Girard-Perregaux has launched a trio of new luxury timepieces called Le Corbusier Trilogy, in celebration of the famous modern architect.
The watches were unveiled at La Maison Blanche – a villa built by Le Corbusier himself – in his native La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland.
Girard-Perregaux has now teamed up with the Foundation Le Corbusier to create the collection, using materials such as gold, sapphire crystal, steel and even concrete “to reinterpret the work of the great Modernist” in a series of exceptional new timepieces.
Girard-Perregaux said the Le Corbusier Trilogy reflects the three places that most embodied the concept of home to the Le Corbusier himself – something he dubbed “the treasure chest of living” – namely Chaux-de-Fonds, Paris and Marseille.
The watch brand has now reworked its 1945 rectangular cased model to interpret Le Corbusier, which also matches the year that he published one of his most famous works, Les Trois Etablissements Humains (The Three Human Establishments) and devised his anthropometric scale of proportions the Modulor.
The Vintage 1945 Le Corbusier La Chaux-de-Fonds timepieces has an inlaid mother of pearl dial that takes seven days to make and is inspired by an earlier Le Corbusier piece with a price tag of $53,200 (£33,030). It has a pink gold case and will be limited to five pieces.
The second model, the Vintage 1945 Le Corbusuer Paris features a metal dial commemorating his contributions to the decorative arts and pairs a steel case with a cowhide strap in reference to the famous Le Corbusier chaise longue. The hand-engraved dial reflects his Modulor system of architectural proportion. The Paris model has a steel case and will also be limited to just five pieces.
The third timepiece is the Marseille model, inspired by one of Le Corbusier’s most important works, Cite Radieuse (Radiant City). The dial is built from rough-cast reinforced concrete, made using a mix of steel and concrete, which takes three days to pour, dry and meticulously hand-finish, and has a price tag of $31,900 (£19,805). Its case is steel and it is also limited to five pieces.
The rights for the reproduction of works by Le Corbusier were granted to Girard-Perregaux in exchange for a charitable donation to the Fondation Le Corbusier, to help restore Villa Le Lac in Corseaux, Switzerland; and to the Association Maison Blanche, for the ongoing preservation and maintenance of the Maison Jeanneret-Perret in La-Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
