Just debuted by Girard-Perregaux is the Neo Constant Escapement Only Watch for the 2023 edition of the biennial charity auction. An updated iteration of the famed and now decade-old Constant Escapement L.M, this piece unique is done in a pink gold case and debuts a far more contemporary and fresh design.
It’s been some time since the release of the Constant Escapement and even longer since the prototype was revealed back in 2008, so here is a brief primer on just what makes it so special. Supplying steady force to an escapement is the key to stable and consistently accurate timekeeping with mechanisms like the Rementoir or Fusée and Chain serving as some of the other well-known horological developments devised for this purpose. Girard-Perregaux’s proprietary Constant Escapement achieved this in a simpler way by having a constant force device within the escapement itself through the use of flexible silicon to create a blade spring.
While the original Constant Escapement featured an hour and minutes sub-dial, this new version has central hour, minutes, and seconds hands done in black nickel which very legibly contrasts against the matte gold dial. The new GP09200-2196 movement is a COSC-certified manual-wind caliber that operates at 3 Hz with a minimum 7-day power reserve. As with the first Constant Escapement, the silicium parts are done in purple. Finally, the case is downsized from 48mm to a much more wearable 45mm wide and 14.8mm thick and comes on a black rubber strap with fabric effect.
The Girard-Perregaux Neo Constant Escapement for Only Watch 2023 is a neat way to soft launch an updated version of this horologically important watch and it will be interesting to see what it fetches at the charity auction.
To learn more, visit Only Watch, here.
