All great headline-grabbing, show-stopping masterpieces take a great deal of time and effort to develop, and Girard-Perregaux is in this class of innovative watchmakers, thanks to pieces like the Constant Escapement L.M. and the Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges.
Let us turn spotlight on a 2014 novelty before the frenzy of this year’s Baselworld descends upon us: the Girard-Perregaux Tri-Axial Tourbillon – now available in white gold, in addition to the rose gold original. In case you’ve forgotten, this remarkable ticker features a tourbillon with three independent axes of rotation, with the entire thing suspended inside a bubble that protrudes from the sapphire crystal surface.
It’s a beast of a tourbillon that’s made from 140 components. Its centre is a traditional one-minute tourbillon that beats at 3Hz, which is then mounted on a 30-second cage. These two cages are then finally rotated on a third axis which completes its rotation every two minutes.
Since the tourbillon is clearly the highlight of this piece, you can also admire it from the side through a sapphire window in the case. But don’t forget to take in the meticulous finishing found at the back of the watch, too. The transparent case back allows a full view of the GP09300 calibre, which has been generously polished, brushed, circular grained, hand-chamfered and mirror-polished. The white gold version is a 10-piece limited edition.