Well, here’s a new one to ponder:  the new Harry Winston Histoire de Tourbillon 3 Watch.  This is the third series in Harry Winston’s exploration of the tourbillon, though in a much different form factor (see Histoire de Tourbillon 2, Hisotire de Tourbillon 1).  I see this watch as one part beauty, one part beast (a descriptor that HW probably deplores).  Beast:  the watch case is a whopping 65.9mm x 45.9mm (compare to Antoine Preziuso’s Mega-Tourbillon (65mm round) or the MB&F HM2 (59mmx38mm) for example).  Engineered to display the three tourbillon systems to their best advantage, however!  Beauty:  The hours and minutes are shown on discs rotating against their respective markers, and the seconds on a scale around the bi-axial tourbillon.  Harry Winston shows off its flair with gemstones by using blue sapphires and citrines to indicate the power reserve — very nice.

Only 20 of each tourbillon artwork in the Histoire de Tourbillon collection are produced, i.e. elite collectors only.  Officially unveiling will be in early March at Baselworld (the world’s largest annual watch show), so stay tuned in.

Harry Winston Histoire de Tourbillon 3 Watch

Limited edition 20 pieces

65.9mm x 45.9mm white gold case, caseband and lugs in Zalium (a hard and ultra-light zirconium alloy),manual-wind triple tourbillon movement w/50 hrs power reserve

Eleven color-graded blue sapphires from dark to pale show the power left in the mainspring. The markers for the hours and minutes are color-matched with the gemstones. When the six yellow citrines appear against the marker, it’s time to wind up the watch.

Three tourbillons are in action, each rotating at different speeds.  Two of them are nested one inside the other “to rotate the fourth dimension of time through the three dimensions of space.”  In this bi-axial tourbillon, one tourbillon carriage rotates every 40 seconds within a second carriage going around in 120 seconds on an axis perpendicular to the first.  This ensures that the vibrating balance moves through every possible plane in relation to the field of gravity to average out positional errors.  The third tourbillon carriage rotates a separate balance on a single axis in the conventional way, but at the relatively high speed of one revolution every 36 seconds. This tourbillon is most effective when the watch is in a vertical position, and by rotating the balance quickly it minimizes its exposure to the effects of gravity. For even greater precision, the two regulating systems are connected through a differential gear that gives an average of their two rates.

Physics aside, the seeing these three tourbillons in action will be a thing of pure beauty:

And here’s a look at the nicely designed case back:

Harry Winston Ocean Sport Automatic and Chronograph

44mm Zalium case, DLC-finished bezel indices, automatic mechanical movement, 200 meter water resistance

Flashback:  Harry Winston Project Z6 Watch

Harry Winston Project Z6 Black Edition

Limited Edition 300 pieces

44mm DLC-finished zalium case, manual-wind mechanical movement (72 hours power reserve), black rubber strap

Ref. 400/MMAC44ZKC.K2

All of Perpetuelle’s Harry Winston Timpiece coverage HERE>>>

Harry Winston Midnight Big Date

42mm white gold case (10.2mm thick), automatic mechanical movement (F. Piguet caliber) silver or black dial with circular guilloche decoration and double-window big date set with brilliant cut diamond,

endh

See more of my Harry Winston Timepiece coverage here.

Harry Winston Midnight GMT Tourbillon for ONLY WATCH 2011

Unique Piece

45mm platinum case, mechanical automatic movement (bidirectional winding), on alligator strap with platinum buckle

close up:

Functions:
- Excentered hours and minutes, second hand on the Tourbillon, second time zone at 9 o’clock with day and night indicator

Harry Winston Opus (Greubel Forsey) (2006)

Number 5/6

44mm white gold case, manually wound mechanical tourbillon (2 tourbillon cages, 72 hour power reserve), hours and minutes by co-axial discs at 3 o’clock, and small seconds disc at 11 o’clock

Each year for the last eleven years, a new Harry Winston Opus has been created out of a collaboration with notable horological masters (the jaw-dropping Opus 11 was unveiled just last month!).  The Opus 6 was done in partnership with Stephen Greubel and Robert Forsey, with its extraordinary feature being the Double Tourbillon 30° — a one-minute tourbillon inclined at 30° inside a four-minute tourbillon to offset any positional errors and to ensure superb chronometry.

