Girard-Perregaux marks the Year of the Horse with a striking expression of its most storied complication—La Esmeralda Tourbillon "A Secret" Eternity Edition, a watch that channels the Maison's deep heritage through a lens of auspicious symbolism and unmistakable craft. It is a piece that invites study rather than a glance, rewarding sustained attention with layers of historical reference and decorative refinement.
Things to Know About the Watch
The 43 mm pink gold case is engraved across its surfaces—case, lugs, bezel, and buckle—in direct homage to the historic pocket watch of 1889, the original La Esmeralda that first brought the Three Gold Bridges architecture to international acclaim at the Paris Universal Exhibition. That same architecture reappears here in matching pink gold, framing the Manufacture calibre GP09600 and its signature Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges—a visual and mechanical throughline connecting this wristwatch to the Maison's most celebrated nineteenth-century achievement.
The dial commands attention in Grand Feu red enamel, its surface animated by a combination of sunray and circular guilloché applied entirely by hand on a traditional rose engine lathe. It is a bold chromatic choice — red for fortune, vitality, and the untamed energy of the horse—executed with the restraint and patience that Grand Feu technique demands. The result is a depth of colour that shifts under changing light, lending the dial a living quality that printed imagery cannot fully convey.
The Movement
Beneath the bridges, the calibre GP09600 reveals a discreet white gold micro-rotor tucked beneath the barrel, providing automatic winding without disrupting the movement’s visual hierarchy. Golden engravings throughout the calibre reference the 1884 patent for the Tourbillon with Three Bridges construction, grounding this contemporary piece in well-documented provenance. The movement is further enriched with a cornucopia of refined finishes, a hallmark of Girard-Perregaux's in-house approach, where decoration serves not as embellishment but as evidence of mastery.
Summary & Price
The horse, as Girard-Perregaux frames it, is a symbol of inner power and controlled momentum. The association is not incidental; the horse is an emblem closely tied to the La Esmeralda lineage, and its reappearance here deepens the piece’s narrative coherence. In La Esmeralda Tourbillon "A Secret" Eternity Edition, that philosophy is rendered in enamel, gold, and engraving, with nothing left to chance and every surface serving the story.
Sticker Price Upon Request. More info on Girard-Perregaux here.
