Girard-Perregaux was never going to allow its 225th anniversary slip past without a grand gesture that demonstrates the depth of its history and its current watchmaking mastery.
The historic reference it chose to revive was the Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges pocket chronometer that won the gold medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1889.
The arrow-headed golden bridges have been spotted many times before, but they are powerfully presented for the new Esmerelda, leaving the 14.3mm diameter tourbillon to reveal itself a moment after you first see the watch.
The GP09400 self-winding movement beats within an 18ct pink-gold 44mm case that contains an extra long spring that increases the power reserve to 60 hours.
The instant classic is priced at £140,000, and for that you get just hours, minutes and seconds. But with 225 years of tradition, there was no need for GP to gild the lily with this seductive Esmerelda.
