Horological Meandering

The recent references to the central tourbillons made me think: w hy don’t we see more central tourbillons? Beat Haldimann’s hand built H1 and Omega’s variants come to mind, but are there others? Are they more difficult to build than ‘traditional’ tourbil... 

I love this watch, though my preference is the silver dial one. Cannot imagine any central tourbillon beating this one. *CL...  

Cheers, Mike...  

H1 is just divine. I think the purists version with the red 178 beats it all *CL

There is far more to the H1 than a central tourbillon. The aesthetics of this watch are beyond any I've ever worn, and the sound has a tick/tock clarity I've never heard before. Both history and artistry in a single piece. I rarely use the word 'masterpie...  

is there any purpose to them? apols if it is not a bright question. Best, Horo

tourbillon cage. The outer dots ring is for the minute markers. Cheers, TM

And another observation - I generally dislike onion crowns, but on the Haldimann's it just works. In fact I can't think of any other watch I like them on. Andrew

At least in these photos they appear truncated - or less onionated - than those on a Maurice Lacroix a Chronoswiss. The old ML Flyback, that I once owned also gave no tactile pleasure while trying to grip the crown for a full wind. I don't know of any hig... 

"Only a churl such as myself would wonder about their time-keeping properties, the raison d'etre of a tourbillon - wherever it is placed." The time-keeping properties of the H-1 is not a problem at all, thank you very much...from multiple and extended (ma... 

I much prefer this over the Omega version... sweet and until a couple of days ago..never seen it...awe struck...

Here is my wristshot with the H1 (I took the picture at Basel in 2009): Fr.Xavier...  

Is there any technical advantage for a central torubillon versus say one plonked at 6 o'clock?

and standing by your side asking the same question... how about the freak by YN??! Faisal

check out the Dec issue of iW magazine (US edition) - it has some very good articles on the Tourbillon. Also many past discussions here on PuristSPro. Cheers, TM

Anything less than that, can be painfully ugly. Regards Ling

Hi AndrewD , I know your thread is about central tourbillons and I really like the looks of the haldimann1 central tourbillon but have not seen one close up or handled one ( not represented in OZ ?) , but just digressing a bit, I have handled and tried on... 

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...but very few central, co-axial tourbillons. The UN Freak - some argument about whether that is a tourbillon at all. I remember reading one argument that it was in fact a Karussel. Possibly it's neither. Here's a central, non-coaxial tourby from Cartier...  

for me, I would not consider the Astrotourbi from Cartier a central tourbi nor would I the Diavolo or the Relatiff. All fantastic pieces though of course.