{"id":26477,"date":"2021-03-25T03:52:37","date_gmt":"2021-03-25T03:52:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.horbiter.com\/the-girard-perregaux-bridges-cosmos-watch-hands-on\/"},"modified":"2023-10-30T07:07:01","modified_gmt":"2023-10-30T06:07:01","slug":"girard-perregaux-bridges-cosmos-watch-hands-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horbiter.com\/en\/girard-perregaux-bridges-cosmos-watch-hands-on\/","title":{"rendered":"The Girard-Perregaux Bridges Cosmos watch hands-on"},"content":{"rendered":"

When \u201cHaute Horlogerie\u201d<\/em> combines tourbillon and astronomy, just a handful of luxury brands are allowed to join the party. Among the most astonishing creations, I would no doubt pick some masterpieces by Montblanc<\/strong> and Jaeger<\/strong>\u2013LeCoultre<\/strong>, yet one single brand comes to my mind in terms of such products over the course of the years, and that brand is Girard<\/strong>\u2013Perregaux<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The last time I took my hands on a top-of-the-line Girard<\/strong>\u2013Perregaux<\/strong> watch dates back to 2017<\/strong>, and the product under review was the following: the Bridges Planetarium Tri<\/strong>\u2013Axial<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, one of my favorite watches I\u2019ve ever discovered, and a somewhat underrated piece by the community, I think.<\/p>\n

\"girard-perregaux-bridges-cosmos-4\"Among the classic but not Indie brands (Girard<\/strong>\u2013Perregaux<\/strong> belongs to the Kering Group<\/strong>), the Swiss manufacturer has no competition when it comes to making three-axial tourbillon watches, for example. Also, it is historically one of those manufacturers that began to adopt and develop, Breguet<\/strong>\u2018s invention pretty early.<\/p>\n

One year ago, during the last SIHH<\/strong> we had ever attended (please call it Watches and Wonders now on, and expect it to be held end of April), Girard<\/strong>\u2013Perregaux<\/strong> further expanded its Bridges<\/strong> collection, adding a new, unexpected take on the tourbillon watch paired to an astronomic complication.<\/p>\n

\"girard-perregaux-bridges-cosmos-3\"The Girard<\/strong>\u2013Perregaux Bridges Cosmos<\/strong> is a whole new approach to a complication, in comparison to a Tri<\/strong>\u2013Axial Bridges Planetarium<\/strong>. A three-axial tourbillon usually requires a higher grade of complexity during assembly and fine-tuning than a \u201cstandard\u201d<\/em> one, but the new Bridges<\/strong> combines a one-minute tourbillon with other complications in an unexpected manner to an eye that is accustomed to what the brand has come up with so far.<\/p>\n

The Bridges Cosmos<\/strong> follows the likes of luxury sports timepieces like the latest edition of the Laureato<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, from an aesthetic standpoint, thus closing the gap between Girard<\/strong>\u2013Perregaux<\/strong>\u2018s sports watches and high-end collections.<\/p>\n

\"girard-perregaux-bridges-cosmos-2\"The adoption of a grade 5 titanium alloy<\/strong> for the bead-blasted case is in keeping with the stunning Minute Repeater Tri<\/strong>\u2013Axial<\/strong> Tourbillon<\/strong> I was introduced to, a year earlier, by Stefano Macaluso<\/strong> himself. At 47mm<\/strong> across and 22<\/strong>,2mm<\/strong> thick, the Bridges Cosmos<\/strong> is a hefty watch, to say the least, but unexpectedly light considering how hard to wear are its peers offered in gold or platinum.<\/p>\n

The Girard<\/strong>\u2013Perregaux<\/strong> designers\u2019 priority was to make the Bridges Cosmos<\/strong> an easy-to-live-with masterpiece and to read and wear on a daily base too. The option of crafting it in titanium (the most precious variation, grade 5) has paid off from this point of view (and has not, vice-versa, from others. We\u2019ll discuss them later).<\/p>\n

\"girard-perregaux-bridges-cosmos-1\"The dial offers two center-stage complications located amidst the dial: on the left-hand-side is a map showing the sidereal time, thus completing a full rotation, in slightly less than the ordinary 24 hours. The map is crafted in grade 5 titanium too, and embellished with the twelve constellations of the zodiac. Each constellation is remarkably visible at night since that globe glows in the dark thanks to a luminescent hydro-ceramics\u2019 treatment, a novelty in the segment the Cosmos<\/strong> belongs.<\/p>\n

Equally, the globe located at three o\u2019clock has been crafted by using the same technique and paired to a 24-hour ring to display GMT<\/strong> time. Both globes are also visible through the case back, whose upper half hides a major part of the movement\u2019s gearings. You can wind the watch by turning a key placed on the back (the caliber GP03920<\/strong> is a 3Hz<\/strong> hand-wound movement), while the other three ones let set hour and minute hand, adjust the celestial globe and the terrestrial one, accordingly.<\/p>\n

Titanium, but black PVD<\/strong> treated, also covers the one-minute tourbillon placed at six o\u2019clock: the entire package, including the metalized sapphire crystal disk, engraved and coated with luminescent hydroceramic too, is protected by an outrageously domed bubble-shaped sapphire glass.<\/p>\n

\"girard-perregaux-bridges-cosmos-5\"The result, at night, is stunning and more than you might ever expect: observing the Bridges Cosmos<\/strong> in the dark is like standing amidst a planetarium, so is the experience offered by the glowing dial. Far more disruptive than your average Girard<\/strong>\u2013Perregaux<\/strong> high-end tourbillon watch, a Bridges Cosmos<\/strong> is the sportiest, irreverent take on the astronomical tourbillon.<\/p>\n

Girard<\/strong>\u2013Perregaux<\/strong> decided to play hard and change the game by offering something new in the industry, a rare combination of romanticism and unusual approach to super-luxury. However, I believe it\u2019ll break the heart of most aficionados who are not early adopters, but merely supporters of the purest classicism. The retail price is 310<\/strong>,000<\/strong>\u20ac.<\/p>\n