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32-780: The Sowind Group SA is an independent parent company of the Girard-Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin Swiss watch brands. The brands were acquired in 2011 and 2014, respectively. Based in La Chaux-de-Fonds , the Group incorporates the Girard-Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin brands, that develops and produces a complete portfolio of high-end movements (more than 100 variations of existing movements) and collections of top-of-the-range watches. Girard-Perregaux Girard-Perregaux SA ( French: [ʒiʁaʁ pɛʁəɡo] )

64-547: A tourbillion ( / t ʊər ˈ b ɪ l j ən / ) or tourbillon ( / t ʊər b ɪ ˈ j ɒ n / ; French: [tuʁbijɔ̃] " whirlwind ") is an addition to the mechanics of a watch escapement to increase accuracy. Conceived by the British watchmaker and inventor John Arnold , it was developed by his friend the Swiss-French watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet and patented by Breguet on 26 June 1801. In

96-543: A bridge, or cock, at both the top and bottom, the flying tourbillon is cantilevered, being only supported from one side. The first flying tourbillon was designed by Alfred Helwig, instructor at the German School of Watchmaking, in 1920. In 1993, Kiu Tai-Yu, a Chinese watchmaker residing in Hong Kong , created a semi-flying tourbillon with only an abbreviated carriage for the escapement wheel and pallet fork ,

128-485: A few wrist and pocket watches that include the Triple Axis or Tri-Axial Tourbillon escapements. Examples of companies and watchmakers that include this mechanism are Vianney Halter in his "Deep Space" watch, Thomas Prescher, Aaron Becsei, Girard-Perregaux with the "Tri-Axial Tourbillon", Purnell with the "Spherion", and Jaeger LeCoultre with the "Heliotourbillon", released in 2024. Rather than being supported by

160-537: A manufacturing company in Geneva , grouping for the first time ever all the watchmaking facets of that time. This included the engineering of the watch all the way to the final hand-assembly and hand-polishing of each piece. In 1832, Jacques Bautte and Jean-Samuel Rossel succeeded Jean Bautte, becoming the head of the company. In 1852, the watchmaker Constant Girard founded Girard & Cie in La Chaux-de-Fonds , Switzerland. He then married Marie Perregaux in 1854, and

192-649: A modified system after a design by Henri Jeanneret. Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey launched the brand Greubel Forsey in 2004 with the introduction of their Double Tourbillon 30° (DT30). Both men had been working together since 1992 at Renaud & Papi, where they developed complicated watch movements. The Double Tourbillon 30° features one tourbillon carriage rotating once per minute and inclined at 30°, inside another carriage which rotates once every four minutes. In 2005, Greubel Forsey presented their Quadruple Tourbillon à Différentiel (QDT), using two double-tourbillons working independently. A spherical differential connects

224-733: A part of the Swiss Sowind Group . In 1999, the Villa Marguerite, a building in La Chaux-de-Fonds from the beginning of the 20th century, became the Girard-Perregaux Museum. A selection of old watches and documents illustrating the history of the brand was presented there, before its closure. In 2011, Sowind Group , the Swiss holding incorporating Girard-Perregaux, became a subsidiary of

256-497: A rectangular case and a design inspired by an Art Deco style watch dating back to 1945. The Vintage 1945 is powered by the Girard-Perregaux 9600-0019, mechanical self-winding movement, an all in-house movement. In 2012, Girard-Perregaux introduced a new Girard-Perregaux 1966 Full Calendar and a 1966 Chronograph, which has been highlighted as a new grand classic by Girard-Perregaux themselves. This Girard-Perregaux 1966

288-526: A tourbillon will cost a great deal more than an equivalent piece without the feature. The prices of Swiss models typically start at $ 40,000 and the prices of more expensive tourbillon watches can reach six figures. The prices of some Chinese models can range from hundreds of dollars to nearly $ 5000. The Donald Trump -branded "Victory Tourbillion", however, which is made in China with a production run of 147, costs $ 100,000. Modern implementations typically allow

320-453: A tourbillon, the escapement and balance wheel are mounted in a rotating cage, with the goal of eliminating errors of poise in the balance giving a uniform weight. Tourbillons are still included in some modern wristwatches, where the mechanism is usually exposed on the watch's face to showcase it. Patented by Breguet in 1801, the single axis tourbillon minimizes the difference in rate between positions caused by poise errors. The tourbillon

