Constant GIRARD-PERREGAUX

(La Chaux-de-Fonds 1825 - 1903 La Chaux-de-Fonds)

Constant Othenin-Girard (or Girard) began his watchmaking career initially in partnerships, under a variety of collective names. In 1854 he married Marie Perregaux (1831-1912), the product of a watchmaking family from Le Locle, and together they founded the Manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds which to this day bears their combined surnames (1856).

The Girard-Perregaux Firm quickly became one of the market's biggest players. Among the pioneers in introducing the Swiss watch to the Americas, it set up offices there in various cities, in both the North and South.

Constant Girard-Perregaux devoted long years to designing and crafting various escapement systems, particularly the Tourbillon escapement. The quality and beauty of his creations were rewarded by a number of prizes and distinctions at national and international exhibitions and competitions, and also at Universal Exhibitions. The culmination came in 1889, when his famous Tourbillon with three gold Bridges, established as the icon of the Girard-Perregaux Firm, won a gold medal at the Paris Universal Exhibition.