Girard-Perregaux
Encyclopedia
Girard-Perregaux is a high-end Swiss watch
manufacture
with its origins dating back to 1791. It is situated in La Chaux-de-Fonds
, Switzerland
and is a part of the Sowind group
, a subsidiary of PPR
.
signed his first watches. He created a manufacturing company in Geneva
grouping, for the first time ever, all the watch making facets of that time, which meant starting from the engineering of the watch all the way to the final hand assembly and hand polishing of each watch. In 1852, the watchmaker Constant Girard
founded the Girard & Cie Firm in La Chaux-de-Fonds. He, then, married Marie Perregaux and the Girard-Perregaux Manufacture was born in 1856. In 1906, Constant Girard-Gallet, who took over control of the Manufacturer from his father, took over the Bautte House and merged it with Girard-Perregaux & Cie. Since then, the brand has pursued its activities by reinforcing from the 1980s its position in the domain of prestigious mechanical watches, Haute Horlogerie, under the lead of the Macaluso family.
In 2011, Sowind Group
, the holding encorporating Girard-Perregaux, became a subsidiary of PPR
.
The Manufacture has approximately 80 patents in the watch-making domain and is the originator of many innovative concepts.
The Girard-Perregaux Manufacture designs and develops its own movements:
a patent of the design of the movement “Tourbillon with three gold bridges.” The three bridges, now the mobiles of the movement, were redesigned in the form of arrows and placed parallel to each other. The movement was no longer just a functional and technical element, but it also became an element of design in every way. In 1889, the Tourbillon with three gold bridges was awarded a gold medal at the Universal Exposition of Paris
. In 1980, Girard-Perregaux decided to make 20 pieces to conform to the original of 1889: 1500 hours of work were necessary to create the first one. Since then, the Tourbillon with three gold bridges is offered in different versions, and is sometimes associated with other watchmakers’ complications.
style watch dating back to 1945), ww.tc (standing for worldwide time-control, this collection displays the 24 time zones on the dial), Girard-Perregaux 1966, Laureato Evo³, and the Cat’s Eye (from the feminine line).
ArmbandUhren, Special Girard-Perregaux, Peter Braun, 2007, ISBN 978-3-89880-808-8
Watch
A watch is a small timepiece, typically worn either on the wrist or attached on a chain and carried in a pocket, with wristwatches being the most common type of watch used today. They evolved in the 17th century from spring powered clocks, which appeared in the 15th century. The first watches were...
manufacture
Manufacture d'horlogerie
Manufacture d'horlogerie is a French horological term of art that is also used in English. In horology, the term is usually encountered in its abbreviated form manufacture. This term of art is used when describing either a wrist watch movement/watchworks fabricator or its products...
with its origins dating back to 1791. It is situated in La Chaux-de-Fonds
La Chaux-de-Fonds
La Chaux-de-Fonds is a Swiss city of the district of La Chaux-de-Fonds in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometres from the French border. After Geneva and Lausanne, it is the third largest city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and is a part of the Sowind group
Sowind group
The Sowind Group is a Swiss « Haute Horlogerie » company founded by Luigi Macaluso and headed by François-Henri Pinaultas its Chairman since July 2011...
, a subsidiary of PPR
PPR (company)
PPR is a French multinational holding company specializing in retail shops and luxury brands. The company was founded in 1963 by the businessman François Pinault and is now run by his son François-Henri Pinault. It is quoted on Euronext Paris and is a constituent of the CAC 40 index...
.
History
In 1791, watchmaker and goldsmith Jean-François BautteJean-François Bautte
Jean-François Bautte was a Swiss watchmaker and jeweller famous for several reasons: he founded the most complete watch manufacture of his time in Geneva. He also created watches and jewellery for famous people and was one of the inventors of the extra-thin watch.-Life:Jean-François Bautte came...
signed his first watches. He created a manufacturing company in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
grouping, for the first time ever, all the watch making facets of that time, which meant starting from the engineering of the watch all the way to the final hand assembly and hand polishing of each watch. In 1852, the watchmaker Constant Girard
Constant Girard
Constant Girard was a Swiss watchmaker from the 19th century, who marked his time by his developments in the escapement systems, in particular that of the tourbillon...
founded the Girard & Cie Firm in La Chaux-de-Fonds. He, then, married Marie Perregaux and the Girard-Perregaux Manufacture was born in 1856. In 1906, Constant Girard-Gallet, who took over control of the Manufacturer from his father, took over the Bautte House and merged it with Girard-Perregaux & Cie. Since then, the brand has pursued its activities by reinforcing from the 1980s its position in the domain of prestigious mechanical watches, Haute Horlogerie, under the lead of the Macaluso family.
In 2011, Sowind Group
Sowind group
The Sowind Group is a Swiss « Haute Horlogerie » company founded by Luigi Macaluso and headed by François-Henri Pinaultas its Chairman since July 2011...
