Escape II Absolute Sapphire

Not content with choosing to make the tourbillon its signature complication, Purnell has raised the bar with this Escape II Absolute Sapphire. In addition to its two triple-axis spherical tourbillons or, in Purnell parlance, Spherions that turn in opposite directions at the unprecedented speed of one complete revolution in 8, 16 and 30 seconds, this exceptional mechanism takes up residence inside a 48mm sapphire case. The same sapphire is used for the movement bridges and for the dial. The result: exceptional technical complexity on full view! This perspective is accentuated by the blued hands and tourbillon cages, and by the baguette-cut sapphires on the sapphire crystal dial. As a final flourish, the outer cage of each Spherion sparkles with 152 brilliant-cut diamonds. Thanks to the six mainsprings inside the four series-mounted barrels, the manual-winding movement stores 32 hours of power reserve, indicated at 9 o’clock on the dial.