Girard-Perregaux, celebrating 225 years of watchmaking art

Throughout its 225-year history, Girard-Perregaux has always challenged the limits of watchmaking, while honoring the teachings of watchmaking tradition with a high degree of sophistication in the finishing of its timepieces.

“This year we are celebrating a formidable heritage of inestimable value and, above all, paying tribute to crafts that have been the foundation of our Manufacture since 1791,” says Antonio Calce, CEO of Girard-Perregaux.

The watchmaking activities of Girard-Perregaux, Swiss Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie, date back to 1791. A rare feat, Girard-Perregaux brings together all the skills required to create a watch, from the design of a caliber to the final finishing touches. Today, its timepieces benefit from the expertise of over two centuries of research and development.

Among the elite of Swiss Haute Horlogerie, Girard-Perregaux is one of the great houses that mark watchmaking history with their legendary creations. To celebrate its 225th anniversary, the Manufacture is highlighting its creative marvels and reviving its iconic timepieces.
As a tribute to its rich heritage, Girard-Perregaux presents the sublime Haute Horlogerie La Esmeralda Tourbillon, a reference to its 19th-century pocket watch. Girard-Perregaux also introduces the 1957 model, which takes up the aesthetic codes of the Gyromatic watch of the 1950s, which made its mark with a movement that simplified the winding mechanism of automatic watches. A new version of the famous Laureato, launched in 1975, makes its debut with a revitalized aesthetic that respects the codes that made it famous. The 1966 collection blows out its fiftieth candle with a special anniversary edition to recall the House’s chronometric prowess. In this context where the product is the star of the celebration, an exceptional concept of 225 unique pieces with a dial retracing 225 years of history is born.
To welcome this precious history, Girard-Perregaux will soon unveil its Museum in a new setting at the villa on Rue du Progrès 129, one of La Chaux-de-Fonds’ major historic buildings. In the early stages of the celebration, a traveling museum, inaugurated in Japan in December 2015, provided an opportunity to appreciate this remarkable heritage and to announce the Museum’s journey to several cities around the world very soon.

The origins of the Manufacture

At the end of the 18th century, a brilliant watchmaker and jeweler from Geneva, Jean-François Bautte, signed his first watches. He and his craftsmen produced watches and automata, as well as jewelry and music boxes… His expertise and attention to detail are reflected in the genesis of the Girard-Perregaux Manufacture, renowned for its high level of finishing sophistication. Jean-François Bautte excelled in “shaped watches”: watches in the shape of miniature musical instruments, insects and even a watch in the shape of a perfume-spraying pistol. He was also one of the first manufacturers of extra-flat watches, which he made one of his specialties.
A pioneer, he had branches in Paris and Florence. He also traded with Turkey, India and China.
Recognized for his high quality creations, he quickly gained international renown. The Bautte name appears in the writings of Alexandre Dumas, Balzac, in his “Lettres à l’étrangère”, and John Ruskin. Jean-François Bautte counted among his customers some of the world’s greatest names, such as the Duchesse de Clermont-Tonnerre and Queen Victoria.
Girard-Perregaux’s origins date back to this symbolic year: 1791. The brand name was born in 1856, following the union of Constant Girard with Marie Perregaux. At the same time, Marie’s brother François Perregaux was a pioneer of Swiss watchmaking in Japan. In 1867, at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, Constant Girard Perregaux presented a pocket watch with a tourbillon under three bridges. Twenty-two years later, he revealed the culmination of this concept: the Tourbillon sous trois Ponts d’Or, christened the Esmeralda. This masterpiece was awarded a gold medal at the Paris Universal Exhibition, and became an icon for the Brand.

Complete mastery

The Girard-Perregaux Manufacture brings together under one roof all the expertise required to produce a watch. Engineers, master watchmakers and polishers all work together. Thanks to their meticulous attention to detail, the perfectly harmonious and accomplished timepieces amaze connoisseurs of fine watchmaking. This combination of professions, some of which have become rare, allows Girard-Perregaux great freedom of invention. To date, Girard-Perregaux holds over 80 patents.

Innovation and technical prowess

At the end of the 1950s, Girard-Perregaux wisely invested in a dedicated research and development department, an uncommon move among watchmakers at the time. In 1965, this enabled Girard-Perregaux to introduce the Gyromatic HF, the first high-frequency movement with 36,000 vibrations per hour. A year later, the Prix du Centenaire de l’Observatoire de Neuchâtel recognized the precision of Girard-Perregaux’s high-frequency chronometers.

New decade, new challenges! In the 1970s, Girard-Perregaux quickly grasped the importance of quartz as a precision factor. The Manufacture launched the first series production of quartz watches. The frequency of 32,768 Hertz established in its calibers still represents a universal standard today.

In 2008, Girard-Perregaux unveiled a revolutionary innovation, the Échappement Constant, a movement with a constant-force escapement. Its novel design is based on a blade thinner than a hair, made of silicon, a material with exceptional properties. A few years later, the Échappement Constant L.M. won the Aiguille d’Or at the Grand Prix de Horlogerie de Genève. In 2015, this prestigious competition awarded Girard-Perregaux another distinction, with the Prix de la Montre à Sonnerie for the Répétition Minutes Tourbillon Ponts d’Or.

Watchmaking tributes

Girard-Perregaux marks its 225-year history with exclusive timepieces. Anniversary versions interpret the Manufacture’s watchmaking milestones, like the Laureato from the 1970s, the Gyromatic HF from 1966, or the legendary Esmeralda from 1889, adapted this time to be worn on the wrist.

At Baselworld, the Manufacture will unveil the Girard-Perregaux Place Girardet. This exceptional series of 225 unique watches celebrates the history of the Brand and its emblematic golden bridge. On each of the dials, an engraved gold plate mentions a year between 1791 and 2016, also evoked by a phrase highlighting a significant historical event. The series offers multiple combinations, with different styles of indexes and dial decorations. A specially developed self-winding mechanical movement is housed in a rose gold case.

Renaissance of the Girard-Perregaux Museum

To mark this anniversary, the Girard-Perregaux Museum is reborn in the villa on Rue du Progrès 129, nicknamed “Le Château”. Léon Boillot, a renowned architect from La Chaux-de-Fonds, built the building in 1908 along so-called “feudal” and “Swiss Renaissance” lines. At this prestigious address, the Museum will offer an immersion in Girard-Perregaux’s heritage and its historic timepieces.

Girard-Perregaux unveils its Travelling Museum based on this rich heritage. Presented in its Japanese form in Yokohama, this exhibition entitled “François Perregaux, pioneer of Swiss watchmaking in Japan” unveils numerous objects and watch creations testifying to the relationship linking Girard-Perregaux to the land of the Rising Sun. This travelling museum is designed to travel, adapting to the Brand’s history in the countries it visits.

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