The venn diagram of people interested in watchmaking and people who think 3-D printing is cool is probably not that far off from a perfect circle. Nerds are nerds, right? Way back in 2014 we showed you a 3D-printed tourbillon, the Tourbillon 1,000%, created by our very own Nicholas Manousos. It required a bit of human power to operated, but was, as far as we know, the first experiment of its kind. Later, the Christophe Laimer Tourbillon took things another step, acting as a fully operational 3D-printed tourbillon clock. Now, via a story from Popular Mechanics, we've found yet another experiment in 3D-printed timekeeping: a triple-axis tourbillon inspired by one of contemporary horology's greats.
The Vianney Halter Deep Space Tourbillon
The so-called Hawk Eye is modeled on the Vianney Halter Deep Space Tourbillon, an extremely modern take on one of the more classic complications. The model uses more than 70 components ?all 3-D printed ?to reinterpret the complex regulating organ, with its nested carriages and peripheral mounting. It also tracks how long it's been in motion in a way similar to how the Deep Space keeps time, with a hand around the outer edge. The entire thing is electrically powered, so there is no mainspring or full gear train ?the focus here is all on the tourbillon itself.
ADVERTISEMENTYou can see the Hawk Eye in action and get a brief explanation of how it works in this video:
In addition to being just plain cool, this device is a really great way to see a complicated mechanism on a scale that makes it a little easier to understand. The Hawk Eye is also open source, so if you have some 3-D printing experience you can get the plans and build one yourself via Thingiverse.
If you want to undertake the project yourself, please drop us a note on social media or in the comments below. We'd love to see your progress and to share it too.
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