Girard Perregaux

Four Tourbillons, Ten Bridges

 

What’s better than a Girard Perregaux Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges? Two Girard Perregaux Tourbillons with Three Gold Bridges, of course! And better than that? Well, it’s two GP Tourbillons with Three Gold Bridges and a GP Laureato Tourbillon with Three Sapphire (surprise!) Bridges. The cherry on top of this horogolical delectation is, naturally, a 1966 Tourbillon 220th Anniversary  with one gold bridge!

The tourbillon with three bridges is arguably the most iconic tourbillon design of all time, and though conceived for the pocket watches that Constant Girard made in the late 19th Century it has adapted well to the wristwatch form, and been a cornerstone of Girard Perregaux’s collection for over twenty years. The proportions of the basic design, which puts the mainspring, center wheel, and tourbillon carriage in a straight line down the 12-6 axis of the watch, is undeniable beautiful and well suited to showing off the extraordinarily fine finishing of which the watchmakers at Girard Perregaux are capable.

Girard Perregaux has taken two different historical designs for the bridges that Constant Girard employed in his watches for use in current models. The more famous of the two methods is the “Arrow” bridge, as seen in this historic model:

While there are also models that feature a less ornate “Straight” design (though there is a mix of the two styles of bridges in this example below):


I have had the opportunity to photograph four models from Girard Perregaux’s current catalog and of course I want to share them here. With my preference for round watches, I think my favorite is the limited edition (50 pieces) rose gold Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges, with skeletonized straight bridges:


The size is perfect at 41 mm, and the slight elongation of the middle bridge relative to the other two is an attractive trait. The anglage, with tough to finish interior angles inside the bridge, is brilliantly executed. The dauphine hand are bold against this backdrop of the movement, and make for easy reading of the time.


The GP calibre 9600 is self-winding, and uses a micro-rotor coaxial with the barrel.

The rose gold Vintage 1945 Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges, also a limited edition (50 pieces) with straight bridge design, is 35 mm from side to side, and has ta similar wrist presence as the round watch above.


A sporty take is the Laureato Tourbillon with Three Sapphire Bridges.


The titanium case is 42 mm in diameter and bezel is made from platinum. The model photographed has the clear sapphire crystals, different from the newer, Spinel bridges model which was recently featured on this forum.

One feature of the Laureato model that I really like is that the ratchet wheel is slightly skeletonized, allowing for an excellent view of the rotor;



The last GP tourbillon I got a chance to play with was the 1966 Tourbillon 220th Anniversary, also a limited edition of 50 pieces, which achieves a more classic look while still allowing a view of the tourbillon carriage and its arrow style bridge.






Bill