Following up last year's haute horology introduction, the GPHG-winning Constant Escapement LM, must have been a daunting task for Girard-Perregaux. But to do so the manufacture has unveiled the Tri-Axial Tourbillon, which features (as you may have already surmised) a tourbillon with three independent axes of rotation. The entire escapement is suspended inside a three-dimensional bubble in the sapphire crystal that protrudes from the large rose-gold case. And, don't worry, we've got video of this watch in action too.
We'll start with the basics and build from there. The Girard-Perregaux Tri-Axial Tourbillon starts off with a large 48mm pink-gold case. It has to be rather thick too, but this is to accomodate the 317-component GP09300 caliber, which comes in at 16.83mm on its own. This is largely due to the tri-axial tourbillon mechanism, which is 13.78mm in diameter. Additionally, there is a very complex sapphire crystal on the dial side of the watch with a bubble to further accommodate the tourbillon as well as a window in the caseband for side viewing.
This tourbillon is obviously the star of the show here. It essentially has three layers of cages, each adding an additional axis of rotation. At the center is a traditional tourbillon with a one-minute rotation that houses a balance beating at 3 Hz (21,600 vph). Next is a faster 30-second cage. And, finally, the outermost cage rotates once every two minutes. Such a complex mechanism required the use of a mixture of materials, including steel, titanium, and rose gold, to provide the right balance of strength and weight where each is needed. The whole tourbillon has a total weight of only 1.24 grams.
Finishing on the tourbillon, the movement, and the dial is excellent across the board. There is a generous mix of polished surfaces, brushed surfaces, circular graining, hand-chamfering, and mirror polishing, giving the watch a ton of visual depth from every angle. You can admire the manually-wound movement through the sapphire back without a rotor to get in the way.
The dial is all about showing off the tourbillon, which is found at 9 o'clock. The ground of the dial is a soft grey with darker grey areas surrounding each of the indications. In addition to the tourbillon you'll find the actual time-telling dial in the top right portion of the dial with a 52-hour power reserve indicator just below that.
This video from Girard-Perregaux breaks down all of these details and gives you a look at the tourbillon in action:
The Tri-Axial Tourbillon is a limited edition of only ten pieces and is priced at $501,900. For more, visit Girard-Perregaux online.