I recently had the opportunity to meet with the creator, and discuss over breakfast, one of the most amazing watches to have come out of Switzerland in recent times. JF (otherwise known as Jean-Francois Ruchonnet) is not a man to mince words. He is open and honest. This I appreciate, especially in a watch world typically full of marketing men & women, spewing the corporate line in the hopes that most will buy it. As you might have worked out by now, that doesn't sit too well with me. JF is a passionate fellow, who lives life to the fullest, and gets his excitement and probably some inspiration from fast cars, airplanes and sailing...Creative mechanical genius often likes action, especially fast machines!
Our meeting was arranged through a mutual friend and watch connoisseur, who felt that there was a good possibility of us hitting it off. I'd say he was correct!
Here is an image from Cabestan:
The Cabestan Winch Tourbillon Vertical is an amazing piece of engineering and breaks new ground in horology. JF worked with my friend Vianney in Ste. Croix for several years and collaborated with him on the beginnings of this piece, however, at some point he decided that he needed to do this project independently of VH and his team.
Having worked with a genius watchmaker whilst at JLC, the extra-ordinarily talented Eric Coudray, the creator of the Gyrotourbillon; JF teamed up with him and another entrepreneurial fellow, Timothy Bovard, to form Cabestan Watches, to develop and create this extra-ordinary timepiece for collectors. Based in the village L'Orient in the Vallee de Joux, they established themselves and set about producing these wonderful timekeepers.
Several aspects of this superb piece are ingenius, the chain and fusée for an even distribution of the torque/mainspring power, the tourbillon being placed in the vertical plain, for superior accuracy. Use of a vertical tourbillon was designed with the original concept in mind, that of improving the timekeeping by eliminating the gravitational effect on the balance. Noting the average position of the wristwatch on and off the wrist, places the traditional balance in the non-optimum position for the majority of the 24hrs. The company claims to be able to regulate these watches to 1sec+or -/ day leaving the factory and in laboratory conditions 1 sec+or-/week!
Putting aside the timekeeping marvels Eric Coudray is able to conjure up, the watches are interesting little machines, which I find fascinating. Ever since I first heard about the project through Vianney several years ago, I have followed with interest the development of it, hoping to be able find collectors who would also understand and appreciate what it is and represents. Ultimately it will not appeal to everyone, but I suspect there are many of you who will have a similar reaction to this as me.