Gold watch with tourbillon, by Fordsmand; London, England, c. 1900; dia. 2” (5.08 cm.).
A watch tends to change its rate if its position is altered and the French maker, Breguet, devised the tourbillon to overcome this. The balance and escapement are mounted in a cage which revolves about once per minute, thereby tending to cancel the position errors. In the Karrusel, a later variation of the idea, the rate of rotation was much slower.
This watch is a late example of British craftsmanship. It has a tourbillon, compensated balance, overcoil balance spring, and is jewelled. The ‘Maltese Cross’ stopwork, limiting the winding of the spring, is more typical of Swiss work.
