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Girard-Perregaux, spin doctor
New Models

Girard-Perregaux, spin doctor

Sunday, 01 June 2014
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Christophe Roulet
Editor-in-chief, HH Journal

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4 min read

Following on from the Constant escapement, Girard-Perregaux again demonstrates its mastery of complex constructions with a tri-axial tourbillon. The Neo-Tourbillon with Three Bridges completes the different interpretations of this complication from a Manufacture in the midst of renewal.

September 2011. A date to remember for Girard-Perregaux as this is when the brand became part of French multinational PPR, now Kering. Some two years down the line, while there has been no radical transformation, the brand has clearly shed its puppy fat. Which is an exploit for a Maison established in 1791!

“We haven’t moved from the strategic vision we decided on back in 2011,” comments Chief Executive Michele Sofisti. “The core of which has been on the one hand a refocusing of products and production, and on the other to work on our brand image. This has produced a different style of advertising to the one usually associated with Girard-Perregaux, such as The New Face of Tradition, a campaign centred around our young master watchmakers, or the campaign built around our partnership with the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. So yes, we’ve covered a lot of ground but we’re not home and dry yet. This year we’re focused on making sure these developments are clear to everyone through training at Girard-Perregaux points of sale. Again, this is no mean feat given that over the past seven months we’ve changed half our distribution network.”

Tri-Axial Tourbillon
Winning credibility

Why Michele Sofisti feels confident these were the right choices can be summed up in just a few words. Despite the considerable amounts invested to redress the balance, Girard-Perregaux has stayed in the black since the change of ownership. It can also congratulate itself on “winning credibility at every level,” a statement borne out by the Aiguille d’Or, the top award of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève which the brand won last year for its Constant Escapement L.M. “A distinction such as this trains the spotlight on what the brand does, in the media but also among retailers, which promises great things for the future,” says Sofisti.

This future is already being built, and how! After the Constant Escapement, a watch whose revolutionary escapement is based on the physical principle of buckling, Girard-Perregaux has this year pulled another rabbit from its hat with the presentation of a tri-axial tourbillon. Only a rare few manufacturers possess the mastery this technical tour de force requires. Master watchmakers Thomas Prescher and Vianney Halter each recently unveiled his own interpretation of this ultimate complication, following on from the Frank Muller and Harry Winston brands. Now it’s the turn of Girard-Perregaux to propose its Tri-Axial Tourbillon. “This timepiece is very much customer-oriented,” explained director of product development Stefano Macaluso. “We wanted the tourbillon to be as spectacular as possible with relatively rapid rotations of one minute, thirty seconds and two minutes for the three cages so as to capture the maximum amount of light. We also chose a glass dome to avoid an overly thick case and so that the tourbillon doesn’t have to be positioned too low.” The result brings further proof that, in Michele Sofisti’s words, “Girard-Perregaux knows how to interpret the major watchmaking complications, and this spills over into all our collections.”

Confirming our achievements so far.
Michele Sofisti
Building bridges

This ripple effect should be all the greater as Girard-Perregaux is introducing forty new models this year, thereby “confirming our achievements so far.” They include another surprise revelation: the Neo-Tourbillon with Three Bridges, which gives a distinctly avant-gardist expression to a mechanism patented in 1884. The hallmarks of the Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges are unchanged; however, the morphology of the skeletonised bridges in sandblasted titanium with black PVD coating, the domed sapphire crystal which sits flush with the case middle, itself slimmer at 6 and 12 o’clock, the downward slope of the anthracite sandblasted ruthenium mainplate, and the larger, completely redesigned calibre have catapulted this iconic timepiece into a new realm of mechanical three-dimensionality.

“We wanted to make a watch for younger generations of collectors,” says Stefano Macaluso, “hence why we looked to shapes and volumes which are clearly part of contemporary trends such as streamlining or the work of architect Santiago Calatrava who designed the Valencia Opera House. This gives a more organic, more overtly technical watch with a Bauhaus aesthetic.” As for choosing between the Tri-Axial Tourbillon and the Neo-Tourbillon with Three Bridges, well, good luck with that!

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