, the holding encorporating Girard-Perregaux, became a subsidiary of PPR
PPR (company)
PPR is a French multinational holding company specializing in retail shops and luxury brands. The company was founded in 1963 by the businessman François Pinault and is now run by his son François-Henri Pinault. It is quoted on Euronext Paris and is a constituent of the CAC 40 index...
.
The Manufacture has approximately 80 patents in the watch-making domain and is the originator of many innovative concepts.
- 1880: Constant Girard produced the first ever major commercial production of a wristwatch, made for German naval officers and ordered by German Kaiser Wilhelm IWilliam I, German EmperorWilliam I, also known as Wilhelm I , of the House of Hohenzollern was the King of Prussia and the first German Emperor .Under the leadership of William and his Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, Prussia achieved the unification of Germany and the...
for his German naval officers. Two-thousand such watches were ordered and produced, which represents the first important commercialization of wristwatches.
- 1965: Girard-Perregaux designed the first mechanic movement at high frequency, at which the balancer beats at 36,000 vibrations/hour: the Gyromatic HF.
- 1967: Girard-Perregaux receives the Centenary Award from the Astronomical Observatory de NeuchatelNeuchâtel ObservatoryThe Observatoire Cantonal de Neuchâtel is an astronomical observatory funded by the Public Economy Department of the Neuchâtel State . It is located in Neuchâtel and was founded in 1858. Besides astronomical observations, the Neuchâtel observatory also works with atomic clocks...
in recognition of the accomplishments of the Manufacture generally, and specifically for the Observatory Chronometer wristwatch that used the Gyromatic HF movement
- 1970: Girard-Perregaux presents its first wristwatch to the world to be equipped with a quartzQuartzQuartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
movement and the following year a second one which vibrates at 32,768 hertz, the frequency remaining the universal standard for quartz watches today.
- 2008: The brand presents a constant force escapement at SIHH (International Show of High-End Watch making), distinguishing itself from all the other known escapements to this day.
Manufacture
Girard-Perregaux relies on being a manufacturer of movements and watches and a manufacturer of cases and bands. They bring together some tens of different components: watchmakers, engineers, movement decorators, polishers, etc. This global approach, founded on the traditional know-how of the watch-making craftsmanship, allows them to create and direct the high-quality watches and movements from the assembly stages all the way to the final encasement.The Girard-Perregaux Manufacture designs and develops its own movements:
- a large collection of high-end watch making movements, of which the TourbillonTourbillonIn horology, a tourbillon is an addition to the mechanics of a watch escapement. Developed around 1795 by the French-Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet from an earlier idea by the English chronometer maker John Arnold a tourbillon aims to counter the effects of gravity by mounting the...
with three gold bridges is the emblematic piece. - a complete range of mechanical movements at automatic reassembly (GP2700, GP3200, GP3300, GP4500), that can fit all the types of watches, all by serving as the base for the module constructions of complicated mechanisms.
- Quartz movements
Tourbillon with three gold bridges
It’s the emblematic model of Girard-Perregaux. In 1884, Constant Girard submitted to the United States Patent OfficeUnited States Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that issues patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification.The USPTO is based in Alexandria, Virginia,...
a patent of the design of the movement “Tourbillon with three gold bridges.” The three bridges, now the mobiles of the movement, were redesigned in the form of arrows and placed parallel to each other. The movement was no longer just a functional and technical element, but it also became an element of design in every way. In 1889, the Tourbillon with three gold bridges was awarded a gold medal at the Universal Exposition of Paris
Exposition Universelle (1900)
The Exposition Universelle of 1900 was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from April 15 to November 12, 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next...
. In 1980, Girard-Perregaux decided to make 20 pieces to conform to the original of 1889: 1500 hours of work were necessary to create the first one. Since then, the Tourbillon with three gold bridges is offered in different versions, and is sometimes associated with other watchmakers’ complications.
Main models
Out of the high-end watch collection, the most well known watches of Girard-Perregaux are: Vintage 1945 (with a rectangular case and a design inspired by an Art DecoArt Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
style watch dating back to 1945), ww.tc (standing for worldwide time-control, this collection displays the 24 time zones on the dial), Girard-Perregaux 1966, Laureato Evo³, and the Cat’s Eye (from the feminine line).
Girard-Perregaux Museum
Since 1999, the Villa Marguerite, a building in La Chaux-de-Fonds from the beginning of the 20th century, has housed the Girard-Perregaux Museum. A selection of old watches and documents illustrating the history of the brand is presented there.External links
- Girard-Perregaux website
- All the informations about Girard Perregaux
- Website of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie
Sources
François Chaille, Girard-Perregaux, Editions Flammarion, 2004, ISBN 2-0801-1069-1ArmbandUhren, Special Girard-Perregaux, Peter Braun, 2007, ISBN 978-3-89880-808-8