(Click image for gallery - 8 photos)
UPDATE: I didn't catch this earlier, and the press release left out this information, but this movement appears to be derived from the Zero-G Multi-Dimensional Tourbillon that was introduced at Baselworld 2008.
Zenith recently announced a new wristwatch based on the design of a marine chronometer - the Christopher Columbus. By housing the regulating organ and escapement in a self-regulating gyroscopic module they can guarantee flat positioning, and therefore reduce rate variations. Tourbillons fix rate variations based on the average of 4 to 6 positions, and inclined and gyrotourbillons average even more positions, but this is still not as accurate, according to Zenith. Zenith's new patented 0G system keeps the escapement in a constant horizontal position, and therefore further minimizes rate variations.
Zenith Press Release
"Given the well-known fact that keeping the regulating organ in a horizontal position generates the best possible amplitude of the balance and thus considerably enhances timing precision, Manufacture Zenith decided to ensure that the regulating organ and the escapement were indeed permanently kept in this position.
This was of course easier said than done however, especially when one considers the numerous challenges of keeping a wristwatch flat in various daily or sporting activities such as driving, golfing, or skippering a boat. Applying this to a movement beating at the exceptionally high rate of 10 vibrations per second further complicated matters, which does much to explain why a full five years of development have gone into presenting one of the major recent accomplishments in the watch industry. Even the numbers give an idea of the sheer complexity of the task, since this daring complication comprises 166 components, while a tourbillon has approximately 66. The result is the first wrist-worn timepiece in which the rate is completely independent of its wearers' movements.
The rating precision of a classic watch varies according to its position. Gravity attracts the escapement components, which do not operate in exactly the same way according to the direction in which they are attracted. The friction between the various components is also different and the amplitude of the balance may be disturbed, causing it to gain or lose. The best position for an escapement is the horizontal position which ensures the best amplitude for the balance and on which gravity is perpendicular to the components and does not therefore disturb their rotation.
The need to improve the precision of clocks for navigation led to the invention of marine chronometers, in which the entire movement is mounted on gimbals and remains horizontal despite the ship's movements. This was the only way of achieving chronometric precision enabling a reliable measurement of position when at sea by comparing local solar noon with Greenwich Mean Time for example. When it became important to make pocket-watches more accurate, the same means could not be used, because that would have involved placing in the pocket a large mechanism measuring 50 mm.
Working on the principle that a watch in a pocket remains in a vertical position and that only the stem leans to the left or the right, the tourbillon watch was invented. This system does not prevent the position-related flaw from occurring, but instead averages out the flaw over the 4 vertical axes every minute. Since the watch does not move very much, it is adjusted to this particular average. However, as mentioned earlier, the constant vertical position of the balance is not the most favorable.
With the arrival of wristwatches, the positions of the watch were diversified by adding positions with the horizontal dial pointing downward or upward. Classic tourbillons continue to correct 4 positions out of 6 and already enhance precision, although only partially. Inclined tourbillons or gyrotourbillons average out more positions, but this is still the average of several errors, and they are only briefly in a horizontal position. The ultimate step thus lay in adapting the best solution, that of the constant horizontal escapement, to the wristwatch.
To avoid making a huge mechanism, only the part most sensitive to variations in position is mounted on gimbals and thus benefits from a more or less constant horizontal position - as well as a slightly gyroscopic stabilising effect of the balance. It was however necessary to find a system that enabled the two parts of the movement - the one that follows the position on the wrist and the one mounted on gimbals - to remain perfectly coordinated.
This perfect coordination is achieved in an extremely elegant manner by Zenith's patented 0G system. In this system, a gear system harnesses the rotations of the axes of the carriage and a reverser differential gear instantly compensates for all the relative movements of the various elements.
The cadence of the operation of the gear train indicating the time on the part connected to the wrist movements is imparted by the escapement situated in the carriage, which constantly seeks to find its point of equilibrium determined by gravity. If the watch is moved in such a way as to set the carriage spinning on its axis, the coordination system compensates for this rotation and the hands continue imperturbably indicating the correct time, whatever the speed of the direction of this rotation.
For all these reasons, Manufacture Zenith considers this system to be the ultimate evolution in comparison to the existing tourbillon systems."
The movement is a manually wound calibre Academy 8804. It has 45 jewels and operates at 36,000 vph (5hz), with a 50 hour power reserve. The case is 45 mm in diameter and comes in either rose, white or yellow 18k gold (limited edition of 25 pieces per variation). Water-resistance is 30 meters.
Zenith calls this timepiece a "Grande complication", which is not necessarily true. A "Grand complication" has a set of requirements that this timepiece does not meet. It is, however, an extremely complicated timepiece that with the help of the gyroscopic module, can keep the rate consistent, even with changes in the position of the timepiece. This is the first wristwatch to feature this type of function, and that by itself is meritorious. However, I do question how comfortable the round glass cage feels protruding through the caseback (at least 5 mm) - directly into your wrist.
References: 27.00.2218.630 Yellow Gold, References: 27.17.0003.940 Rose Gold, References: 27.31.0003.940 White Gold
Retail $209,000
Source: Zenith
