Weird Watch Wednesday: The Perpetual Flying Tourbillon
I’ve selected this week’s watch to demonstrate the value of equipping yourself with the right knowledge before you go out and make that all important purchase. In the course of my daily travels across the internet I chanced across this rather innocuous company that purports to offer what is renowned as highly complex, and therefore expensive, complication for a seemingly impossible price.
As near as I can tell the company is called Perpetual and they produce watches complete with an exhibition flying tourbillon complication. I almost forgot to mention, these watches retail for less than US$1,000.
If this doesn’t even sound slightly ridiculous to you than you owe it to yourself to read on!
The Flying Tourbillon
You may recall that last week’s “Weird Watch Wednesday” feature watch was also equipped with a variation of the humble tourbillon created by Louis Breguet. As such, I won’t go into too much detail about the history of the tourbillon again. Essentially what you need to know is that rather than being supported by a bridge, or cock, at both the top and bottom, it is cantilevered, being only supported from one side. Whilst there is no real technical advantage to this, the visual appeal of the flying tourbillon in motion is simply stunning.
Some of the more famous brands to incoporate flying tourbillons are Cartier with their Ballon Bleu Flying Tourbillon, Ulysse Nardin with their “Royal Blue” Mystery Tourbillon and more recently Glashütte with the Original Senator Meissen Tourbillon. The point I am trying to illustrate here is that such is the complexity of the Flying Tourbillon complication that generally speaking it is only ever attempted by and limited to master watchmakers. And this is adequately reflected in the prices, which generally start from six figures and up.
The Perpetual “Flying Tourbillon”
Thus this brings us to the supposed “Flying Tourbillon” models from Perpetual. I think it should be fairly clear by this stage based on what we’ve just learnt above, that these watches should not be taken at face value. Just looking at the finishing on the dial above it seems abundantly obvious to me that this manufacturer certainly does not have the skills required to produce a complication as technically advanced as the flying tourbillon.
The website tries to compensate for this by saying that watch movements are purchased directly from a “first class specialist movement maker”, although no indication is actually given to the location or merit of this particular producer. Confusingly though, the site then goes on to say that design, assembly and most importantly, fine-tuning of the movements and other parts is carried out by their own experienced watchmakers.
But didn’t they just say they buy their watch movements from a third party?
The list of discrepancies goes on and on and this is yet another excellent example of the type of “genuine fakes” we discussed in our two-part special on counterfeit watches. Its not a replica as such, as it is not a cheap re-production of another watch, rather it is holding itself out to be a genuine, stand-alone brand. The site even features a nice video to show the movement in action!
The Final Word
I am certainly no expert on high-end watch complications and there are plenty of people out there who are far more qualified than I to pass judgment on these timepieces (perhaps they would care to comment?) but this seems like a very clear cut case to me. Quite simply put, you get what you pay for. The above is not a genuine flying tourbillon complication and quite frankly, to purchase and wear this watch would be a crime against good taste.
Hopefully you have learnt something from reading this article and perhaps will think twice the next time you see that “luxury timepiece” on the internet for next to nix!
6 Responses
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Hi Tom.
This is interesting. You are saying that the watch itself is not a fake but the movement is?
My brother got a $50 skeleton watch as part of his birthday present from his girlfriend this year. It too is not a fake (not trying to be any brand). It is hilariously good looking, obviously made of cheap materials but you can see the guts of the watch from quite far away. Always a lover of weird watches, my brother loves it.
Other than being a cheap watch, do you have any issues with this type of thing? Is it an unethical purchase in any way?
Ramsay
Hi Ramsay, thanks for your comment, you raise some great points!
Firstly, to clarify this is not a fake movement as such. It is actually a Chinese made movement made by a company called Sea-Gull which was founded back in 1955 and has a pretty decent reputation for making good quality Chinese movements.
The goal of the post was not so much to discredit Perpetual’s watches but rather draw to the attention of readers that these watches are not to be confused with the superior quality Swiss or German Made pieces. I am certainly not suggesting that the site is holding out these watches to be anything other than a cheap alternative, but there is the risk that an inexperienced person will think they are getting a great deal on a high-quality, complicated movment.
In this regard I don’t think there are really any ethical issues in buying a watch like this, and certainly I think Perpetual is doing the right thing by not trying to mislead potential customers although a bit of prior knowledge is probably useful. More and more we are seeing better quality products coming out of China at very reasonable prices so don’t be surprised if you see more people wearing these sorts of watches in the future.
To be honest I’d be genuinely surprised if someone is seriously confused between a seagull tourbillion and a swiss tourbillion (on the grounds of either price or quality).
And I’ve got to say, while I have not seen a seagull tourbillion in real life – I’ve heard overwhelmingly positive things and I’d say they are getting (if not a good deal) a fair price on what is still a complicated movement.
I think the growing sophistication and increasing quality control of Chinese movement makers can only be a good thing all round; making tourbillions far more accessible, and perhaps even making the European makers pick up their game (so to speak), and differentiate themselves further.
Hi Felix, thanks for your comments, as always some excellent points in there. I couldn’t agree more that it is a very positive thing to have Chinese manufacturers snapping at the heels, so to speak, of the large European makers as this will further increase competition and encourage innovation.
I too have heard positive things about the Sea Gull movement, and whilst I’m not quite at the stage where I’d purchase one myself I do think they are on the right track.
Just a quick word, which I may follow up with later when I find the time – Rather interestingly, there was a brief discussion amongst a few of my friends about Seagull Tourbillons the other day, brought on by someone having one with them at the time.
That particular Seagull Tourbillon was purchased pre-owned, and for more than $1k even secondhand. I also know one other person, a man who also owns timepieces from brands as diverse as Panerai (including having owned Pre-V ones), Breguet, and even an Independent brand, who purchased one new Seagull Tourbillon within the last two years.
I say this all as a precursor to my comment that I agree that you get what you pay for up to a point, as there is always a premium to be paid for the “brand name”, amongst other things. That all being said, if I was to have the funds to get a tourbillon, despite the possibility that the Breguet tourbillon may not be the one that many see as the top range tourbillon in the world today, I am a sentimentalist about the brand and I’d probably opt for a Breguet. Would I get what I was paying for? I think so, because I would be paying for history, as well.
I would not buy a Seagull tourbillon, as for the money I’d get something else. However, there are people I have the utmost horological respect for, in terms of knowledge, who speak well of the brand that I can’t afford to dismiss them or the quality (for the price).
Also, I’d not call this watch a “genuine fake”. I don’t know of the brand, but if they use a Seagull movement then I’d probably just call them a Chinese tourbillon.
Is Perpetual a genuine stand alone brand? I can’t honestly say, but that seems to be their intent and their website looks a lot better than many “homage watch” websites!
Looks like a really nice watch for the price!