rom the Luxembourg Grand Duchy to the historical watchmaking terroirs of the Swiss Jura Valley, Duke’s Clarity Tourbillon features a pure and powerful design. In-house calibre 9600 was developed for eight timepieces only. There are indeed only a few movements with tourbillon paired with automatic winding.

Here, and this is quite specific, the oscillating weight is totally unnoticeable since it has been crafted in sapphire glass. One needs a keen sense of hearing to perceive the to-and-fro of the rotating rotor that runs on ceramic ball bearings. This oscillating weight, in a calibre beating at 21,600 vibrations per hour (i.e. a frequency of 3 Hz), is no less efficient since it is generating a self-removing energy whose power reserve covers 72 hours.

This 8-piece ultra-limited series’ vivid design is a celebration of the complicated tourbillon mechanism, from a 100-degree opening with softened edges. This horological complication and its floating cage provide a new perspective to Abraham-Louis Breguet’s famous invention of over 200 years ago: a micromechanical structure that is performing its whole circumvolution every one minute, i.e. at a rate of 60 pulsations per minute.

The Duke Clarity Tourbillon First Edition merges the expertise of materials and the characteristic finishes of horological craftsmanship. Water-resistant to 50 meters, its case structure and its bottom flanks are made of titanium-carbon fibre, while its bezel, including the lugs, as well as its case back and its crown, are made of grade 5 titanium, a material whose machining requires some extra soul and skill.

The handmade finishes are then twirling in a subtle festival of visual effects: hand beveling, polished-mirror effects, reliefs made of alternating grained, sun-brushed or shot-blasted surfaces.