CASE NUMBER: Pièce Unique, Ref. 99050S0.21.000

This rare and unique Triple Bridge Tourbillon, according to the Heritage Department at Girard-Perregaux, was developed exclusively for the brand’s agent in the United Kingdom. It was produced in 1996, on special request from this agent, and was delivered to the UK in 1997.

The request clearly was aimed at bringing together the maison’s most characteristic movement signature – the triple bridge – and combining it with a modern case material like titanium. The dull matte-finished grey titanium case serves as the perfect frame for the skeletonised tourbillon movement highlighted by a spectacular twist to the traditional gold triple bridge design. The 18k pink gold bridges have been decorated with a bright red cloisonné enamel.

Girard-Perregaux's first tourbillon movement featuring three gold bridges was patented in 1884 by one of the firm's founder, Constant Girard. A unique example in the history of watchmaking, it represents a perfect combination of aesthetical, technical and symbolical aspects. At the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1889, his tourbillon with three gold bridges was awarded a gold medal and then declared out of competition, as it was beyond match.

Nearly 200 years later, in 1986, the firm's Research and Development Department was mandated with the creation of a wristwatch with the three gold bridges design. The challenge of miniaturising the pocket watch movement and to inverse its construction by positioning the gold bridges on the dial side was perfectly mastered and crowned by the launch of the celebrated Tourbillon Sous Trois Ponts d'or Wristwatch.