Tourbillon Super Clone Watch

How the tourbillon actually works is pretty straightforward—it puts the escapement inside a cage that keeps spinning, usually making one full turn every minute. This rotation helps cancel out the pull of gravity on the balance wheel so the watch keeps better time. Originally the whole idea was made for pocket watches, but these days it’s one of those mechanical watch features that’s both nice to look at and actually useful.

How to spot a real vs fake tourbillon 1:1 clone watch

You’ll see some so called fake tourbillons out there that are really just skeletonized balance wheels dressed up to look like the real thing. The escapement itself doesn’t actually rotate with the cage. The way to check is simple: just watch if the escapement parts (the escape wheel and the pallet fork) are moving together with the spinning cage. If it’s just swinging side to side, it’s a fake.

Main factories making tourbillon super clone watches

ZF factory:
ZF factory is pretty much leading the game in clone watches. Their IWC Portuguese Tourbillon Retrograde Calendar actually nails all the functions from the original, including the retrograde date and the power reserve indicator. They got the case size right and rebuilt the whole multi part tourbillon setup, even the tiny bits are finished really clean.

BBR factory:
BBR factory is a big name that really focuses on tourbillon super clones. Their Roger Dubuis Excalibur tourbillon is one of the hotter pieces on the market. You’ve got that Celtic cross shaped tourbillon cage design, and every bridge and main plate is openworked and hand finished by experienced guys. The movement details are really something to look at.

JB factory:
JB factory is another serious player when it comes to tourbillons. Their Roger Dubuis tourbillon models show a real step up in craftsmanship. They made a weighted tourbillon that matches the original, which helps with stability and accuracy. Overall similarity is around 98%. And of course besides the ones mentioned, there are other factories out there doing tourbillons really well and staying pretty faithful to the originals.