To learn the craft, he moved to Glashütte, the internationally esteemed centre of the Saxon watch industry. The ink on the master craftsman’s certificate had barely dried when Daniel Malchert was appointed to the in-house research and development department of NOMOS Glashütte and entrusted with the production of prototypes and small series. A renowned manufacture in Germany’s most famous watchmaking town, NOMOS Glashütte creates its own movements in-house.
What followed this appointment was a dream commission: Daniel Malchert was tasked with the complete production of 25 tourbillon watches – one of the most challenging complications to master.
Abraham Louis Breguet invented the tourbillon around 1800. The escapement, which is comprised of the escape wheel, anchor, balance wheel, and hairspring sits within the tourbillon ‘cage’. The tourbillon cage rotates once every minute, with the aim of compensating for the detrimental effects of gravity on the delicate hairspring. Producing a tourbillon is an extremely complex process. Such an undertaking requires great manual skill. Only a few watchmakers play in this league.