 So
Lederer went to work on his idea in earnest, now fortified by the knowledge that his not-so-crazy idea was crazy enough to set itself apart from the others, but
sane enough to become reality.
Although
making tourbillons seems to be the current trend in the watch industry, this tourbillon is one that actually goes against the trend.
To begin
with, this tourbillon is a true half-flying tourbillon, and not a
karussel-type
construction as many of the others on the market today are. It is a flying tourbillon as it bares the entire rotating escapement for the eye to see-appearing to
fly-yet this one possesses a support on one side which not another tourbillon construction in the industry can boast.
A karussel-style
tourbillon is driven by the movement’s third wheel, whereas a true tourbillon is driven by the fourth wheel, the wheel that also drives the second hand, making
it far more delicate.
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Another
unusual element of this construction is the that it is actually a tourbillon on three axes, though they are not all necessarily visible from the dial. The blu-Planet’s
construction is based on the entire dial making one rotation in a twelve-hour period, circulating its subdial, which in turn shows the hour and minute. Within this
rotating construction, Lederer has placed a one-hour tourbillon, the cage of which simultaneously acts as the above-mentioned extra support for the flying one-minute
tourbillon. Its cage contains the escape system that is sent on a twelve-hour orbit around the dial. The one-minute and one-hour tourbillons are linearly arranged,
which keeps the construction flat on the same plane.
All
the energy needed for this extraordinary amount of motion is supplied by twin, serially operating spring barrels positioned on the back of the base plate and supplying
three days’ worth of power. They have plenty of room to stretch out, for the gears needed to move the functions are all linearly arranged near the one-minute
tourbillon cage on the dial side of the movement.
Finally,
Lederer’s construction concerns itself with not only the aesthetics of the movement but also the stability. Luckily these two elements can be combined into
one component: the balance. Lederer chose a balance wheel with an unusually large diameter of 12.70 mm for stability and precision of rate. And as if this
weren’t unique enough, he decided to set this balance wheel’s oscillation rate at an almost unheard-of frequency for the modern age: 14,400 bph or
2 Hz. The whole reason behind that was simply aesthetics. Lederer wanted the observer to be able to see the balance wheel freed by virtue of being a tourbillon,
not just assume it’s there by the sound of its ticking. The logic is simple; Lederer sees the tourbillon for what it is: the highest complication known to
watchmaking, the king of it all, so to speak.
"And
a king strides. His servants run behind him at much higher speeds, but the king strides in a regal manner," Lederer postulates. The lower frequency is a compromise
that Lederer found to enhance the beauty of his creation while retaining its precision and stability.
With
the advent of the blu-Planet Tourbillon, Lederer has filled the blu-Planet’s rotating subdial with a swinging life of its own-a life that endlessly revolves
upon its own axis, completing its own revolutions every sixty seconds.
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