Today, I would like to tell you about a remarkable watchmaker who is proud of his Italian roots and who describes his watchmaking journey with three words: patience, passion, and perseverance. As you have probably guessed, I am focusing today on one of the masters of the tourbillon, Antoine Preziuso. Before presenting one of the pieces for which he is most widely known today, I will share his path, which could inspire many people.
Antoine Preziuso was born in Geneva in 1957. As a child, he dreamed of becoming an archaeologist or a pilot, but the place where he lived and his father’s influence sparked an unbreakable love for watchmaking. His father worked at Grobéty, became interested in watches, and set up a workshop in the basement of their building to make watches as a self taught craftsman. He also carried out restoration work and created jewelry. To keep his son Antoine occupied, he gave him small tasks, then had him dismantle movement parts and begin building small watch mechanisms. With this first step into the craft, Antoine Preziuso naturally enrolled at the École d’Horlogerie de Genève, where he trained as a watchmaker and repairer and graduated at the top of his class in 1978.
Freshly graduated into an industry shaken by quartz movements, he found a position at Patek Philippe for two years in the complications workshop, then at Antiquorum, where he had the opportunity to set up the first restoration workshop and to see an entire section of watchmaking history through pieces that are impossible to find today. He then decided in 1981 to set up in Geneva as a restorer of antique watches. He began to make a real name for himself on the Geneva scene and worked for major collectors, leading watch brands, and the Musée d’Horlogerie de Genève, which entrusted him with the restoration of very rare pieces.
At the same time, he began to surround himself with watchmakers such as Franck Muller, Roger Dubuis, and François Paul Journe. They were a small group of young watchmakers who believed in the heritage of traditional mechanical watchmaking, and little by little the circle widened. Between 1982 and 1984, they took part in a project in collaboration with the Cabinotiers de Genève and several decorative artists, including an enameller, to create ten commemorative watches for the anniversary of the Musée d’Horlogerie de Genève. Things began to take off. They shared the same spirit of independence and the same desire to be creative and explore new paths. Then in 1985, Vincent Calabrese and Svend Andersen founded the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants, the AHCI.
The wealth of experience he gained naturally led him toward the creation of highly complicated watches. In 1986, he signed his first watch, the Sienna, with a Carrara marble dial. In 1989, he was commissioned by Breguet, one of the greatest names in watchmaking, to take on an unprecedented challenge: the development and production of a series of some of the most complicated watches in the world, namely minute repeater wristwatches with perpetual calendar. After two years of feasibility studies, research, and development, the first wristwatch of this type, accompanied by a pocket watch in an elm burl presentation case, was sold at auction by Antiquorum in Geneva.
In 1991, he presented a minute repeater with perpetual calendar and bezel winding. This model carried the prestigious Poinçon de Genève quality hallmark. While continuing to create prestigious watches bearing his signature, he also specialized in producing complicated watches for various renowned brands. In 1996, he exhibited his own creations at the Basel Watch and Jewelry Show on the AHCI stand. His work was quickly recognized, and he received an offer to distribute his watches in Japan, and the adventure began. Everything moved very quickly, and in 1998 he presented his watches at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva. He then developed significantly with projects such as creating the Opus 2 for Harry Winston, but after years of growth he ultimately returned to a human sized brand. After a distinguished career, he now works with his son Florian, who is also a watchmaker. It is a family company, with his daughter Laura in charge of jewelry work and his wife May handling administration.
Antoine Preziuso is specialized in the making of complications such as tourbillon wristwatches, tourbillon wristwatches with jumping hours and minute repeaters with perpetual calendar, minute repeaters with automata, wristwatches with erotic automata, second time zone watches, and unique timepieces. Today I will focus on the Tourbillon des Tourbillons, imagined in 2004 but launched in 2015. It is the result of intense collaboration between Antoine Preziuso and his son Florian. This complication embodies know how built over 35 years of independent watchmaking. This model, nicknamed by Antoine “The Power of Three”, is one of those masterpieces that has evolved in its aesthetics over the years while winning awards such as the Innovation Watch Prize and the Public Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG). It holds three patents for its multiple regulator on a rotating platform, its differential synchronizer, and its resonance frequency. Now let us move on to the examination of this piece.
Table of Contents – Antoine Preziuso Tourbillon of Tourbillon
What are the features of the Antoine Preziuso Tourbillon of Tourbillon?
Case
The Antoine Preziuso Tourbillon of Tourbillon comes with a white gold case and a large domed crystal. With a diameter of 45 mm and a thickness of 14 mm, you will have understood that this watch is not made for my wrist at all. Nevertheless, I want to highlight the achievement of fitting such a complex mechanism into this case, where I appreciated the finishing work on the caseband, both on the middle case and on the polished areas that extend between the two lugs and that are echoed by another polished section between the lugs. There is one element I did not like. The crown bears the logo AFP which stands for Antoine Florian Preziuso. I find it too imposing and in my view it would have deserved better work in order to achieve better harmony with the whole.
