Harry Winston

The Z3 and Ocean Tourbillon: are you looking for a waterproof Tourbillon?

 

The Ocean Tourbillon is actually the Project Z3 watch with a gold case. With the Z3, a new complication entered the Zalium collection: the Tourbillon. And it was not a mere Tourbillon: it was an automatic one with a power reserve of more than 100 hours. We may think that the partnership between talented independant watchmakers and Harry Winston grew up only within the Opus collection: that's not true. The Z3 and the Ocean Tourbillon are one example  which belies this idea: the movement which powers these watches was developed by Peter Speake-Marin.





We know very well Peter nowadays, a very respected member of the AHCI, famous for his Piccadilly collection and for his brand new SM2 caliber. Peter started his career in the UK after his education at WOSTEP. His first key position was to restore clocks & watches at Somio Antiques. Thanks to this experience, he learned a lot from these  timepieces and he understood how the past masters worked and developed their complications.  Without any doubt, he was strongly influenced by these masterpieces. Peter left UK to join Renaud-Papi in 1996 to developed high complications then, in 2000, the new adventure has begun: Peter created his own worshop. Since then, Peter has presented a wide range of watches and complications, from a single-hand time display to Perpetual Calendar, Tourbillon and Minutes Repeater with Tourbillon. During the last years, Peter has dedicated his energy in developing his in-house automatic caliber: the SM2. This caliber is used for 3 hands watches but also powers more complicated watches like a Perpetual Calendar. We can feel in each and every watch Peter unveiled during these 10 years the homage of the traditional art of watchmaking in both technical or design points of view.





That was also the case when Peter developed his Tourbillon wristwatch movement which was directly inspired by the Foundation Watch, a tourbillon pocket watch Peter created to gather in an unique timepiece all his skills, experience, influence and inspiration. As its name says it, the Fundation watch was the beginning of Peter's own story and it is also the first step which would lead a few years later to the Tourbillon wristwatch and so to the Excenter Tourbillon.

The Z3  was not the first collobaration between Peter Speake-Marin and Harry Winston: one year before the presentation of the Z3, the Excenter Tourbillon was released and was warmly welcome by the watch community due to several features:

• it was a handwind Tourbillon with a large power reserve (higher than 100 hours)
• a very large Tourbillon bridge
• the rotational system for the cage was put inside the cage itself.
• and a world premiere: a double power-reserve indicator (the power reserve indicator uses two hands and two scales on the back of the watch) combined with a low reserve warning on the dial.

The Excenter Tourbillon:


This Excenter Tourbillon, which caliber is based on a STT ebauche, the 13.75 Tourbillon, is a platinum 40mm watch which design is, of course, totally coherent with the Premier collection: the case design, the lugs, the six arch-shaped parts at 6 and 12 o'clock, the hands, the time display scale don't lie: this Excenter Tourbillon is a pure Premier watch. The Excenter Tourbillon is a very elegant watch with the delicate feeling brought by the design of the Premier collection.

The power reserve system (of the Peter Speake-Marin's vintage Tourbillon) which is also used with the Excenter Tourbillon:



So, as you can see, from the Fundation Watch to the Excenter Tourbillon, the Z3 has a quite large background. It is a key point to describe it to understand a lot of the characteristics of the Z3.

We are now in 2006,  one year later the presentation of the Excenter Tourbillon.

After the Excenter Tourbillon was presented, Harry Winston had the will to offer the Tourbillon complication in a more sportive, casual and waterproof context but still elegant. If in 2010, the strategy of some brands to put a Tourbillon in sportive watches is quite usual, that was not the case in 2006. Let's face it: a Tourbillon was considered as one of the most supreme complications, a very subtle one, maybe fragile and could be dedicated only to dress watches for a quiet use.

Harry Winston wished to take advantage of the Zalium alloy and of the design of the Z and Ocean collections to propose a Tourbillon in this more "all-road" and 100m waterproof context.

