Most historical watch brands have an iconic piece that defines them; Omega has its Moonwatch, Audemars Piguet its Royal Oak, Zenith its El Primero. For Girard-Perregaux, it’s the Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges, originally produced as a 19th-century pocketwatch and now offered in various modern wristwatch versions. This year, at SIHH 2017, Girard-Perregaux announced that it would be expanding and evolving its “Bridges” design to develop an entirely new collection within the larger GP family. The new Girard-Perregaux Neo-Bridges — the brand’s first non-tourbillon “Bridges” timepiece — debuts as the flagship of this new “retro-futurist” series.
The movement parts — 208 in all, including 29 jewels — feature a variety of contemporary finishes, including sandblasting, NAC treatment on the mainplate, and black PVD coating on the curved bridges.
The titanium case measures 45 mm in diameter and 12.17 mm thick and has alternating polished and satin-brushed finishes. The front of the watch is covered with a box-shaped, nonreflective sapphire crystal, while another pane of sapphire in the caseback offers a view of the movement’s rear side. The case, water-resistant to 30 meters, is integrated seamlessly into a dark gray alligator strap with a triple-folding clasp, also made of titanium. Available in spring of 2017, according to the company, the Girard-Perregaux Neo-Bridges will be priced at $24,000.
Below, you can see two photos we took of the Neo-Bridges during its introduction at SIHH 2017, including a good glimpse of the backside of the watch that was not included in the press materials.