Constant Girard-Perregaux (1825-1903) After a happy childhood, Constant Girard learned the watchmaker?s trade, slowly and patiently absorbing its secrets as they were passed on by demanding master craftsmen. The years passed and his talent was confirmed. In 1825, Constant Girard and his mother Numa founded a watch manufacturing company in La Chaux-de-Fonds. They called it Girard & Cie. Barely two years later, at the age of 29, Constant Girard married Marie Perregaux, the daughter of a local watchmaker. In 1856, the name of the company was changed to Girard-Perregaux, Constant having taken to using both family names. He was very technically minded, devising fine time-measurement instruments for his customers. A perfectionist, he was constantly trying to design increasingly sophisticated, meticulously fashioned movements. His years of experimenting and experience culminated in the three parallel bridge construction. Constant Girard-Perregaux never hesitated to use gold exactly as he would any other functional material to make whatever parts of the movement he thought best. He appeared at a crucial moment in the history of watchmaking, when portable time instruments were gradually being made available to practically everyone, not just an elite. Performance took on greater importance, spurring the development of progressively more complex and accurate watches, with an increasing variety of indications. This was the heyday of chronometry and observatory contests between the great watchmakers of the period. Constant Girard-Perregaux was a talented contestant, winning no less than 13 Gold Medals and other distinctions in America and in Europe. As Paris celebrated the inauguration of the Eiffel Tower in 1889, Girard Perregaux received the highest of all awards bestowed by the Universal Exhibition held there that year: a Gold Medal for excellence. It saluted the technical and aesthetic perfection of his masterpiece, the famed three-bridge Tourbillon. Constant Girard-Perregaux often favored Tourbillons for his own timepieces, the most celebrated being his Tourbillon with three gold bridges. Its technical and aesthetic features and its impressive finish soon became an unquestioned reference. Due to its extreme complexity, only a handful of these timepieces were ever produced, the first dating from the middle of the 19th century. Its exceptional quality was further attested to by a variety of prizes and distinctions, including a pair of Gold Medals at the Paris Exhibitions of 1867 and 1889.Equally knowledgeable in the commercial aspects of his craft, Constant Girard-Perregaux opened sales offices in the United States, directed by his sons. His company prospered and the Girard-Perregaux name acquired a great reputation far beyond the confines of Europe. Its watches were particularly prized in South America, where many of the masterpieces now featured in the company?s museum were later tracked down and purchased. Constant Girard Perregaux is remembered in Neuchâtel as a man of principle and vision. He gained a measure of prominence as a leading spokesman for the Neuchâtel Liberal Party and as an eloquent advocate of Republican ideals and of Neuchâtel?s adhesion to the Swiss Confederation. By the middle of the last century, La Chaux-de-Fonds had become one of the major centers of the watch industry. Constant Girard-Perregaux died on June 18, 1903. His son Constant Girard-Gallet followed so successfully in his footsteps that by 1905, the Girard-Perregaux company was accorded permanent membership in the jury of the Universal Exhibition of Liège, the quality of its products being judged too great for participation in the competition. Bibliography: "Girard-Perregaux, Horloger par vocation", Editions Girard-Perregaux, La Chaux-de-Fonds, 1991. Girard-Perregaux, No. 133336, carriage by Ernest Guinand, circa 1890. This is the smallest one-minute tourbillon with pivoted detent escapement ever made. Three examples are known: - One in the Girard-Perregaux museum - One sold by Antiquorum in Geneva on April 13, 2002, lot 64. - The present watch On 25, 1884 a patent (No. 144919) was filed in USA patent office stating: "Be it known that I, Girard Perregaux of Chaux-de-Fonds, Republic of Switzerland, have invented and produced a new and original Design for a Watch-Movement, of which the following is a full, clear and exact description: ? In a watch movement the design for a bridge, consisting a bridge having a central annular portion, spread-out ends and bar-like portions between the said annular portions and ends, as shown?" The design proved to be one of the most successful watch move-ment designs ever. It has been used by Girard-Perregaux ever since. Even today, their most prestigious watch, the 13??? wrist tourbillon, uses the same design. In addition to the simplicity and elegance of the design, it is the smallest tourbillon in the world known to have been made at the time. Another one was sold by Antiquorum on April 13, 2002 for 480,000 Francs. In the 1880?s, to make such a small watch with a tourbillon carriage was a tremendous achievement. Guinand made the watch at the end of his career, after years of experience. Perhaps he wanted to leave a record for posterity; in any case, it took almost 40 years to make a smaller one (10 1/2??? made in 1927 by James Pellaton and 8 3/4??? made in 1945 by Fritz-Robert Charrue). Ernest Guinand (c. 1810 ? 1879) an important Master Horologist from Le Locle, who, along with Auguste Grether from Ponts-de-Martel (1817-1879), specialized in the production of tourbillon carriages. According to the re-cords of the Neuchâtel Observatory, Guinand?s production of tourbillons began between 1865 and 67. He designed three models of Tourbillon carriages, always based on an A-shaped frame. He worked for several important makers, including Gi-rard-Perregaux and Montandon. The Observatory of Neuchâtel records indicate that the number of tourbillons supplied to Girard-Perregaux can be estimated at between 22 and 25. Most were equipped with a pivoted detent escapement, one with spring detent and some with lever escapement. Most of his carriages were not signed and can only be identified by their characteristic A-shape.