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Up close with the Ballon Bleu Tourbillon Double Jumping Time Zone

The Ballon Bleu Tourbillon Double Jumping Time Zone is an elaboration of the Ballom Bleu Flying Tourbillon, which was one of the first Fine Watchmaking watches presented in 2008.

Because it is a modular complication with the double jumping time zone module on top of the flying tourbillon base movement, the flying tourbillon carriage had to be raised due to the height of the module. This means the tourbillon is level with the dial and not sunken in.

The home time is displayed in the sub-dial at two o’clock, while the local time on the sub-dial with Arabic numbers. And the local time hand is advanced in one hour increments via the pusher at ten o’clock.

Both jumping time zones are synchronised thanks to three racks.

And each of the jump hour mechanisms has a tiny spring to drive the jumping hands.

One obvious question is why this lacks a day and night indicator. The answer, according to Carole Forestier, is aesthetics. The goal was to have an open worked dial to expose as much of the beautifully finished – the movement has the Geneva Seal – mechanism of the twin jumping hours as possible. In fact the exposed components not only reveals the movement decoration, but also the jumping mechanism in action at the top of each hour.

On the topic of finishing, the close and evenly spaced perlage is worth admiring, as is the finish on the steel levers and racks. Excellent as it is, the finishing could be taken a notch higher with sharp, inward corners for the bridges.

Seemingly simple, the double jumping time zone module is actually fairly complex. The ordinary flying tourbillon movement is comprised of 142 parts, but the double jumping time zone calibre has 304 components. That’s nearly 162 parts for the time zone module.

And despite the movement looking small from the display back, the actual size of the calibre including the module is 30 mm. That’s because the module is wider than the base movement, which is only 24.5 mm wide.

That being said, the time zone module remains compact. This movement is only 2.25 mm higher than the ordinary flying tourbillon, which translates into a mere 0.9 mm increase in case height. The double jumping time zone case stands is 13.8 mm high, and the diameter at 46 mm is identical to that of the ordinary flying tourbillon.

This is a limited edition of 50 pieces each in rose and pink gold, with an estimated retail price of EUR90,000 and EUR96,300 respectively.

- SJX