Savvy watch enthusiasts will recognize the “Double Tourbillon 30°” as one (of many) signature achievements of the French-English watchmaking duo, whose timepieces under their own namesake brand sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars per piece.

Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey (respectively)

The Harry Winston Opus Eleven, one of the most exciting (and exclusive) pieces to come out of Baselworld 2011.  Haven’t seen it yet?  Check my original coverage here.  And now, Hodinkee.com brings us up close and personal with Denis Giguet’s self-described “exploding dial” masterpiece:

Harry Winston Opus Eleven Video (Hodinkee)

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Harry Winston has unveiled the Opus Eleven, created in partnership with Denis Giguet (MCT).  Three overlapping cylinders on three levels are configured to deconstruct time – the main circle is the hour’s domain, flanked by two pavilions.  One sub-circle shows the minutes on a jumping disk for the tens and a running disk for the units; the other shows off the beat of the big titanium balance-wheel.  Apologies as the pics I have do not make it easy see exactly what is going on on the main dial, but I’ll post better pics soon. Anyway…here she is…

Update:  New pics. WOW.  All I can say is WOW.  Look at the micromechanics of how the “hour” is presented in the main dial.  Fascinating

Harry Winston Opus Eleven

Limited edition of 111 pieces, crafted in white gold

Every 60 minutes under the hours display falls into a frenzied anarchy, only to recover in a split second to display the current hour.  There are no hands on the dial  — instead there are 24 mobile “pallets” (6 per satellite in each quadrant) that form the figure of the time according to a complex gear mechanism mounted planetary gear train.  To see this in action will truly be a sight to behold.

close up of the dial mechanism — it displays the hour of day in the middle via four micromechanical

this is the sub-dial that displays the minutes:

and this sub-dial is merely for further visual enjoyment of the wearer/observer:

Denis Giguet and MCT Team

Denis Giguet trained as an engineer and started making a name for himself in fine watchmaking. The experience he gained with such firms as Rolex and Harry Winston developed into a visionary approach far in advance of the watchmaking industry. Familiar with the design and construction of highly complicated watches, he worked as production manager at Harry Winston. In 2007 he launched his own brand, MCT, and designed the Sequential One, a far-reaching development in creative engineering for which he involved the crafts of more than 20 experts in their fields. His creative energy has given birth to Opus Eleven, a timepiece where his own vision of time is perfectly expressed by the Harry Winston personality.

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Harry Winston‘s back with another stunner (if Harry Winston’s your thing, that is).  Following in the footsteps of the Harry Winston Histoire de Tourbillon No. 1 (announced in early 2009), this avant-garde timekeeper and mesmerizer will be limited to just 20 pieces with a price approaching $1,000,000 (I’d guess).  It features a commanding 48.5mm white gold case which beautifully frames the bi-axial tourbillon (doubling as a 60-second hand) and is powered by a HW manual-wind mechanical movement.  There is also a 12-hour sub-dial (with day (‘jour’) and night (‘nuit’) markings) at the 2 o’clock position and the minutes are at the 6 o’clock position.  Of note there are 8 sapphire crystals on the watch — 5 on the front and 3 on the back (not pictured).

Click through to read the Official Harry Winston Histoire de Tourbillon No. 2 Press Release — and see a close-up photo of the bi-axial tourbillon

lHarry Winston Histoire de Tourbillon No. 2

A new model in the Harry Winston Ocean Chronograph collection.  Generally speaking, I love the look of Harry Winston watches…the use of blue hues here and there (a Harry Winston favorite) always seems to be the cherry on top of an otherwise nicely designed and unique looking timepiece.  Here we see the time display located on the top of the dial, and three retrograde indications strategically positioned across the rest of the dial — chronograph minutes on the right side, chronograph hours on the left side, and seconds on the bottom. marked by the shuriken which itself rotates on its own axis.  You will also notice the middle-third of the dial is set off visually with a side-sweeping Côtes de Genève decorative motif.  All in all, a beauty in the eyes of this wanting beholder.  Price?  Who knows, who cares just buy it and wear it proudly…maybe somewhere in the $25,000-$50,000 range.

Harry Winston Ocean Chronograph

44mm white gold case, 100m water resistance, comes on alligator or rubber strap

also available in red gold