352-474: Is a luxury Swiss watch manufacture with its origins dating back to 1791. In 2022, then-owner French luxury group Kering sold its stake in Sowind Group SA , the parent company of Girard-Perregaux, via management buyout . Headquartered in La Chaux-de-Fonds , Switzerland , the company opened the Girard-Perregaux Museum near its headquarters in Villa Marguerite in 1999. It is best known for

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384-528: Is a slightly larger faced model than previously issued by the watchmaker at 42 mm and may be a sign of the changing demands upon watchmakers by the watch enthusiast community. The Laureato was born in 1975. Its original design featured an integrated bracelet and an octagonal bezel. In the 1980s, the Laureato models mostly featured quartz movements. In 1995, to celebrate the Laureato’s 20th anniversary,

416-435: Is that it turns around two axes, both of which rotate once per minute. The whole tourbillon is powered by a special constant-force mechanism, called a remontoire . Prescher invented the constant-force mechanism to equalize the effects of a wound and unwound mainspring , friction, and gravitation. Thereby even force is always supplied to the oscillation regulating system of the double-axis tourbillon. The device incorporates

448-629: The Girard-Perregaux Manufacture was founded in 1856. In 1906, Constant Girard-Gallet, who took over control of the Manufacture from his father, acquired the Bautte House and merged it with Girard-Perregaux & Cie . Since the quartz crisis , the brand has pursued its activities by reinforcing from the 1980s its position in the domain of high-quality mechanical watches. Since late 1980s, Girard-Perregaux has been

480-522: The Swiss luxury watch industry, are very expensive, and typically retail for tens of thousands of dollars or euros , with much higher prices in the hundreds of thousands of dollars or euros being common. A recent renaissance of interest in tourbillons has been met by the industry with increased availability of time pieces bearing the feature, with the result that prices for basic tourbillon models have reduced somewhat in recent years. Previously such models were very rare, either antique or new. Any watch with

512-543: The United States Patent Office a patent of the design of the movement “ Tourbillon with three gold bridges.” The three bridges were redesigned in the form of arrows and placed parallel to each other. The movement was no longer just a functional and technical element, but it also became an element of design in every way. In 1889, the Tourbillon with three gold bridges was awarded a gold medal at

544-536: The Universal Exposition of Paris . In 1980, Girard-Perregaux decided to make 20 pieces to conform to the original of 1889: 1500 hours of work were necessary to create the first one. To celebrate its bicentenary in 1991, the company created a miniaturized wristwatch version of its famed Tourbillon with three gold Bridges. Since then, it is offered in different versions, and is sometimes associated with other watchmakers’ complications . Vintage 1945 has

576-653: The "open heart", these are sometimes misrepresented by unscrupulous dealers as a tourbillon (and "tourbillon-style" by ethical ones). Several Chinese manufacturers, like Tianjin Seagull , now produce a variety of tourbillon movements. These movements are bought as ébauches by some manufacturers and are sometimes incorporated into watches that meet the requirements of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry to be sold as Swiss Made, which requires 60% of

608-633: The French luxury group Kering . In 2012, Girard-Perregaux launched the Le Corbusier Watch Trilogy, paying a tribute to the famous architect. In 2021, Girard-Perregaux partnered with the luxury car manufacturer Aston Martin . Girard-Perregaux relies on being a manufacturer of movements and watches, and a manufacturer of cases and bands. They bring together some tens of different components: watchmakers, engineers, movement decorators, polishers, etc. This global approach, founded on

640-571: The Manufacture decided to relaunch the model, this time equipped with a calibre GP3100 automatic movement, with three hands and a date. In 2005, a sportier version of the Laureato, named the Evo3, designating the model’s third major evolution, was presented. In 2016, for the 225th Anniversary of the brand, the Laureato collection returned to centre stage thanks to a re-design of its lines, aimed to be as close as possible to its original features: octagonal bezel and fully-integrated bracelet were back. However,

672-441: The accuracy of mechanical watches, even when first introduced, or whether the watches of the day were inherently inaccurate due to design and manufacturing techniques. A tourbillon is a valued feature of collectors' and premium-priced watches, possibly for the same reason that mechanical watches fetch a much higher price than similar quartz watches that are much more accurate. High-quality tourbillon wristwatches, usually made by

