This time, our members had the opportunity to visit the Girard-Perregaux Manufacture on 24 and 25 February. The premises in La Chaux-de-Fonds that house the Manufacture, animated by a staff of 230 people (including 130 watchmakers and technicians working at the bench), are dedicated in the main to Girard-Perregaux production (around 10,000 watches per year) and to a lesser extent to the manufacture of JeanRichard models (4,000 pieces/year). The manufacture of part of the cases and all the movements takes place here (let's not forget that even JeanRichard now only uses proprietary, Manufacture calibers, all derived from the JR1000 calibre). The new movements are also designed here, each of which takes up to four years to complete. Among these, there is great anticipation among aficionados and those of us in the press for the movement equipped with the new Constant escapement, which should finally be ready for production in about two years' time, after it has also passed the stringent tests of resistance to shocks, atmospheric conditions, vibrations and all the unfavourable conditions to which a watch may be subjected during its long life. However, what impressed us most was the grandeur of the assembly department of the tourbillons, models for which the company is world-famous. The legendary Three Golden Bridges, in fact, is now an icon of the House, brought back to life in the 1990s by the far-sighted genius of Gino Macaluso. In this department, as many as 20 watchmakers assemble one watch per month, totalling around 200 pieces per year. In addition, each watchmaker personally finishes every tiny component of the watch, with particular attention being paid to the cage and the famous tourbillon bridges, which are meticulously polished by hand, without neglecting the smallest elements, such as the screws. Suffice it to think that polishing a gold bridge requires four different steps with hard or soft wood tools, depending on the abrasive paste used, and that for each of the bridges, the finishing work takes up to two days, to understand the meticulousness and accuracy of the work behind the creation of such prestigious movements. Fifteen days are spent finishing the cage. It is no coincidence that the Tourbillon Three Golden Bridges has become a symbol of Girard-Perregaux craftsmanship and know-how.
