Creation of a never-before-realized challenge: a watch with a power reserve of more than 1,000 hours!
The T-1000 – birth of a challenge
It was in June 2008, after the famous 24 hours of Le Mans car race, in an atmosphere rich with the smell of motor oil and hot engines, that the team at Rebellion thought, "If we can transform these fine-tuned racing thoroughbreds into 24-hour long distance endurance racers, why not do the same with a watch? Why not see just how long the power reserve could be?"
Sporting a body of pure design
The body of the T-1000 was designed in a collaboration of Eric Giroud and Rebellion. The case was developed concurrently with the movement to ensure completely harmonious integration.
There is a sensation of flying as the viewer gazes down through the massive opening to the vertical roller-borne time indications below. Attention then plunges towards 6 o'clock, where the inclined double balance releases the immense power at a precisely controlled rate.
A window in the side of the case reveals one of the mainspring barrels, with markers providing a natural "Fuel Gauge" of the state of the power reserve.
Controlling the power
The streamlined downward taper of the case from the centre to 6 o'clock furnishes further evidence of Rebellion's car racing pedigree. A pedigree reinforced by the fact that a patented time-setting clutch activated by a push button in the crown makes setting the time as simple (and as pleasurable) as changing gears.
A true racing machine
The power reserve of more than 1,000 hours is possible thanks to the six mainspring barrels that provide the T-1000 with its exceptional capacity. In a patented system of energy distribution, six barrels are wound in parallel via a central prop shaft driving two chains, but they discharge in series (2 x 3) to optimize a regular power supply to the regulator.