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704-546: The balance. Anthony Randall invented the double-axis tourbillon in January 1977 and subsequently patented it. The first working example was later constructed by Richard Good in 1978. In 1980 Anthony Randall made a double-axis tourbillon in a carriage clock, which was located in the (now closed) Time Museum in Rockford, Illinois, US, and was included in their Catalogue of Chronometers . A characteristic of this tourbillon

736-665: The four rotating carriages, distributing torque between two wheels rotating at different speeds. In 2004, Thomas Prescher developed the first triple-axis tourbillon for the Thomas Prescher Haute Horlogerie with constant force in the carriage in a wristwatch. It was presented at Baselworld 2004 in Basel, Switzerland, in a set of three watches including a single-axis, a double-axis and a triple-axis tourbillon. The world's unique tri-axial tourbillon movement for wristwatch, with traditional jewel bearings only,

768-491: The historic Tourbillon with three gold bridges, which was awarded a gold medal at the 1889 International Exposition in Paris soon after the launch of the watch. Other notable models from the company include the collection 1966, Vintage 1945, and models such as Tri-Axial Tourbillon and Laureato, an icon inspired from the 1970s. In 1791, watchmaker and goldsmith Jean-François Bautte signed his first watches. He created

800-507: The movement fitted into the steel case was not a quartz, but a GP3300 movement. Since 2017, new models combining different case materials, such as pink gold, titanium, steel and ceramic, along with blue, black or silver hobnail-pattern ("Clou de Paris") dial have joined the Laureato collection. The latest addition is a sapphire case model, presented in 2020, the Laureato Absolute Light. Tourbillon In horology ,

832-549: The multi-axis tourbillon theme. In general, these have been fairly thick watches (Gyrotourbillon I is 16mm thick) but with the Reverso Tribute Gyrotourbillon, JLC has produced a thinner and much more wearable version of its multi-axis tourbillon. At 51.1mm x 31mm x 12.4mm. In modern mechanical watch designs, production of a highly accurate watch does not require a tourbillon. There is even debate among horologists as to whether tourbillons ever improved

864-417: The tourbillon to be seen through a window in the watch face. In addition to the decorative effect, a tourbillon can act as a second hand for some watches, if the tourbillon rotates exactly once per minute. Some tourbillons rotate faster than this ( Greubel Forsey's 24 second tourbillon for example). Also, many quotidian watches feature their oscillating balance wheel. Sometimes termed, appropriately enough,

896-478: The traditional know-how of the watchmaking craftsmanship, allows them to create and direct high quality watches and movements from the assembly stages all the way to the final encasement. Girard-Perregaux designs, manufactures and develops its own movements: The Manufacture has approximately 80 patents in the watchmaking domain and is the originator of many innovative concepts. It is the emblematic model of Girard-Perregaux. In 1884, Constant Girard submitted to

928-553: The upper pivot of the balance wheel being supported in a sapphire bridge. Jaeger-LeCoultre 's first wristwatch tourbillon was introduced in 1993 (though JLC had produced tourbillons prior to that, including the famous observatory competition caliber 170) and in 2004 the company introduced the Gyrotourbillon I. Gyrotourbillon I is a double-axis tourbillon with a perpetual calendar and equation of time, and since then, Jaeger-LeCoultre has gone on to produce several variations on

960-590: The value to have been made in Switzerland. The availability of less expensive tourbillons has led industry spectators to worry that another quartz crisis may occur, where the Swiss watch industry will not be able to adapt quickly to less expensive complicated mechanical watches produced in other countries. In 2016, TAG Heuer began offering the Carrera Heuer-02T tourbillon at a suggested retail price of 14,900 CHF (~US$ 15,000), significantly lower than

992-483: Was invented by the independent watchmaker Aaron Becsei, from Bexei Watches, in 2007. The Primus wristwatch was presented at the Baselworld 2008 in Basel, Switzerland. In the three axis tourbillon movement, the 3rd (external) cage has a unique form which provides the possibility of using jewel bearings everywhere, instead of ball-bearings. This is a unique solution at this size and level of complication . There are

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1024-439: Was invented to complement the split bi-metallic balance which was inherently difficult to poise. In the most common implementation of this, the tourbillon carriage is carried by the fourth pinion, within a stationary fourth wheel. The escape pinion is engaged with this stationary fourth wheel so when carriage is turned by the fourth pinion the escape wheel will also rotate. The carriage is released and locked with each vibration of

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