The library of watches
Three-dimensional scene: a black and steel tourbillon watch that opens, comes apart and reassembles as you scroll.
TicTemple
You cannot understand a watch from the outside. Scroll down: we open it, take it apart and rebuild it to your time. Then, the Archive.
01 · Opening
First, the crown.
Turning it makes its stem drive the ratchet and tension the mainspring. Then the bezel unscrews and takes the sapphire crystal with it. The strap is no longer needed.
02 · Exploded view
Ten layers, one axis.
- Crystal
- Bezel
- Hands
- Dial
- Bridges
- Tourbillon
- Train
- Mainplate
- Case
- Caseback
03 · Gear train
Every tooth obeys.
The mainspring drives the barrel, and each wheel and pinion pair trades force for speed on the way to the escapement. These are the ratios of the watch you see: its teeth truly mesh.
| Wheel | Teeth → pinion | Turns |
|---|---|---|
| Barrel | 84 → 14 | 1 every 6 h |
| Centre | 80 → 10 | 1 per hour |
| Third | 75 → 10 | 8 per hour |
| Cage | 72 → 6 | 60 per hour |
04 · Flying tourbillon
One turn a minute.
Balance, lever and escapement turn inside a cage to average out the error gravity causes in each position. The cage hand marks your real seconds.
- Vibrations per hour
- 21600
- Frequency
- 3 Hz
- Escape wheel teeth
- 15
05 · Reassembly
Current time: 00:00
This time is not written on the page: the hands read your device’s clock. The train runs back until it matches and from here keeps running with you.
All real, all cited
The Archive
The watch above is a stage piece. The ones below exist: real models with their data, their sources and an “unconfirmed” wherever certainty runs out. Each with its plate drawn to scale.
- Watches
- 0
- Brands
- 0
- Lines
- 0
- Articles
- 0
Calculated across the Archive
The extremes
Where to buy
TicTemple does not sell watches. Each record searches its reference at these stores; links go live once we join each programme.
- Chrono24New and pre-owned watch marketplace
- The Jeweller ShopJewellery and watches, Spanish store
- Timeshop24Online store, entry range
- AmazonWatches and accessories
Articles, milestones and anniversaries
Latest
What is published in the reading room, and what really happened in each house’s history.
Newsletter · prototype
One piece a month.
One calibre taken apart and explained each month. This is a prototype: the form sends nothing and stores no address.