In 2019, Girard-Perregaux explores the Cosmos, the essence of time. The brand is introducing a new universe, innovative materials and unexpected complications within its fundamental collections united under a single theme: “Earth to Sky”.
On year after the launching of the Neo-Tourbillon with Three Bridges Skeleton, Girard-Perregaux unveils Quasar, on the occasion of the Miami Watches & Wonders. Based on the “Earth to Sky” theme, this complication model is named after the most brilliant of astronomical entities. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, a quasar is an astronomical object of very high luminosity found in the centres of certain galaxies which is powered by gas spiralling at high velocity into an extremely large black hole. A strange paradox composed of light and shade, it reflects the nature of the Girard-Perregaux Quasar.
Quasar embodies a natural application of the four principles governing the Girard-Perregaux universe. The first is the 1884 patent for three gold bridges visible on the dial side, the signature of the Maison. The second is the skeleton work hand-finished in the workshops of La Chaux-de-Fonds. The third is the 2015 birth of the Neo-Tourbillon with Three Bridges. The latter were neither straight nor made of gold, but instead arched, skeletonised and black. The fourth is the use of sapphire serving a function that is more technical than that of mere watch glasses. With the Laureato with Three Sapphire Bridges presented in 2007, crystal corundum had found its place in the very structure of a Fine Watchmaking calibre.
The 45 mm diameter Quasar case is entirely made of sapphire crystal. A chimney-style glass covers the movement bridges like a telluric dome. Its all-of-a-piece caseband features curving sides and angular lugs. At nearly 3,000 degrees Kelvin, fundamental particles merge under the effect of an incandescent flow of oxygen and dihydrogen. It is from this process that sapphire crystal emerges. It is then cut, machined, drilled, domed and polished using tools made from the hardest material in the universe: diamond.
Calibre GP9400-1035 is a modified version of Calibre 9400, from which the mainplate has been removed. Almost as if this had created a vacuum, the movement finds itself in an almost weightless state. Only physically essential anchoring points remain. Made of titanium, sandblasted and then blackened by a PVD treatment, the bridges visually contribute to Quasar's overall transparency effect. Their shape is so complex in all three dimensions, composed of interior angles, arches, returns and overhangs, that machining them represents a true watchmaking feat.
Combining the radiance pouring through the sapphire with the shadowy depths of its movement, it lives on the contrast that is the very essence of the universe. Thus illuminated, this tourbillon with its contemporary spirit enters the light spectrum with a case entirely made of transparent sapphire crystal. Through these crystalline walls, Calibre GP9400-1035 reveals its openworked construction much like a star viewed with a telescope. This Haute Horlogerie movement draws the eye like a black hole and explodes with light, illuminating the gap between its components. Devoid of any opacity, Quasar allows photons to play freely across its matt surfaces and taut curves.
