The New Girard-Perregaux Neo Bridges Aston Martin Edition

In their relatively brief partnership, Girard-Perregaux and Aston Martin have cultivated a fruitful collaboration, culminating in their fifth special watch. The journey began in 2021 with the Tourbillon Three Flying Bridges Aston Martin Edition, showcasing a skeletonised triple-bridge tourbillon design within a black PVD-coated titanium case. Following this, the Laureato Chronograph introduced British racing green into the series, while the Laureato Absolute Chronograph Aston Martin F1 Edition utilised materials reclaimed from an Aston Martin Formula One race car for its carbon composite case. The fourth collaboration, the Laureato Green Ceramic Aston Martin, marked a significant milestone as the first Laureato with a fully green ceramic case and bracelet. Now, the latest addition to the GP Aston Martin line draws inspiration from the exciting Neo Bridges, featuring subtle changes in appearance to reflect the ongoing partnership.

As a quick reminder, the Bridges collection, inspired by the legendary La Esmeralda pocket watch of 1889, features a unique movement architecture with three horizontal bridges across the watch dial. Evolving from its solid gold predecessor, Girard-Perregaux continually adapts this design to a contemporary aesthetic, with the Neo Bridges line offering a futuristic interpretation while staying true to its retro inspiration. Launched in 2017 in a titanium case, the Earth to Sky version, released two years later with a black DLC coating, reinforced the brand’s commitment to traditional Swiss watchmaking with an eye on the future.

As with the Earth to Sky edition, the 45mm diameter and 12.8mm thick titanium case of the Girard-Perregaux Neo Bridges Aston Martin is coated with black DLC and presents a contemporary and dynamic appearance. Its well-balanced proportions make a bold statement without overwhelming, offering a comfortable fit on the wrist thanks to its ergonomic design and lightweight materials. Beyond the black hue and the nuanced anthracite grey reflections bestowed by the treatment, the polished components and sleek satin finishes on the sides and lugs, coupled with the ornate black crown, contribute to a technical and even aggressive look.

The Girard-Perregaux Neo Bridges Aston Martin Edition’s openworked dial, protected by a box-type glare-proofed sapphire crystal, reveals suspended and skeletonised hour indices on an inner black ring with the GP logo taking the position at 12 o’clock, accompanied by a minute track with fluorescent green markings, creating a fascinating depth in the black-and-grey colour palette. The movement’s baseplate doubles as the dial, providing a backdrop for the large (10.15mm) balance wheel at six o’clock and the luminescent skeletonised hour and minute hands, maintaining the shape of previous GP-AM collaborative watches and paying homage to Aston Martin’s signature colour, emitting green glow in the dark just as the luminescent material on the indices.

Other notable features include a micro-rotor at 10 o’clock adorned with the ‘Designed by Aston Martin’ statement and a 48-hour-strong mainspring barrel at two o’clock, with ‘Powered by Girard-Perregaux’ etched on the drum, highlighting the collaboration between the two luxury brands. Despite the dark palette and the display of intricate mechanics, the timekeeping function remains simple and easy to read. The sandblasted, PVD-treated bridges in Aston Martin Green contribute to a captivating overall construction, offering different hues depending on the light.

Since the inner workings of the in-house automatic calibre GP084000-2164 are showcased on the dial side, there is little to see through the transparent sapphire crystal caseback with an Aston Martin logo decal on turning over the watch. Large bridges, decorated with thick Geneva stripes, cover the movement, with a smaller bridge crossing the micro-rotor and revealing the back side of the barrel and ruby jewels. