Purnell presented the Escape II, the world’s first timepiece that features two "Spherion", the name chosen by the brand for its high-velocity triple axis tourbillon. The Purnell Escape II is available in special editions in titanium, black DLC titanium or rose gold with prices starting from Swiss Francs 425,000.
Inspired by the work of his grandfather Cecil, a British watchmaker with a great passion for tourbillon watches, Jonathan Purnell founded the company bearing the family name in 2006 with the declared ambition to only produce tourbillon watches.
After developing 13 manufacture tourbillon calibers since its foundation, in 2016 Purnell started to collaborate with Eric Coudray, a master watchmaker winner of the Gaïa Prize that, among the other experiences, contributed to the development of the famous Master Gyrotourbillon 1 and Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2 during his tenure at Jaeger-LeCoultre.
The result of this collaboration and two years of development is the Escape II, the world’s first timepiece that features two "Spherion", the name chosen by the brand for its high-velocity triple axis tourbillon.
The Spherion is composed of three cages. The inner cage containing the balance wheel rotates once in 8 seconds – incredibly fast compared to conventional tourbillon. The secondary cage rotates once in 16 seconds, while the outer cage rotates in only 30 seconds. Thanks to this architecture, a Spherion rotates on multiple axis with its balance wheel trajectory drawing a sphere. Crafted from titanium, each Spherion has a weight of just 0.79562 grams.
Thanks to an ingenious differential system, the two Spherion cages rotate in opposite direction at the exact same path.
Comprised of 386 parts and beating at a frequency of 3 Hz (21,600 vph), the skeletonized movement of the Escape II weighs only 15.7 grams.
As it is easy to imagine, such a complicated and dynamic mechanism requires a lot of energy that is delivered by 6 mainsprings assembled in 4 barrels aligned in parallel (four are superimposed within two barrels). The power reserve is 32 hours and indicated via a suspended mobile cone mainspring sensor visible at 9 o'clock.
Measuring 48 mm in diameter and 19 mm thick, the imposing case features a special one-piece sapphire crystal that showcases the architecture of the movement and the two Spherion in motion.
The Purnell Escape II is available in special editions in grade 5 titanium, black DLC grade 5 titanium or rose gold, each limited to 20 pieces, with prices starting from Swiss Francs 425,000. Hand finishes can be customized using a variety of methods, including anodizing, hydrographics and applied lacquer. cpurnell.com
After developing 13 manufacture tourbillon calibers since its foundation, in 2016 Purnell started to collaborate with Eric Coudray, a master watchmaker winner of the Gaïa Prize that, among the other experiences, contributed to the development of the famous Master Gyrotourbillon 1 and Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2 during his tenure at Jaeger-LeCoultre.
Thanks to an ingenious differential system, the two Spherion cages rotate in opposite direction at the exact same path.
Comprised of 386 parts and beating at a frequency of 3 Hz (21,600 vph), the skeletonized movement of the Escape II weighs only 15.7 grams.
As it is easy to imagine, such a complicated and dynamic mechanism requires a lot of energy that is delivered by 6 mainsprings assembled in 4 barrels aligned in parallel (four are superimposed within two barrels). The power reserve is 32 hours and indicated via a suspended mobile cone mainspring sensor visible at 9 o'clock.
Measuring 48 mm in diameter and 19 mm thick, the imposing case features a special one-piece sapphire crystal that showcases the architecture of the movement and the two Spherion in motion.
Love the movement but 48mm are too many!
ReplyDelete