GIRARD-PERREGAUX – Neo Bridges “Earth to Sky” Edition

GIRARD-PERREGAUX – BRIDGES Neo Bridges “Earth to Sky” Titanium Black 45mm Limited Edition

Blue as the Earth. Black as the cosmos.

In 2019, Girard-Perregaux is instating a symbolic dialogue with the universe and presenting a series of exceptional timepieces whose nature – thanks to a play of blue and black tones – is gliding towards an astronomical dimension. 

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Earth to Sky, 2019 theme of the year.

An estimated 13.8 billion years after the expansion of the universe, Girard-Perregaux raises its eyes to infinity with all its light, shadow and mystery. As part of a new approach, the brand is engaging in a dialogue between earth and sky, between matter and space. It explores the boundaries of its expertise, unveils the invisible and reveals that which was previously hidden. Its science of finishing and materials is shown in a new light, including by leveraging the light of blackness. Science and art, photons and matter: Girard-Perregaux's search for beauty is entering an astrophysical and metaphorical dimension.

Contemporary reinterpretation of a great brand classic

At the exact confluence of two worlds, where tradition meets innovation, the Neo Bridges automatic watch first and foremost embodies an approach dramatising the architecture of a movement that dates back more than 150 years*. This mechanism has constantly evolved with the times and is now rightfully considered the historical signature of the Manufacture Girard-Perregaux.

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This year, as part of the "Earth to Sky" theme, it appears once again in titanium, but in an even more distinguished and assertive version thanks to the black DLC coating of its 45 mm-diameter case. It is fitted with a rubber-patterned genuine alligator leather strap secured by a triple titanium folding clasp adding a new touch.

The dynamics of balance

In keeping with its longstanding tradition, Manufacture Girard-Perregaux has equipped this model with the tried and trusted mechanical movement GP08400-0002. Perfectly symmetrical thanks to the judicious alignment of the micro-rotor with the barrel drum ensuring a minimum 54-hour reserve, this movement instantly draws the gaze.

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The architectural nature of the structure is reinforced by contemporary finishing including a blue PVD coating on the barrel cover and micro-rotor, as well as a black PVD treatment adorning the delicately curved bridges and plate bridges. This sophisticated graphic design exercises an almost mesmerising effect due to the presence at 6 o'clock, of a large 10.15 mm diameter variable-inertia balance wheel oscillating at 3 Hertz (21,600 vibrations per hour). Due to its size, the latter is less subject to disturbances and therefore more accurate.

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The absence of a dial fully reveals the captivating construction, while a ring with suspended hour- markers sets the perfect finishing touch. The box-type sapphire crystal specially developed for this model – requiring nearly ten times more material than usual – makes it possible to capture the light and direct it towards the heart of the movement. Finally, the transparent sapphire crystal caseback reveals the inner workings of the fascinating 208-component mechanism.

About DLC treatment

DLC treatment is a surface coating that consists of the deposition of carbon and diamond particles by a physical and chemical process. In addition to the black colour and its subtle anthracite grey reflections provided by the treatment, the multiple layers applied to the titanium ensure better protection of the case against corrosion.

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*The Neo Bridges Automatic Titanium "Earth to Sky" Edition is based on the architectural construction codes dear to Constant Girard, creator of the Esmeralda pocket watch that won first prize at the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1889.

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It also reflects the theatrical nature of the creations by Jean-François Bautte – who in the late 18th century designed watchmaking instruments that adopted a playful approach to time display, demystified the passage of time and transformed watches into pure works of kinetic art.

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This pocket-watch with its fascinating tourbillon movement was later named “La Esmeralda”. Over the months before the International Exhibition, it had achieved some remarkable test results at the Neuchâtel Observatory in Switzerland, attested by the institution’s issue of its rating certificate. Then, at the exhibition, it was awarded a gold medal by the jury who recognised the perfection, both technical and aesthetic, of this extraordinary timepiece.

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The watch bears the name of the luxury Mexican boutique of the agents Hauser and Zivy, to whom it was entrusted for a while. Then “La Esmeralda” is thought to have passed into the ownership of the President of Mexico, Porfirio Diaz (1830-1915) who led the country from 1876 to 1911.

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Finally, at the end of the 1960s, the pocket-chronometer was acquired from the president’s great grandson and it now crowns the collections of the Girard-Perregaux museum.

