplitude due to the effects of gravity. As you probably have seen (and can see on the picture below of another Cabestan masterpiece), there is a miniature chain that delivers the energy directly to the movement. A constant force is being delivered to the tourbillon by using a 6 speed automatic transmission.

Jean-Francois Ruchonnet, “Of all the timepieces I have created over the years, this one has a truly special meaning. Ferrari is a mythical company, a company that builds dreams, a company that sets the standard in the car industry and in Formula 1 racing. I am honoured to be part of this exciting adventure with Cabestan and Ferrari. Together we have created something enduring.”

Thanks to Suryia Hill of Sparkle for the photos and information about this exciting joint venture between Cabestan and Ferrari.

As an avid reader of the FratelloWatches blog you probably know that I write for some other websites and magazines as well. MotoringExposure.com is one of them, every wednesday they publish the ‘Wednesday Watch’-article. Today, the Wednesday Watch is about the Grönefeld GMT-06 Tourbillon Minute Repeater. I have written this article with a bit of pride, since the Grönefeld brothers are Dutch AND are located in the same area as where I am originally from.

Above you see Bart Grönefeld (right) and myself during the opening of the Grönefeld Exclusive Timepieces Boutique in Oldenzaal. Besides creating their own time pieces, they now have a boutique for other independent watchmakers (McGonigle, Sarpaneva, Kees Engelbarts, Cornelius & Cie) as well.

However, to me, the most special time piece of their boutique is their own GMT06 Tourbillon Minute Repeater. As you can see above, I was even allowed to try it on under heavy supervision. The platinum version (limited to 10 pieces only) has a price tag of 385.000 Euro. Below, you’ll see a close-up of the GMT06 in platinum.

Anyway, for the full article on the Grönefeld GMT06 Tourbillon Minute repeater, click http://www.motoringexposure.com/761/grnefeld-gmt06-wednesday-watch. An article on the opening of their boutique will follow soon.

There is no doubt that sovereign city-state Monaco breathes magic for a lot of people. Cannes, Nice and St. Tropez are all nice places to visit, but Monaco is the crown on every trip to the Cote d’Azur. Besides being a tax heaven, Monaco is famous for the Monaco Grand Prix, the Monte Carlo Rally and ofcourse the number one source of income for this constitutional monarchy is tourism, the Monte Carlo Casino to be more precise. Did you know that citizens of Monaco are not allowed to gamble in the casino at all?

The few times I visited Monaco, I really enjoyed the view (as pictured below), the enormous yachts, the Riva boats and the passing Lambos/Ferraris/Maseratis. Driving around in Monaco gives a magic feeling, knowing that you are on the same track as some of the fastest and most special cars in the world.

And Monaco recently got more interesting for watch freaks like you and me. On the 25th of April 2009, Pim Koeslag and Robert van Pappelendam launched new haute horlogerie brand Ateliers DeMonaco together with H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco. These two Dutch guys, founded Ateliers DeMonaco together with another Dutchman Peter Stas (founder of Frederique Constant and Alpina Geneve) on the 6th of April 2009.

About a week ago, I got in touch with Pim Koeslag and his wife Susana. Their enthusiasm for watches and their own Ateliers DeMonaco brand in particular is contagious for watch lovers. The official Ateliers DeMonaco website and the pictured watches on there make you want to know more about the Carre d’Or timepiece and its creators.

Pim Koeslag is master watchmaker and responsible for the innovative tourbillon construction as well as for the whole design of the Carre d’Or watch. This is something you’ll see more often with independent watchmakers. This is a huge advantage over the existing (big) brands that need to bring all involved parties together to get a common consent with respect to design, technology, marketing etc. Pim Koeslag doesn’t have to make concessions when it comes to the design of the timepiece and the used technology.

The first noticeable detail about the Carre d’Or is the sapphire tourbillon bridge. The patented Grand XP 1 minute tourbillon has been developed and manufactured in-house and it is one of the most accurate tourbillon movements in the world. XP stands for eXtreme Precision, which can be guaranteed because the used technology allows the 28.800 beats per hour to be translated into pure accuracy that is regulated to have a tolerance of only zero to 2 seconds per 24 hours. Ateliers deMonaco uses three supporting innovations to be able to achieve this kind of tolerance for their Carre d’Or XP tourbillon timepiece. These innovations are: a perfect balance cage, silicium escapement and lever and the use of a few super precision manufacturing methodologies.

A perfect balance cage is established by using small metal weights on the sides of the escapement. By adding or removing these small weights, the watchmaker is able to balance the weight of the tourbillon cage until it is perfect. This means that the gravity point of all components should be brought to the center of the cage.

Being an IT guy for profession, I am familiar with the use of silicium for microprocessors. However, just (fairly) recently, the watch industry also found its way to this light weight, extreme hard and corrosion resistant material. In the most recent edition of Revolution Magazine (US edition), the use of silicium for mechanical movements is being further examined and discussed by several watch makers. The only problem some companies seem to have is the fact that it is technology meant for electronics and not for the traditional watchmaking craft. Basically, creating the escapement wheel and lever from silicium, will result in improved efficiency of energy. Since this material is very hard (twice as hard as regular stainless steel), there is only low friction and therefore no need for lubrication. Silicium is also anti-magnetic, which solves the old problem of interference that causes deviations in accuracy.

Although Pim Koeslag is the only watchmaker at Ateliers DeMonaco, he does source some help from only the best available parties in Switzerland. The sapphire tourbillon bridge for example, is just like any other small part, very hard to create out of sapphire. I have heard this complaint before, from Bernhard Lederer of BLU during my interview with him in Basel. After breaking a serious amount of precious sapphire parts, Atelier DeMonaco decided to use laser cutting technology to get the required result. A company called Sebal S.A, who specializes in manufacturing sapphire crystals in Bocourt, Switzerland, helped the Monaco based watch manufacturer out.

The 18ct gold rotor of the movement has been engraved and finished by Jochen Benzinger, master hand engraver. Benzinger, well-known for his work on his own line of watches and those of Chronoswiss for example, has decorated both sides of the gold rotor with the Ateliers DeMonaco shield and a hand guilloche finish.

The rectangular case of the watch is 44.3x48mm, which makes it fairly big, and consists of 33 parts. The core of the watch case is made out of titanium and the parts that create a shell around the titanium frame are made out of 18 carat solid gold, as pictured below.

Production of the Carre d’Or is limited to 18 pieces and prices are unknown (yet). For more detailed information about the Carre d’Or or Les Ateliers DeMonaco, visit the website by clicking here.

Thanks to Pim and Susana Koeslag for the photographs. I can’t wait to see one of these beauties in person, perhaps I should plan a trip to Monaco soon