Girard Perigo Three Flying Bridge Tourbillon

Celebrating its 230th anniversary this year, Girard-Perregaux, a Swiss manufacturer of La Chaux-de-Fonds, unveiled its next-generation Tourbillon with Three Flying Bridges at Geneva Watch Days (GWD 2021). Inheriting the Maison’s iconic Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges, which was first presented at the Paris World’s Fair in 1867 and patented in 1884, the latest work is reinterpreted in a more modern way in consideration of the tastes of watch lovers in the 21st century. Let’s see.

The Three Flying Bridge Tourbillon, which debuted through the Bridge Collection last year, is, as the name suggests, characterized by its unique lightness as if three openwork bridges are floating on the movement. Because it is a new type of bridge design, when it was first launched in 2014, it was named Neo Bridges. A titanium bridge with a black PVD coating was mainly used, which was different from the existing gold bridge design in terms of material.
However, the three-flying bridge tourbillon unveiled this time uses gold material for the three bridges exposed through the front (dial) and titanium material for the three bridges exposed through the rear (case back), sandblasted and finished with black PVD coating. It shows a different aspect from the previous Neo Bridge concept. To put it simply, is it a hybrid of the original three-gold bridge and the neo-bridge concept?
The rose gold case measures 44mm in diameter and 15.52mm in thickness and is water resistant to 30m. A thick box-shaped sapphire crystal is used on the front and back of the case to show the movement with an architectural structure that is a modern reinterpretation of the La Esmeralda movement of the late 19th century. And you can see that the case design is slightly different from previous bridge products.
In particular, looking at the inside of the dial, which meets the bezel, it looks like it is supported by sapphire crystal glass with beveled gold decorations reminiscent of the Colosseum, a Roman amphitheater. The gold decoration also serves as an hour marker (index), so it resembles that of its predecessor, Free Bridges. Unlike the Free Bridge, which occupied a relatively wide area on the flange of the dial, the Flying Bridge attaches the flange area to the arched case edge to add a sense of openness to the dial, while also attaching the gold decoration from the top to the bottom in a three-dimensional manner. I see a difference. A closer look at the case and movement structure reveals that more attention to detail has been paid to complete a replica watches that matches the look of the brand’s top-of-the-line collection.
The movement is equipped with an in-house automatic tourbillon caliber GP09400-1273 (frequency of 3 Hz, power reserve of approximately 60 hours). Befitting the flying bridge concept, the movement is composed only of layered openwork bridges that seem to have no main plate, decisively differentiating it from other high-end manufacturers’ skeleton movements. Of the movement, which consists of a total of 260 parts and 27 jewels, 79 parts related to the tourbillon cage are made of titanium and weigh only 0.25 grams. The lighter the tourbillon cage, the less it interferes with the rotational motion of the cage, which rotates once per minute, and can move with less torque. Inside the tourbillon cage located at 6 o’clock on the dial, you can see the flow of the second hand with a small blue second hand. And while at first glance it looks like a manual tourbillon caliber, the white gold micro-rotor is placed right behind the barrel, which allows self-winding without compromising the flying bridge design as much as possible.
For reference, the strap is said to be presented with a black crocodile leather strap that reproduces the unique texture and durability of rubber, and another black crocodile leather replaceable strap with a gold effect (a luxurious kind of coating). The buckle is equipped with a folding clasp made of the same rose gold material as the case.
The new Three Flying Bridge Tourbillon (Ref. 99296-52-001-BA64) is not a limited edition, but due to the nature of the product, it will be produced and released in very small quantities. The official retail price is 138,300 Swiss Francs (CHF), which is about 180 million won in Korean Won. Whether it will be released in Korea or the exact consumer price is yet to be determined.