By Elizabeth Doerr
As part of the partnership with luxury carmaker Aston Martin since 2021, Girard-Perregaux reveals a second co-creation from its quintessential Bridges collection. This line pays tribute to company cofounder Constant Girard, who was one of the very few watchmakers of the nineteenth century able to make a tourbillon; his special trio of visible bridges continues to be the focal point of the wristwatches in this collection to this day.
In 2014, Girard-Perregaux presented a radically modern evolution of the Three Bridges called the Neo Tourbillon with Three Bridges featuring changes that endowed the new sub-line with a much more avant-garde spirit thanks to the shape and material of the bridges, the crystal, and the redesigned caliber.
The bridges, now made of titanium instead of gold, were redesigned to provide extra three-dimensionality and visually lightened the appearance of what is essentially a rather large watch (45mm x 12.18 mm). They also add sleek modernity.
For this latest iteration – the fifth co-branded timepiece overall – the team comprising designers from both companies was inspired by the world’s first Super Tourer, the Aston Martin DB12.
Rather unusually, though, the watch features an inverted movement: the symmetrically designed Caliber GP0840000-2164 therefore visibly relocates components usually found at the rear of the watch to the front, including the micro rotor for automatic winding at 1:30 and the mainspring barrel across from it at 11:30, whose looks are motivated by the brakes found behind the Aston Martin DB12’s spoked wheels.
Two PVD-coated “neo” bridges in Aston Martin Green not only hold the balance wheel and gear train in place, but, along with the minute markers and strap seams, provide color splashes against the resolutely modern blacks and greys of this watch. The effect is striking.
Girard-Perregaux darkens the new watch’s 45mm titanium case with DLC and builds a skeletonized movement decorated with the green hue associated with Aston Martin. The hands and markers both glow with green SuperLuminova to match the metallic Aston Martin Green bridges that dominate the dial. 
Look for additional green tints in the black rubber strap (with a fabric effect), which is enlivened with green stitches and then fitted with a titanium DLC triple folding buckle.
Girard-Perregaux will offer the Neo Bridges Aston Martin Edition as a limited edition of 250 pieces.
Price: $37,700.
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