Majesty Tourbillon

Details 

A very rare, attractive and highly unconventional white gold limited-edition triple-rotation tourbillon wristwatch from the independent Swiss watch brand BLU, founded in 2000 by Bernhard Lederer, a German watch- and clockmaker, and active until 2010–2011. Produced circa 2010. Case in 18k white gold, diameter 43mm, caseband with transparent sapphire ring, open-worked dial, hinged lugs, sapphire caseback. Caliber BL 707, hand-wound, double barrel, power reserve up to 72 hours. Functions – indication of time in hours, minutes and seconds via the triple rotation of an orbital tourbillon. White leather strap, BLU 18k white gold double folding clasp. Limited edition of 50 pieces. 

Lot essay 

As Bernhard Lederer himself recalls, he was prompted to develop the Majesty Tourbillon MT3 by an article he had happened upon by chance. In it, there was mention that the famous German watchmaker Alfred Helwig from Glashütte, who is considered to be the inventor of the flying tourbillon, had the idea of building a tourbillon without a carriage – that is, without additional inertia. Bernhard Lederer, who at that time was producing watches with an exotic planetary time display under the trade name BLU (Bernhard Lederer Universe), decided to combine this attractive idea with the idea of a planetary display, which was one of the signature and most widely known designs of the BLU collection. Whereas in watches with a planetary time indication the display module was an additional complication of the traditional movement, in the Majesty Tourbillon MT3 the caliber itself was designed as a planetary time indicator. 

Bernhard Lederer introduced the Majesty Tourbillon MT3 in the spring of 2007 at the Basel fair, in white gold, rose gold and platinum. The highlight of the caliber BL 707 is its elegant, optimal technical design, built around a double barrel at the back of the movement and a triple rotation orbital tourbillon. In 2004, the master applied for a patent for this invention. The slowest, 12-hour rotation of the tourbillon is used to indicate the hour; the second, one-hour rotation, which can be observed by means of the blued half-bridge above the tourbillon, shows the minutes; and the third, fastest one-minute rotation of the tourbillon is the small seconds hand. For the seconds pointer, there is a triple line engraved on the bottom of the tourbillon carriage. Incidentally, it is this bottom part of the carriage that replaces the usual tourbillon cage. Therefore, the Majesty Tourbillon MT3 tourbillon lacks an upper part of the carriage. Instead, the upper balance shaft is set in the blued tourbillon bridge – this is the technical implementation of Alfred Helwig’s very idea. 

The watch case adopts an amphitheatre design with a deep 3D structure. To add light to this, Bernhard Lederer created an unusual case with a sapphire band screwed to the bezel and caseband by twelve ‘pillars’ – these function as hour markers. The movement, which is open on the dial side, has a strict technical finish yet is very elegant and with details that deserve attention. Particularly noteworthy is the skeleton bridge of the transmission wheel, with wide, meticulously carved bevels and seven sharp internal corners, made according to the rules of haute horlogerie. The mainplate under the transmission wheel is decorated with a wavy guilloche motif, and outside it with a spiral striped finish. The back of the movement bears the classic Côtes de Genève finish and grey-tinted engraved inscriptions. 

Reasons to buy 

The BLU Majesty Tourbillon MT3 Limited Edition Ref. MT3/030.60.7/D would appear to be an attractive purchase for the collector and connoisseur of fine watchmaking due to its impressive and unusual design. A breakthrough invention in which Bernhard Lederer combined several technical ideas in a very elegant and optimal way, including the incorporation of a tourbillon into a planetary time display system, a triple rotation tourbillon and an optimised tourbillon without a carriage top, will certainly leave the name of the inventor in the annals of watchmaking. It is definitely one of the cornerstones and modern vanguards of creative watchmaking. The present watch has a strong and distinctive character, and may well attract a connoisseur of watchmaking art as an extraordinary daily wearer.