Known to only produce tourbillon movements, the Swiss watchmaker Purnell is inspired by performance, precision and mechanical prowess, doubling down on its philosophy of bringing more future than past to watchmaking. In just a year since the brand’s introduction at Watches & Wonders Geneva 2020, Purnell has made its mark on the landscape of contemporary high watchmaking, not only with its unmistakable Spherion but also with a manufacturing process integrated locally in the Vallée de Joux all the way to the brand’s new headquarters on Rue du Rhône in Geneva, which includes a refined showroom to welcome clients.
For Watches & Wonders 2021, the brand is presenting the World’s first Double triple axis tourbillon in a full sapphire case with movement bridges and dial in sapphire. The world’s fastest triple axis tourbillon called ‘Spherion’ each outer cage set with 152 brilliant-cut diamonds. Transparency in its purest form, highlighting the very best of what Purnell creates: pure, Swiss made craftsmanship and the world’s fastest double triple-axis tourbillon movement. What you don’t see here is what matters.
The 48 mm case, the dial, the power-reserve, hour gear train and dial bridges are made of transparent sapphire, revealing the skillfully constructed six barrels powering the diamond-set double Spherion movement. The Purnell Escape II Absolute Sapphire features applied blue baguette sapphires hour indexes and is a unique piece.
Maurizio Mazzocchi Purnell CEO states:“After several years of R&D I am delighted to present a full sapphire Escape II collection whichenhances the caliber’s weightless appearanceand mesmerizing Spherion motion at its best. Acollection of unique pieces with other color tinted sapphire will followthis year such as: pink, green and blue. I am looking forward to personally presentingyou this collection digitally during Watches & Wonders 2021.
To create the watch 23 sapphire raw block units are necessary —the machining process consumes 80% of the original mass. Grown under 2,050-degree Celsius, the sapphire resists temperatures up to 1,000-degree Celsius and is scratch-proof, except by diamond. The flawless sapphire transparency guaranteed by Purnell Swiss partner Novo Cristal located in La Chaux-de-Fonds is achieved by the use of the highest purity oxide aluminum crystals and by the diamond granulometry grade used in the polishing process. A polishing process which reaches in its last steps an extremely fine diamond granulometry grade. In total, the machining and polishing process require 150 hours excluding the development and machine programming and sapphire blockunit growth.
The Purnell Escape II Absolute Sapphire is powered by the manual wound movement calibre CP03 Double Spherion with Diamond Set Cages. This is the World’s Fastest Double Triple Axis Tourbillon; called “Spherion” by its inventor, the genius Master watchmaker Eric Coudray. The movement is composed of 386 parts with 67 jewels and mainsprings assembled in four barrels aligned in parallel —four are superimposed within two barrels. The movement features two visible barrel covers that are engraved and the total weight of the movement is 15.7 grams.
Thanks to its Differential System the fastest Triple-Axis Tourbillon performs a rotation in 8 Seconds, while the inner cage does it in 16 seconds and the secondary cage in 30 Seconds. The blued titanium of the cages is set with 304 brilliant-cut diamonds in total. The 48 mm case in sapphire allows for extreme transparency and the watch is delivered on a clear translucent rubber strap with a grade 5 titanium pin buckle.
Sticker Price $1 Million USD. For more info on Purnell click here.
