Building Bridges: Girard-Perregaux Rediscovers Its Voice with the New Minute Repeater Flying Bridges
Who is Girard-Perregaux in the 21st century? The brand is looking to reinvent itself with this 19th-century complication.
By Rhonda Riche
Editor-At-Large
Normally, we love a deep dive into history. And the new Girard-Perregaux Minute Repeater Flying Bridges certainly warrants a scholarly examination of the brand’s heritage and the evolution of this chiming complication. But today we’re more interested in Girard-Perregaux’s future.
This take on this new watch is partially fueled by actor Timothée Chalamet’s remarks on opera and ballet. “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera, or, you know, things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive,’” he said during a town hall on CNN.
We’ll argue that ballet and opera have had an outsized influence on mainstream culture, but we agree with Chalamet that they are seen as snobby and niche. But by the same math, haute horology can feel equally antiquated.
What’s neat about Girard-Perregaux’s super complications is that it’s not trying to recreate the past but rather make historically important achievements relevant in our modern times. And that brings us to the brand’s newly launched Minute Repeater Flying Bridges timepiece.
Sign of the Times
Here’s the innovation part: The Minute Repeater Flying Bridges houses the GP9530 – the third calibre new that Girard-Perregaux has released in less than six months. This 475-part openworked mechanism combines a minute repeater, a tourbillon, and a new self-winding system designed, developed, and assembled entirely in-house.
Of course, haute horology is more than the sum of its parts. The assembly and decoration require nearly 440 hours of work. Symmetry is Girard-Perregaux’s signature, starting with the three stylized bridges’ architecture. But this machine is also a marriage, a combination of a tourbillon, a minute repeater, and a new self-winding micro rotor system.
To visually harmonize all these elements, no fewer than 1,340 hand chamfers (including 295 interior angles) create delightful reflections that add to the impression that the calibre is almost floating in its 44mm rose gold case.
Good Chimes
In its press materials, the brand talks about the aesthetics of watchmaking as “a cohesive whole within which form and function are inseparable.”
The look of the Minute Repeater Flying Bridges certainly optimizes its framework, achieving a thickness of 10.75mm – a comfortable height for a tourbillon. But many other design choices were made to enhance the minute repeater’s sound.
Dome sapphire crystals on the front and back of the case amplify the melodies produced by tiny hammers that strike the gongs on the dial side. To further amplify the clear tones, the gong studs and the gongs are made from a single piece of metal. The airy, open work mechanism also allows sound to resonate throughout, while a titanium plate and bridges help amplify the clear tones without producing unnecessary reverberations.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, it’s a watch meant for niche collectors, but its space-opera aesthetic and balletic movement make it relevant to all enthusiasts. And that’s why it speaks to the future of haute horology.
For more information, including pricing and availability, check out the Girard-Perregaux website.