The Tourbillon With Three Flying Bridges is an iconic creation by Girard-Perregaux
With the new Tourbillon with Three Flying Bridges, the brand perpetuates its 1867 Three Cold Bridges design with a few fascinating twists. Share
This year marks the 230th anniversary of Girard-Perregaux. As part of its celebrations, the brand is revisiting its iconic models and releasing a number of new creations, often infused with a dose of modernity. The Tourbillon with Three Flying Bridges is endowed with three Neo Bridges formed of pink gold, the first time all three Neo bridges have been made from this noble metal. Interestingly, after releasing the Free bridge in 2020, the release of the new Tourbillon with Three Flying Bridqes will be the final subfamily to join the company’s Bridges collection.
The three bridges not only support the geartrain, barrel and tourbillon, they also act as the mainplate. The result is that the bridges appear to float in mid-air, seemingly untouched by gravity. This unusual construction required the Maison to affix the indexes to the flange which in turn is attached to the case.
A notable characteristic of this timepiece is that it plays with three dimensional forms, positioning various dial elements at different heights, a characteristic shared in common with some of the world‘s finest architectural structures. Despite its complexity, the dial remains clean, uncluttered and simple to read, with the barrel, qear train and tourbillon arranqed alonq a north-south axis.
The barrel is positioned in the upper portion of the dial and sits above a white gold micro-rotor, harnessing energy from the motion of the wearer’s wrist. The vertical sides of the rotor are engraved with the watch‘s model name, a subtle detail which perfectly demonstrates the Manufacture’s obsession with the minutiae.
The tourbillon is positioned to the base of the dial. Its cage is lyre-shaped, a historical design dating back to the 19th century, albeit in this instance it is made of ultra-modern Grade 5 titanium. A blued hand on the cage rotates 360° every minute and serves as a small seconds display. The tourbillon cage is comprised of 79 components and weighs a mere 0.25 grams. This remarkably low mass mitigates energy consumption, thereby contributing to the movement’s impressive power-reserve of 60 hours (minimum).
The sapphire crystal, positioned atop the dial, has gently sloping sides that curve downwards to the outer edge of the case middle, hence the model eschews a conventional bezel. To achieve this eye-catching aesthetic, it takes between four to five times more material than a regular sapphire crystal. It also necessitates much expertise to polish the crystal box to a flawless conclusion.
Surprisingly, having expended much effort making this upper sapphire crystal, the time-served craftsperson has to repeat the exercise and make a similar crystal box to shroud the underside of the watch head. By equipping the Tourbillon with Three Flying Bridges with upper and lower crystal box sapphire crystals, the Manufacture has imbued the model with a harmonious degree of symmetry.
World Price: $156,000