The watch is larger (44mm) than the Excenter but keeps the same layout: the off-centered time display, the large Tourbillon below and the low power reserve warning inside the time display area. You will notice the perfect way the Tourbillon bridge is integrated on the dial thanks to its shape and the clever use of the Harry Winston logo. This is a true interactive logo! When the power reserve is running low (less than 25 hours), the logo changes its color becoming electric blue and the owner of the watch knows he needs to wind the watch to at least preserve its accuracy.

The Z3 was released in two versions: the Vintage Spirit and the Sports Spirit. How can we recognize them at a glance ?

The Sports Spirit has dark upper side of the dial with dark Cotes de Genève finishings while the one of Vintage Spirit has stainless steel finishings with perlage or bouchonnage. Vintage Spirit figures have a petroleum blue color. In a few words, the Sports Spirit is more casual while the Vintage Spirit is directly influenced by the high end cars dashboards of the first half of the XXth century. They seem to be minor details but the watches look very different when we compare them.

The Sports Spirit (left) and the Vintage Spirit (right):


The pictured Ocean Tourbillon (the watch I shot has a WG case) is closer to the Sports Spirit than to the other one. There is a very nice contrast between the upper part of the dial with its "Côtes de Genève" finishings and the stainless steel of the Tourbillon Bridge. Both time display and Tourbillon are vertically aligned drawing a big "8" on the dial. This symetrical design is very beautiful. Superluminova is applied on the hands and figures which is coherent with the overall style of the watch. There is a funny point with this watch: it features a second hand which is totally useless as the Tourbillon makes a full revolution every minute. Its presence is almost a pity because it hides the view we can have of the rotating shuriken below.





The case finishings are flawless and we really appreciate the 2 arch shaped parts which are used as crown protector: they give an original style to the case and bring the "Harry Winston" feeling to it. You may like it or not but in my case, I appreciate them.





When we turn over the watch, we discover thanks to a see-through back with a sapphire crystal, the HW401A movement. This 4hz movement is derived from the Excenter Tourbillon movement but with a big difference: it became automatic (so there is no power reserve indicator on the back). I understand this evolution even if it may appear as a downgrade from the Excenter Tourbillon in terms of information display. But it is pure logic: the handwind caliber is more suitable for the elegant watch and the automatic one for the sportive version.





Movement finishings are basically the same between the Z3 and the Ocean Tourbillon except the gold rotor for the last one. The finishings are very neat, very clear, coherent and in harmony with the watch design. They are not impressive in the sense that they don't have any detail which provokes a immediate "WOW" but when we look at it very carefully, we feel the excellent work on the details. I really appreciate the Tourbillon bridge and this mix between classic watchmaking style (golden chaton, blued screws) and modern (almost futuristic) atmosphere.





On the wrist, we experience the usual feelings we have  with any watch of the Zalium collection. Thanks to the Zalium, the watch is comfortable to wear despite its 44mm diameter. The lugs give to the strap a certain curve which requires a quite large wrist. So, an "on the wrist test" is mandatory if you wish to purchase this Z3 to check if the watch will be fine for your wrist (that was the case for me). The leather and rubber straps work well and are efficient: the watch doesn't move when it is well positioned on the wrist. Of course, the test is even more important with the Ocean Tourbillon due to its higher weight.









The Z3 (and its gold version the Ocean Tourbillon) belongs to the category of my fav Zalium watches. Peter Speake-Marin's experience was a great addition in the creation process of this warch: the dial layout is perfect and the Tourbillon doesn't seem to be misplaced in this more casual context. It is even the opposite feeling: that's to its perfect integration, the Tourbillon becomes the key complication  what is a great achievement in a 100m waterproof watch.

The Z3 Sport Spirit and Vintage Spirit were released in a LE of 50 watches each. The pictured watch is the number 1 of the Ocean Tourbillon LE of 80 watches.

I would like to thank a lot the Montres Prestige Boutique in Geneva for the warm welcome and for the time they spent with me.

Fr.Xavier



This message has been edited by foversta on 2010-11-17 13:33:32