[AI Mystery Manga: Live-Action Version] Episode 41: That watch can even cancel out gravity? — The Tourbillon Uncovers the "Hundredfold Accuracy Increase by Just Laying It Flat" Mystery —

COMMIT GINZA / AI Mystery Manga: Live-Action Version / EPISODE 41

Place a watch on this small base, and its accuracy increases a hundredfold. The reason? "Because it eliminates gravity." Faced with such a dream-like sales pitch brought into Ginza, Kenji felt like floating his own body before reaching for his wallet. But what the appraiser was looking at was a small cage rotating at the six o'clock position and the casually altered orientation of the watch. This time, the mystery lies not in the watch itself, but in the way the numbers are presented.

1. The "Gravity-Eliminating" Salesman Who Came to Ginza

As the shop prepared to close, Suga, from a sales planning company, brought in a small wooden base. He was forty-six, wearing a sand-colored suit and an olive-colored turtleneck. His voice was gentle, but the word "revolution" rang out with peculiar clarity.

He wanted to sell a fictional display accessory called "Zero-Base." For the demo watch, he used the equally fictional TB-41. It had a round silver case, an ivory dial, and a black leather strap. A small metal cage was visible at the six o'clock position. The watch was managed by Suga's company, not the store's stock.

2. The Small Cage at Six O'Clock Rotates Around

First, they placed the sample on a vertical cushion. Kenji leaned his face toward the lower half of the dial. Fine parts were oscillating, and the cage around them was slowly changing its orientation. Because the two movements overlapped, if you watched closely, it looked like someone was dancing on a small stage.

The appraiser explained, "The movement of the balance wheel reciprocating inside and the rotation of the carriage holding it are separate." In the story, the TB-41 has a single-axis design where one rotation takes one minute. However, real tourbillons vary in rotation period and axis configuration.

3. When Placing It on the Base, the Orientation of the Watch Also Changed

Suga showed the watch in a vertical position connected to the measuring device, then moved it to the base. This time, he unfastened the strap and laid it flat with the dial facing up. While Kenji was peering at the grain of the base, the appraiser was tracking the movement of his hands.

Suga's materials stated, "Before use: +12.0 seconds/day, after use: +0.12 seconds/day." If you just divide the numbers, it's a hundredfold. However, this is a rate indication converted from a short observation interval, not the actual gain/loss measured over a full day of use. The number of decimal places and the reliability of the comparison are two different things.

4. Looking at Inconspicuous Conditions Instead of the Eye-Catching Wooden Box

For the sake of explanation, the watch was returned to its support, and the appraiser confirmed: "Is there a comparison where only the base was changed?" Suga claimed that the flat position makes it easier to receive the power of the base. However, the advertisement scheduled for distribution stated in large print: "Effective in any orientation."

What was clear here was not that the base was worthless, but that in the current demonstration, the impact of changing the orientation could not be separated from the impact of the base. The appraiser did not commit to purchasing or handling the product, and instead requested the original measurement data and a record that did not omit the before and after of the demonstration. Suga promised to bring them the next day.

5. The Original Data Still Held the Unfavorable Twenty Seconds

The next afternoon, Suga brought not only the two screens used in the advertisement but also the continuous recordings output by the measuring device and orientation memos. The appraiser cross-checked the watch serial numbers, start/end points of each interval, settings, and orientation entries. Kenji prepared a magnifying glass, but the text was normal-sized.

"Before use" was without the base, placed vertically with the crown down. Moreover, they only extracted the twenty seconds immediately after putting it on. "After use" was with the base, placed flat with the dial up. For this, they chose the twenty seconds in the middle of the recording where the value was closest to zero. Both were displays found in the original data. Even without faking the numbers, a story can be created by how you choose them.

6. A Tourbillon is Not a Device for Eliminating Gravity

The Role of the Rotating Carriage

In mechanical watches, the balance wheel and hairspring are responsible for regular vibration, and the escapement transmits power to this vibration to mark the progress of the gears. A tourbillon is a mechanism that houses these parts related to regulation inside a rotating carriage (cage). Even if the watch stays in one orientation, the orientation of the parts changes in sequence. Through this rotation, it attempts to average out the rate bias caused by gravity in different orientations.

The official Breguet explanation also refers to the original challenge as the influence of gravity on the regulating mechanism of pocket watches kept in vertical positions. It does not eliminate the Earth's gravity itself. The main focus of a general single-axis design cannot be expanded to guarantee the same accuracy in all orientations.[References][References]

Kenji

Even without it being a hundredfold, I'm starting to understand why I'd want it. It's small, but the work is meticulous.

Appraiser

That's something you could learn from, too. Before you talk about big things, do your small work meticulously.

12. Why Kenji's Credibility Seemed to Float

After Suga left, the two took a short break at the cafe corner. Kenji held a teaspoon with his fingertips and said, "I have overcome gravity." The appraiser instantly spotted the thumb supporting the spoon. It was the shortest verification of the day.

Kenji

No, this is my tourbillon spirit. Averaging out the bias between magic and science...

Appraiser

You're just supporting it with your finger. Don't let your credibility float into the air.

Kenji

Then, if I rotate and eat two cakes one by one, will the calories average out?

Appraiser

They'll average out, but the total won't decrease. The receipt will show two, too.

Kenji stopped spinning the plate and took only one cake. The watch cage continued to rotate quietly. Gravity and the amount he ate remained exactly the same. But having verified the comparison premises one by one, their judgment felt lighter.

Technical and Production Notes

The characters, TB-41, Zero-Base, advertisements, measurement records, and numerical values in this work are fictional. They do not demonstrate fraud or performance of real watch manufacturers, retailers, or products. AI-generated images are live-action style performances and are not recreations of real actors. Macro views of rotating cages and screens of measuring devices are not evidence proving structures or numerical values.

The general objective of a tourbillon is to average out orientation-dependent rate bias, not to guarantee accuracy in all orientations or eliminate gravity. Axes counts, tilts, rotation cycles, and stop functions vary by design. Assessment of measurement suitability and condition requires the actual object and expert confirmation. The measurement conditions in this work are not instructions for readers to operate or adjust specific models.

References | Manufacturer Official Primary Information

• Breguet | The Tourbillon — Refer to the 1801 invention, the challenges of vertical orientation, and the principle of housing the escapement and balance wheel in a rotating cage.
• A. Lange & Söhne | 1815 TOURBILLON — Refer to the explanation of the rotation mechanism and the model's unique combination of stop-second/zero-reset.

The actual products mentioned above are unrelated to the fictional watches and bases in the story.