GIRARD-PERREGAUX – BRIDGES “Quasar” Neo-Tourbillon Sapphire - 2019
The Swiss watch Manufacture has chosen a U.S. venue, Miami Watches & Wonders 2019 to present this exceptional timepiece for the very first time.The intricate inner workings the new Neo-Tourbillon with Three bridges movement are fully revealed through a case entirely made of sapphire crystal – a first for Girard-Perregaux.
The architecture is literally bursting with brightness.
Thus revealed, the tourbillon with a contemporary spirit enters the light spectrum.
Like its well-chosen name… A quasar is an ultra-luminous region at the centre of a galaxy accreting around a black hole. A strange pairing of light and darkness that Quasar expresses through the Girard-Perregaux art of watchmaking
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
Thus revealed, the tourbillon with a contemporary spirit enters the light spectrum.
Like its well-chosen name… A quasar is an ultra-luminous region at the centre of a galaxy accreting around a black hole. A strange pairing of light and darkness that Quasar expresses through the Girard-Perregaux art of watchmaking
2019: Girard-Perregaux, aesthete of the invisible, explores the Cosmos, the essence of time. The Swiss watch Manufacture is introducing a new universe, innovative materials and unexpected complications within its fundamental collections united under a single theme: “Earth to Sky”.
Just one year ago, Girard-Perregaux introduced the Neo-Tourbillon with Three Bridges Skeleton.
Today, at Miami Watches & Wonders, Girard-Perregaux is unveiling Quasar, a timepiece revealing a new dimension of this iconic movement.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
Based on the “Earth to Sky” theme, this complication model is named after the most brilliant of astronomical entities, the quasar. Thus illuminated, this tourbillon with its contemporary spirit enters the light spectrum with a case entirely made of transparent sapphire crystal.
Through these crystalline walls, Calibre GP9400-1035 reveals its openworked construction much like a star viewed with a telescope. This Haute Horlogerie movement draws the eye like a black hole and explodes with light, illuminating the gap between its components. Devoid of any opacity, Quasar allows photons to play freely across its matt surfaces and taut curves.
Quasar embodies a natural application of the four principles governing the Girard-Perregaux universe.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
The first is the 1884 patent for three gold bridges visible on the dial side, the unique signature of the Maison. The second is the skeleton work hand-finished in the workshops of La Chaux-de-Fonds. The third is the 2015 birth of the Neo-Tourbillon with Three Bridges. The latter were neither straight nor made of gold, but instead arched, skeletonised and black. The fourth is the use of sapphire serving a function that is more technical than that of mere watch glasses. With the Laureato with Three Sapphire Bridges presented in 2007, crystal corundum had found its place in the very structure of a Fine Watchmaking calibre. These four vectors converge to create Quasar.
Fusion of matter and light
The 45 mm diameter Quasar case is entirely made of sapphire crystal. A chimney-style glass covers the movement bridges like a telluric dome. Its all-of-a-piece caseband features curving sides and angular lugs.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
At nearly 3,000 degrees Kelvin, fundamental particles merge under the effect of an incandescent flow of oxygen and dihydrogen. It is from this process that sapphire crystal emerges. It is then cut, machined, drilled, domed and polished using tools made from the hardest material in the universe: diamond.
Weightless core
Calibre GP9400-1035 is a modified version of Calibre 9400, from which the mainplate has been removed. Almost as if this had created a vacuum, the movement finds itself in an almost weightless state. Only physically essential anchoring points remain, as if providing a demonstration of aerial technique.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
The bridges visually contribute to Quasar's overall transparency effect. They are made of titanium, sandblasted and then blackened by a PVD treatment. Their shape is so complex in all three dimensions, composed of interior angles, arches, returns and overhangs, that machining them represents a true watchmaking feat.
Horological astrophysics
According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, a quasar is an astronomical object of very high luminosity found in the centres of certain galaxies. powered by gas spiralling at high velocity into an extremely large black hole. A strange paradox composed of light and shade, it reflects the nature of the Girard-Perregaux Quasar.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
Combining the radiance pouring through the sapphire with the shadowy depths of its movement, it lives on the contrast that is the very essence of the universe. This watch shines like a star on the wrist, as complex as an equation and hotter than a galactic sun.
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TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Model: Quasar – W&W
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
Reference: 99295-43-000-BA6A
Movement
Reference: GP09400-1035
Winding: Automatic
Functions: Tourbillon, hours, minutes, small seconds on the tourbillon
Power reserve: min. 60 hours
Number of components: 260, of which 27 jewels
Frequency: 21,600 Vib/h – (3 Hz)
Diameter: 36.00 mm (16’’’)
Thickness: 9.54 mm
Tourbillon
Tourbillon carriage composed of 80 components weighing only 0.250 grams
Case
Material: sapphire glass
Diameter: 45 mm
Height: 15.25 mm
Glass: anti-reflective sapphire
Case-back: sapphire crystal
Water resistance: 30 meters (3 ATM)
Dial
No dial. Skeleton
Hands: skeletonised, white gold, ‘Dauphine’ type, with luminescent material
Strap
Material: hand-sewn black alligator leather
Buckle: titanium triple folding clasp
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Press release - 2019
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