I spent my first day at Baselworld going round in circles. Not the girth of the gentlemen overindulging in champagne bubbles but in search of the form itself. And imagine my surprise to find myself encircled by circles! Enough to send anyone into a spin. So as not to get caught on the rebound, and avoid spots before the eyes, for the purposes of this report, “circle” will be replaced by c****e.

So, is the c****e the centre of watchmaking? A small conceptual sidestep takes us neatly into the solar cycle, the waltz of time, and life’s learning curve (acknowledgements to my bearded colleague for this poetic interlude).

All these orbs are reproduced in the object of our attentions, the watch, in tourbillons, screws, wheels, even entire cases. One c****e turns into another, their voluptuous curves perfectly formed. But why, from a technical viewpoint, is watchmaking so spherically inclined?

Possibility number one: the omnipresent wheel. “The wheel is an extraordinarily fertile invention that would pave the way for mechanisation and provide a means of harnessing new sources of energy” (says Wikipedia). Square wheels never really took off. Right angles aren’t the right angle for getting things moving, so it seems. Indeed, the square end of the sliding pinion serves to block the stem! When the mainspring is wound it coils around the barrel arbor and, as it returns to its original shape, drives the barrel drum. This produces power that is transferred to the gears. In a mechanical movement, forms combine to create energy.

Hypothesis number two, put forward by a moustachioed watchmaker (am I the only one seeing a pattern here? beards, moustaches…), is more original. Squares are more likely to induce error. For example, that one side of a large square should be a millimetre out has little consequence. But if other, smaller parts have to fit inside this square – and tiny parts are legion in watchmaking – this millimetre suddenly takes on far greater proportions! And if there is one thing watchmakers detest, it’s that an infinitesimally small error should take a turn for the worse.

A perfect circle is so easy to draw. The tip of a toothpick, a loose thread from a napkin, and there it is marked out on the table. The absence of angles helps smooth life’s edges. At Baselworld, more than anywhere else, we’re surrounded by circles. Two of my favourites: the opening above Hall 1 and the Charming Bird inside its bubble at Jaquet Droz.

No doubt you’ve encountered more… So long life to the c****e in all its forms!

A book on circles: Movement by Guido Mocafido, available from Watchprint (in the Palace at Baselworld or online.

French version