Men's Girard-Perragaux Watches

Though Girard-Perregaux dates back to 1791, Constant Girard founded Girard & Cie in 1852. In 1854, he married Marie Perregaux, and in 1856 the combination of their surnames gave rise to the Girard-Perregaux Manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The company’s first major sale was for two thousand wristwatches ordered by Kaiser Wilhelm I for German naval officers in 1880.

Girard-Perregaux’s signature watch is the Tourbillion with Three Gold Bridges, first patented in 1884. It later won a gold medal in 1889 at the Paris Universal Exhibition. The three bridges were re-designed in the form of arrows, placed parallel to one another so that the watch’s movement became an integral element of design. It was re-launched in 1991 as a miniaturized wristwatch to celebrate the company’s bicentennial, and has since been offered in different versions.

Girard-Perregaux signed a co-branding deal with Ferrari in 1993, creating a limited edition split seconds flyback engraved with Ferrari’s emblematic “prancing horse.” Between 1994 and 2004, the partnership produced several sports and grande complication models.

Current men’s collections include the Seahawk, Vintage 1945, the Girard-Perregaux 1966 and the Traveller.

Quick Facts

• Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin used a Girard-Perregaux watch to time the aeronautical trials of his airships
• Girard-Perregaux Manufacture has over 80 patents to its name, and is the originator of numerous innovations
• In 1970, the company launched the first ever wristwatch with a quartz movement