Question 3·Multiple choice
What was the tourbillon originally designed to counter?
- A.The effect of gravity on the balanceCorrect answer
- B.Magnetism
- C.Changes in temperature
- D.Shocks from knocks and drops
The story behind it
Breguet designed it for pocket watches, which spent hours upright in a pocket where gravity pulls the balance off rate. Putting the whole escapement in a rotating cage averages those errors out as it turns.