This year, Revolution turns 20. Two decades of chronicling watches, people and ideas have given us a front-row seat to a remarkable story: how an age-old craft has both preserved its soul and reinvented itself for the 21st century. To celebrate, we’ve chosen over 100 names and milestones that, for us, define the era so far. From leaders to watches, you can see the whole list here.

If gravity is the ultimate nemesis of timekeeping, then the tourbillon complication is the watchmaking equivalent of a surgical facelift — counteracting the most obvious effects of gravity. But while a tourbillon is undoubtedly beautiful to look at, its effects, unlike a quick trip to your local surgical sculptor, go beyond just a “pretty face.” The tourbillon, invented in 1801 by Abraham-Louis Breguet, is essentially a rotating cage with the escapement and balance wheel mounted inside, averaging out errors caused by gravity. Although it’s not exactly needed in modern watches, it’s still a much sought-after complication thanks to its mechanical complexity and visual appeal.

Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Gyrotourbillon decided to defy gravity, but with a twist. Debuting in 2004, the Gyrotourbillon set the watch world spinning (literally) by mounting its balance and escapement in a spherical cage that rotates on two axes.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Gyrotourbillon 1

Although not the first time a Gyrotourbillon was built, Jaeger LeCoultre’s stands out as exceptional, not least for being housed in an exceptionally complicated watch. Not content with achieving the mesmerizing Gyrotourbillon complication, the watch also featured an eight-day power reserve, perpetual calendar, retrograde displays and even an equation-of-time complication for good measure.

The indisputable star of the show features an inner cage that rotates once every 24 seconds and an outer cage that rotates once per minute, ensuring the tourbillon never rests in a single plane. A standard-issue tourbillon is impressive by any stretch; the Gyrotourbillon took this dancing complication into prima ballerina territory, and beyond these kinetic theatrics, can rightly be considered “revolutionary.” It significantly boosted chronometric performance, and the technological achievements of its double-axis tourbillon have made their dancing debut in subsequent Jaeger-LeCoultre releases over the years. Notably, it can also be considered one of the maison’s first true “grande complication” (a watch comprising more than three complications). Crucially — as befits any award-winning dance performance — the watch manages to pack in all these complications and still retain a cooly elegant aesthetic. The best dance moves should always, after all, be impressive but look a little bit effortless.

Tech Specs: Jaeger-LeCoultre Gyrotourbillon 1

Movement: Manual winding Caliber 177; eight-day power reserve
Functions: Hours and minutes; seconds on multi-axis spherical tourbillon; displays for perpetual calendar and equation of time
Case: 43mm × 15mm; platinum; water resistant to 30m
Dial: Semi-skeletonized gray
Strap: Alligator leather