by Ian Skellern

While Baselworld 2014 was not a particularly big year for tourbillons, they were still an important element in the collections of most brands and a few of them were truly exceptional.

Below are just five of the tourbillons that passed in front of my lens at Baselworld 2014.

The Bulgari Octo Finissimo Tourbillon ultrathin was one of my favorite watches from Baselworld 2014. The movement is only 1.95 mm high (that’s just over 3/16”) and the platinum case measures just 5 mm (less than 1/4”). Space was saved using ball bearings instead of jewels and adjusting the timing directly on the balance wheel. bulgari.com

L.Leroy Osmior Tourbillon automatic regulator. Beautifully skeletonized, flying tourbillon and separate dials (regulator style) for hours and minutes. What’s not to like? www.montres-leroy.com/en/collections/limited-series/ll1081

The Speake-Marin Magister Tourbillon features a hand-finished 60-second tourbillon, white-lacquered dial and automatic-winding movement with platinum micro-rotor visible through the display back. The Magister Tourbillon would be a welcome addition to my wrist. www.speake-marin.com/collections/j-class-collection/magister

Corum Admirals Cup AC-One 45 Double Tourbillon. Is it just me or are some of these watch names starting to resemble sentences rather than names? But the take-a-deep-breath-before-you-attempt-to-read-the-name-outloud aside, a double  tourbillon combined with a retrograde date and a clever precision time-setting mechanism that returns the minute had to zero at the push of a button is worth closer attention. http://www.corum.ch/

Louis Moinet Dragon Tourbillon. There is engraving and then there’s engraving. The sensational dragon takes well over a week (50 hours) to hand engrave from solid white gold. Behind the dragon lies a dial crafted from what is believed to be a piece of 150 million-year-old fossilized dinosaur bone. All that and a tourbillon too! www.louismoinet.com/collection-dragon-tourbillon

Don’t miss “Give Me Five! Tourbillons From Baselworld 2014 Part 2” next week, which will feature tourbillons from Christophe Claret, Grönefeld, Kari Voutilainen, Chopard, and Breguet.