Dubai Watch Week: Girard-Perregaux Icons Collide in the New Laureato Three Gold Bridges

Now, to be fair, this isn’t the first time the Laureato has taken on the “three parallel bridges” concept before. Most notably, a more futuristic (for the time) mash-up was offered in just 10 editions in 2012 as the Laureate Tourbillon with Three Spinel Bridges.
 

This new version, however, boldly brings the word “Gold” (as in “white gold”) back into the mix. More importantly, it’s a better example of how combining heritage movement technology with more contemporary case aesthetics can work perfectly together.

Back in 1867, watchmaker Constant Girard was determined to disrupt the world of movement design. Not content with the idea of a beautiful movement living behind the curtain of a dial, he sketched out the legendary trio of arrow-shaped bridges of the Three Bridges design, with the intention that they would become a visual focal point for the entire watch.
 

Certainly, skeletonized watches of the era already revealed a peek behind the curtain, but skeletonization back then was only achieved by adapting existing movement. However, from its inception, the Three Bridges concept was designed to be visible to the wearer from the dial side. This was the birth of architectural watchmaking (i.e., a design philosophy that holds that the structure of a movement itself becomes art).
 

Rather than lay back on the vast legacy of the brand’s many Three Bridges executions, the automatic GP09620 movement inside the new Laureato Three Gold Bridges was designed to be a wholly original construction. A prime example of this is that the GP09620 actually features six openworked bridges.
 

With three bridges in the back and three in the front, it is the trio of bridges on the dial side that were masterfully crafted from gleaming white gold for visibility (you can spot the three reverse-side bridges via the exhibition caseback).
 

Stacked in a lovely row, all along a single vertical axis, the top bridge anchors the movement’s barrel and a platinum micro-rotor (which together provide 55 hours of power reserve). Meanwhile, the middle bridge secures the watch’s gear train. And, lastly, the lower bridge stabilizes the spinning titanium tourbillon (which also includes an ingenious small seconds indicator).
 

Baton-shaped lumed hands and a suspended minimalist hour-and-minute track along the inner case provide a time-telling clarity that manages not to interfere with the dial-side beauty of the movement one whit. And by beauty, we mean “finished” beauty, too.

For example, the movement’s 418 bevels are hand-finished, and each movement bears a small white gold plate integrated into the tourbillon bridge that bears the initials of the master watchmaker who assembled and finished it.

The strong design codes of the Laureato case and bracelet remain largely intact and decidedly up to the challenge of framing something as inspiring, intricate, and visually dramatic as this Three Gold Bridges movement. However, a few subtle modifications only serve to enhance the watch’s reverent presentation.
 

The 41mm steel case now carries a gleaming white-gold bezel with a new (and appropriately light-catching) polished bevel. Additionally, the steel “GP” engraved crown is now presented in a full octagonal shape with gem-like final touches that echo the bezel’s finishing and geometry.