When Swiss watch maker Franck Muller released the original “Giga Tourbillon” watch several years ago it was a statement to both collectors and the watch industry. With the Giga Tourbillon Franck Muller had produced the largest diameter tourbillon ever made. A source of pride for the brand, it asserted itself as still being an innovator to the watch industry – just a few years after having serious problems in light of the financial crisis. To collectors, it was a sign of hope that “Franck Muller’s still got it.” So what is a tourbillon and why is it important? Many ultra-high-end watches include movements with a balance wheel that spins on its own axis – which is a tourbillon. Both complicated and beautiful, tourbillons are a sort of status symbol in the context of high-end horology that are bred to mean “prestige and wealth.” And as status symbols go, Franck Muller wanted theirs to be the largest. How big is the Giga’s tourbillon? Occupying about half of the watch, the tourbillon cage is 20mm wide. That alone is the size of some women’s watches.
Set in a super-sized version of the brand’s iconic tonneau-shaped “curvex” case, the Giga Tourbillon features a skeletonized dial that looks amusing like a surprised face. The two large mainspring barrels are like the eyes (with synthetic ruby jewels as the pupils), while the tourbillon is like a mouth agape. Symmetrical design is common in mechanical watch movements, we I can’t help but feel that brands such as Franck Muller are producing “face-like” watch faces on purpose. Perhaps has a good way for people to connect with their watch?
The original Franck Muller Giga Tourbillon – as well as this new version – both feature generous power reserves for the movement. Those two large 16mm wide spring barrels hold enough energy to power the movement for nine days. The original manually wound movement has been updated for 2013 with the release of the Giga Gong Tourbillon. “Giga Gong” sounds even more silly to say that “Giga Tourbillon,” but it does cleverly sum up what the watch is all about. “Gong” refers to a set of gongs and hammers included in the watch as part of its striking hour complication. Like clocks of old, the purpose of a striking hour watch is to chime at the top of each hour.
Striking hour watches do fortunately have an on and off function, which is activated by a pusher under the crown. Another more classic term for striking hour watch is “sonnerie,” though sonnerie watches can come in a range of forms. This one happens to strike each hour. Not only that, but the mechanism “states the hour” by chiming enough times to indicate what hour it is “two chimes for 2 o’clock). Dedicated watch enthusiasts have probably picked up something quirky about the watch – the gong isn’t round.
This is something I am curious to investigate myself. On the left of the dial is a hammer used to strike against a thin piece of metal that typically wraps itself around a movement. Often times round, in this case the gong is more square, in order to follow the shape of the 18k rose gold case. Visually and functionally the Giga Gong Tourbillon is beautiful with its open movement and high level of decoration. The black “giga” tourbillon case with its Franck Muller “FM” initially completes the package. Both visually and literally this is a big and loud watch meant for those who want a serious statement on their wrist.
Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoWatch.com.