Gift Guide - Gloffke

tiMe
Bridging Time
Girard-Perregaux’s Three Bridges timepiece
spans two-centuries of watchmaking.
For years, fine watchmakers have been fascinated by the
tourbillon, a gyroscope-like device intended to counteract
the effect of gravity on the accuracy of a watch because
of its constant movement — up, down, sideways. developed
around 1795 by a French-Swiss watchmaker and conceived
by an Englishman, the tourbillon is so complicated to design,
perfect and manufacture, especially in its tiniest incarnations,
that it has come to represent the pinnacle of the watchmaker’s
craft.
With the Girard-perregaux Three Bridges Tourbillon,
reintroduced for 2010 in a limited edition of 50 pieces
(each priced at $180,000), the fascination of the tourbillon
is perfectly clear. in this current iteration of the Three
Bridges watch, the case is a warm, traditional pink gold, a
noble alloy of white gold and copper, and the proportions
and curves fit perfectly on the wrist. One of the several
innovations of this watch has been to conceptualize the
movement as not merely technical and functional but also
as an aesthetic element in its own right. Most strikingly,
in this model, Girard-perregaux has taken the design to the
next level, replacing the solid bridges of previous models
with bridges that have been rendered open, almost lacy,
by punching out rectangular holes at either end. Framed
by these cutouts, through the watch’s anti-reflective sapphire
crystal, one can perfectly see the chiseled, beveled, and
polished heart of the watch, with its 262 precision-engineered
components, and the fragile tourbillon at its center. an
assemblage of 72 separate tiny pieces nestled into a space no
wider than a centimeter, the tourbillon weighs just 0.3 grams,
about the same as a swan’s feather.
Wearing the Girard-perregaux Tourbillon with Three
Gold Bridges — the tourbillon in constant motion like the
fluttering heartbeat of a bird — you are in the presence
of exquisite human ingenuity and skill. The watch has an
aliveness that makes it such a joy to own and wear that mere
functionality is beside the point.
Girard-Perregaux, +41.32.911.3333,
www.girard-perregaux.com
32 AFFLUENT PAGE LUXURY INDEX | DECEMBER 2010
By Karen Cure
“Girard-Perregaux has taken the design
to the next level, replacing the solid
bridges of previous models with bridges
that have been rendered open, almost
lacy, by punching out rectangular holes
at either end.”
Aaron Basha Boutique • 680 Madison Avenue • New York • 212.935.1960 • www.aaronbasha.com
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