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TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Collection: BRIDGES 

Model: Neo Bridges “Earth to Sky” Edition

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Reference: 84000-21-632-BH6A


Movement
Reference: GP08400-002
Winding: mechanical self-winidng
Diameter: 32.00 mm (14¼’’’)
Thickness: 5.45 mm
Frequency: 21,600 Vib/h – (3 Hz)
Power reserve: min. 54 hours
Number of components: 208
Jewels: 29
Functions: Hours, minutes 
Case
Material: sandblasted titanium with black DLC coating
Diameter: 45 mm
Height: 12.18 mm
Glass: glareproofed sapphire crystal
Case-back: sapphire crystal 
Water resistance: 30 meters (3 ATM)
Dial
No dial.
Skeleton, no dial, but instead a ring with suspended hour-markers
Hands: skeletonised, ‘Dauphine’ type,  openworked with luminescent material
Strap
Material: Rubber-patterned matt black alligator leather, blue topstitching
Buckle: DLC-coated titanium triple folding clasp


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Press release - 2019
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Press Contact:
Manager: Ivanne Perrinjaquet, iperrinjaquet@girard-perregaux.ch

Girard-Perregaux,
International PR : christine.giotto@girard-perregaux.com

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AkriviA – AK-06 Chronometre

AkriviA – AK-06 Chronometre Openworked Dial Gold

Rexhep Rexhepi takes AkriviA into new territory with the AK-06, the first timepiece from our workshop to venture beyond the tourbillon. The basis of this movement comes from the powerful Tourbillon Chiming Jump-Hour AK-03. The AK-06 is reworked to focus purely on time-telling without complication, and to highlight its impressive 100-hour power reserve.

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Another first for AkriviA is the dial-free design. Openworked dials are not new for AkriviA, but the AK-06 brings things to a new level by selectively showcasing all the components relating to the power reserve and its indication. As with all our creations, the philosophical core is positioned at twelve o’clock.

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In the AK-01, it was the column wheel; in the AK-03, it was the strike hammer. In the AK-06, the power reserve display takes this position, along with the counter-balanced racks that neutralise the marginal load of the power reserve display and optimise energy flow towards the balance. In this way, the mystery of high watchmaking is partially opened to the wearer as the mainspring is wound or unwinds, and the mechanism reveals itself.

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Compared to previous models, the tourbillon opening mounted at 6 o’clock has been slightly enlarged and is framed in highly polished, mirror-like steel, making all the parts of the tourbillon escapement and its cage sparkle every second during its rotation. The barrette styled tourbillon bridge is a virtuoso piece of watchmaking skill that has become a trademark of AkriviA’s models so far ; its open worked, filigreed arch is testament to the precision and surety of the watchmaker’s hand and eye, painstakingly crafting a perfect finish on every available surface.

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The inspirational motivation behind this new interpretation of a power reserve timepiece complication was guided by the emotional responses of clients who experience the most intimate moments with their timepiece during the act of winding their watch up. This connection between the human and the machine is showcased by a completely skeletonized power reserve and hand setting mechanism. It allows all the mechanical parts involved in these functions to be visually interactive for the user, acting as a kinetic ballet of time’s passing, adding an extra dimension to the regular motion of the hour and minute hands.

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The steel hands are manually blued on a bed of heated brass filings in a slow process designed to produce an even hue.


Until now, all the design and finishing aspects of the AkriviA Collection’s movements were only visible from the back. With the AK-06, all the many hours of attention given to miniscule details can now be experienced with every glance at the dial.

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The heart of the movement is designed with the same attention to details and also expresses Rexhep Rexhepi’s love of mechanical symmetry found on the dial side. The oversized center wheel is mounted in a special jewel on its own bridge at the epicenter of the AK-06’s baseplate. This epicentric location of the center wheel is a typical characteristic of all watches by the AkriviA atelier to date, and is equally complemented by the perfectly proportioned going train and balance wheel with its micro-adjusters, occupying separate bridges adorned with perfect, hand executed anglage.

The movement architecture layout, the curves of the bridges, their visual balance and placement, size and proportions, everything has to reveal a unified concept. This beauty of the movement itself was always a source of pride and a distinguishing feature in the tradition of Geneva watchmaking.

A stable and long power reserve is always an added benefit to promoting excellent chronometric results. However, setting the time is often overlooked as a source of inaccuracies. For this reason, the AK-06 movement has a combined stop seconds and seconds reset functionality. The combination of these two results in a very rare ‘mini-complication’ that is rarely found in wristwatches today.

