Girard-Perregaux

Headquartered in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, the company opened the Girard-Perregaux Museum near its headquarters in Villa Marguerite in 1999.

It is best known for the historic Tourbillon with three gold bridges, which was awarded a gold medal at the 1889 International Exposition in Paris soon after the launch of the watch. Other notable models from the company include the collection 1966, Vintage 1945, and models such as Tri-Axial Tourbillon and Laureato, an icon inspired from the 70s.

Early history

In 1791, watchmaker and goldsmith Jean-François Bautte signed his first watches. He created a manufacturing company in Geneva, grouping for the first time ever all the watchmaking facets of that time. This included the engineering of the watch all the way to the final hand-assembly and hand-polishing of each piece. In 1832, Jacques Bautte and Jean-Samuel Rossel succeeded Jean Bautte, becoming the head of the company.

In 1852, the watchmaker Constant Girard founded Girard & Cie in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. He then married Marie Perregaux in 1854, and the Girard-Perregaux Manufacture was founded in 1856. In 1906, Constant Girard-Gallet, who took over control of the Manufacture from his father, acquired the Bautte House and merged it with Girard-Perregaux & Cie.

Recent developments

Since the quartz crisis, the brand has pursued its activities by reinforcing from the 1980s its position in the domain of high-quality mechanical watches. Since late 1980s, Girard-Perregaux has been a part of the Swiss Sowind Group.

In 1999, the Villa Marguerite, a building in La Chaux-de-Fonds from the beginning of the 20th century, became the Girard-Perregaux Museum. A selection of old watches and documents illustrating the history of the brand was presented there. before its closure.

In 2011, Sowind Group, the Swiss holding incorporating Girard-Perregaux, became a subsidiary of the French luxury group Kering. In 2012, Girard-Perregaux launched the Le Corbusier Watch Trilogy, paying a tribute to the famous architect. In 2021, Girard-Perregaux partnered with the luxury car manufacturer Aston Martin.