Minute repeaters are typically manual-winding, as the complexity of the chiming complication leaves little room for an oscillating weight.
Girard-Perregaux has built a self-winding minute repeater—a feat rarely achieved in the history of watchmaking.
A function that notoriously demands significant energy, the minute repeater has rarely been executed as an automatic timepiece—save for notable exceptions such as the Patek Philippe Grand Complication Ref. 5178.
An oscillating weight, with its freedom of movement, can rattle and produce unwanted noise, especially as it becomes looser over time. And god forbid, it may dampen the resonance of a minute repeater’s chime.
Cue Girard-Perregaux, the historic manufacture that has been undergoing a vivacious revamp and bold expansion since its sale by Kering to Sowind Group (a buyout by its direct management) in 2022.
Technically ambitious and aesthetically absorbing releases such as the Girard-Perregaux Laureato Three Gold Bridges and the Girard-Perregaux Tourbillon with Three Flying Bridges have encapsulated this revival.
Today, the manufacture has once again brought enthusiasts to the edges of their seats, with the unveiling of a truly uncommon minute repeater.
Come Clarity
The new Girard-Perregaux Minute Repeater Flying Bridges was engineered with inspiration drawn from 18th-century pocket watches, which once featured bells mounted at the back of their movements before evolving into circular “cathedral gongs” that ran along the periphery.
Standing on the shoulders of brand founder Jean‑François Bautte, whose contributions to the advancement of minute repeaters cannot be overstated, Constant Girard and his son Constant Girard‑Gallet developed several important grande sonnerie and grand complication timepieces in the 19th century.
In tribute to its founders, Girard‑Perregaux has continued to pursue chiming watchmaking through the decades, creating landmark pieces such as the Girard‑Perregaux Minute Repeater Tourbillon (1996), alongside miniaturized and water-resistant Westminster chiming watches in the 20th century.
Sounds Incredible
The brand’s latest show-stopper, the Girard‑Perregaux Minute Repeater Flying Bridges, runs on the GP9530 caliber—a 3Hz movement designed, developed and assembled entirely in-house. Requiring some 440 man-hours to produce, it combines a minute repeater, a tourbillon and a newly developed micro-rotor with slide-piece activation.
Its plate and bridges are crafted from sonorous titanium and secured within a rose gold case—another metal prized for its acoustic properties—to ensure minimal dampening of the chimes. The case middle has also been fashioned from a single piece of gold, contributing both to acoustic integrity and water resistance of up to 30m.
In pursuit of crisp, unmitigated sound, Girard-Perregaux has fashioned the gongs and gong studs from a single piece of metal. The case is also snugly fitted with a box-type glare-proofed sapphire crystal that is designed not to impede, but rather to amplify, sound transmission. As for the potentially troublesome micro-rotor, it is crafted from rose gold and engineered to oscillate in near-total silence.
An intriguing feat of engineering, the GP9530 movement relocates its centrifugal strikework regulator and third bridge to the back of the caliber. In a final flourish of haute horlogerie, no fewer than 1,340 hand-polished chamfers have been painstakingly applied to its intricate surfaces.
A Labor of Love
Adorned with the Three Bridges architecture that Girard‑Perregaux has been synonymous with since the mid-19th century, the Girard‑Perregaux Minute Repeater Flying Bridges arrives in a 46mm pink gold case. Its inner bezel is also fashioned from pink gold, as are its openworked luminescent hands and triple-folding clasp.
Another pleasant surprise is the extent of in-house manufacturing: aside from the strap, sapphire crystal and rubies, virtually the entire watch is produced internally. Each timepiece is then assembled by a single watchmaker—Jean‑Luc Borel—over the course of six weeks.
Limited to less than eight pieces per year, the Girard-Perregaux Minute Repeater Flying Bridges is priced at US$590,000.
