Blancpain is already well known as creators and innovators of tourbillon watches but it must be slightly disconcerting for the watchmakers of Le Brassus to have to compete head-to-head with the legacy of Abraham Louis Breguet.

Well, instead of doing that, Blancpain has decided to challenge the tourbillon itself by mastering the mysteries of its misunderstood cousin, the carrousel.

The Blancpain Carrousel Volant Une Minute resurrects a mechanism that has languished in the shadow of Breguet’s favorite child, largely because it is a good bit more complicated. In the tourbillon, the escapement and the cage are powered by the mainspring via a single gear train while in the carrousel, two separate gear trains power the escapement and the rotation of the carriage.

As the name suggests, the carrousel rotates once a minute – itself an achievement – while sporting a central balance and an impressive size-to-power ratio. The power reserve stands at an exceptional 100 hours while the water resistance is 100 meters.