Dial
The Antoine Preziuso Tourbillon of Tourbillon does not have a dial in the strict sense. It is rather a maze of rotating three dimensional planes to observe before I tell you more about how it works. I should point out that the legibility of the watch is quite good thanks in particular to the presence of thick hands and a trio of meteorite inserts that fill the space between each tourbillon. Antoine Preziuso has long been a fan of including meteorites in his timepieces and has used meteorite as a case material for two unique creations in the past. That said, I think it is fair to say that a watch like this is not worn with the intention that its owner strictly needs to know the time but rather to have a piece of mechanical art that accompanies daily life.
Movement
The Antoine Preziuso Tourbillon of Tourbillon houses a hand wound movement, the AFP TTR 3X, developed in house by Antoine Preziuso and his son Florian. It is distinctive in that it has three synchronized tourbillons linked through the same differential. This is more complicated because of their inherent symmetry. They therefore had to develop a patented triple differential gear train, separated by three counterweights, that not only makes the three tourbillons rotate but also makes the entire platform on which they rest rotate, turning the entire dial into a kind of additional tourbillon. Hence the name Tourbillon of Tourbillons. It contains the smallest ball bearing in the world, only 1.6 millimeters in diameter, within which are six balls measuring 0.013 millimeter in diameter.
Each of these three flying tourbillons is finely hand finished. They rotate at a speed of 60 seconds, while the entire dial rotates at a speed of one revolution every 10 minutes, which is 6 turns per hour. This may seem slow, but with a glance at the dial you can see it slowing down, which is quite cool. Positioned at equal distance from the center of the platform, their respective axes form an equilateral triangle. The three cages complete their revolution on different axes of rotation and at variable speeds, improving the overall isochronism with a stable frequency of 3 Hz. The movement is composed of 570 individual components, 65 jewels, and six precision ball bearings. It has double barrels that together provide an impressive power reserve of 48 hours, which is notable given all the power the movement must use to move all the parts. This movement embodies full respect for the codes of Haute Horlogerie.
Strap
The Antoine Preziuso Tourbillon of Tourbillon is delivered with a very high quality and robust brown crocodile strap with a very original folding clasp that provides the finishing touch.
What is the price of the Antoine Preziuso Tourbillon of Tourbillon?
The price of the Antoine Preziuso Tourbillon of Tourbillon is 420,000 CHF, which is about 1,911,500 AED.
Antoine Preziuso Tourbillon of Tourbillon: the Holy Grail of tourbillon watches
The Antoine Preziuso Tourbillon of Tourbillon evokes the Past, the Present and the Future, while the complex architecture of its trimetallic case fully exploits all three dimensions. It is also infused with the symbolism of the number three. It is driven by three tourbillons at a frequency of 3 Hz, linked by a triple differential and separated by three meteorite counterweights. It is a masterful spectacle that in many ways sums up the intoxicating, almost hypnotic feeling one experiences when seeing an astonishing micro machine in motion. Personally, I remain deeply admiring of this piece and of its level of complexity. In my view, this watch should be regarded as a manifesto for future generations.
For more than four exciting and enriching decades, Antoine Preziuso has traced an intensely personal and innovative path in the watchmaking world. Drawing on a proud heritage of artisanal know how while refusing the constraints of convention, he has produced a wealth of exceptional creations appreciated by watch lovers and connoisseurs around the globe. Owning an Antoine Preziuso watch is to capture the very art of watchmaking in all its unbridled brilliance. It is to capture a glimpse of the unique genius and passion of a single man.
I was honored to meet him during Time to Watches 2025, where we first took the time to talk and to take an interest in each other’s paths before he told me about his watches. In fact, it was very natural, as if I had met my namesake in a café. Several years separate us, yet I found in this person the same anti conformist side, the same devouring passion for design and mechanics, and not least his great interest in the people around us.
Antoine Preziuso Tourbillon of Tourbillon – Watch Specifications
- Brand: Antoine Preziuso
- Model: Tourbillon of Tourbillon TTR3 Chronometer
- Case Material: White Gold
- Dial: Openworked
- Functions: Hours, Minutes
- Movement: Antoine Preziuso AFP-TTR-3X, Manual-Winding, 3 x 21’600Ah (3Hz), 65 jewels and 570 parts
- Power Reserve: 48 Hours
- Water Resistance: 3 ATM
- Crystal: Sapphire
- Caseback: Sapphire
- Case Dimension: 48 mm × 15 mm
- Strap: Black Crocodile with White Gold Folding Buckle
- Retail Price: 420,000 CHF
Did you already know this figure of watchmaking? Did you learn anything from this article? Feel free to tell me more in the comments section.
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