A normal stop seconds function to promote setting the time accurately is well known in watchmaking; however the 0-seconds reset in the AK-06 is an expression of a love and deep respect for timekeeping accuracy.

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Through the use of a small heart piece, very similar to that found in the resetting mechanism of chronographs, the reset seconds hammer returns the seconds to ‘0’ simultaneously with the stop seconds function. That is to say, these two functions work in perfect harmony with the simple action of pulling out the crown. This makes extremely accurate time setting to the second a very simple affair for the user.

Although the fine finishing of a watch is an art form unto itself, it also fulfills practical functions. The visual effect of all the effort is of course beautiful to behold, but in fact, finishing changes the atomic structure of the outer layers of the metal itself, by simultaneously hardening the surface and sealing it off from the reception of microscopic amounts of moisture, dirt and possible oil from the interior of the movement. It is in fact an act of love with an eye to the longevity and protection of the watch to a time far into the future.

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This is also why extreme high-quality finishing is at the heart of the AkriviA atelier philosophy. Looking closely at the movement, you will see that the anglage created on the edges of all parts is rounded in what is called a bombé cross section, in opposition to the standard and fully or partially machine created anglage used today throughout Switzerland at large manufactures. This technique of rounded edges is much more time consuming to produce and cannot be prepared in advance by the use of machines.

Starting with the basic flat piece of material with 90∘ angled edges, one of the first steps is to create a rounded edge by filing the edges into shape in several steps, which perfectly follows the edge outline equidistantly into every curve and corner.

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Furthermore, all sinks for the jewels also have a bowl-shaped cross section, directly complementing this bombé effect of the rounded anglage. This is followed by multiple steps of further finishing and polishing with a series of special wooden sticks covered in abrasive material as well as the natural wood itself.

From the raw parts to finally finished parts, here is a general overview of the steps required to create perfectly finished watch parts and movement:

• . Primary quality control of each machined piece
• . Preparation of upper and of lower sinks
• . Grinding of movement underside and sides followed by filing
• . Geneva stripes are executed
• . Anglage grinding of curved and straight parts
• . Anglage filing of curved and straight parts, including edges
• . Anglage polishing of all filed edges in several steps
• . Polishing of sinks
• . Black polish surface polishing where required
• . Final polishing using a stick of the Gentian plant for the highest gloss. 

This plant grows freely in the mountainsides of the valley, and has been used for centuries in such work. The softer, inner layer of the wood is used together with diamond paste in order to achieve an extremely high gloss finish. Such finishing is absolutely impossible to achieve with the standard use of electric tools or via CNC machining.

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Technical Specifications

Collection: AK-06

Model AK-06 Chronometre

Movement
New manual-winding AK-06 movement – created,
developed, decorated and assembled in-house.
100 hours power reserve using a jeweled, single barrel.
(With stop seconds and 0-seconds reset function).
Movement dimensions: Ø 30.00 MM
Jewels: 28
Balance wheel: In-house developed variable inertia balance wheel (10.5 mm) using 4 adjustable weights combined with Breguet overcoil.
Frequency: 18,000 VPH (2.5 Hz)
Decoration:
The entire movement’s visible and non-visible parts have been hand-finished to the highest Genevan traditions usingseveral traditional techniques: black polish, Côtes de Genève, hand polished and brushed surfaces, Rhodium treatment, beading and hand engraving and entirely handmade anglage.
Case
Dimensions:  41mm x 9.9mm
Made of three parts with screwed case back and alternate polished and brushed finishing
Glare proofed front sapphire; see-through case back with sapphire
Water resistance: 3 ATM (30 meters)
Display
Hours, minute, seconds, power reserve indicator
Bracelet
Dark blue calf leather
Tang buckle
Lug width 21 mm

Chronometer certification
On client’s request and an additional cost the watch can be Chronometer certified by the Besançon Observatory. With this option the watch is being delivered with a “Bulletin de marche de chronométrie” after a thorough testing of the complete watch during 16 days consecutive days.
Warranty
3 years. 
Any necessary work performed under guarantee extends the duration of it by one year.

Price: 
Price of CHF 79,000 for the stainless steel version,
CHF 83,000 for a titanium case,
CHF 87,000 for 5N rose gold and CHF 92,000 for platinum.

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Press Release - 2019
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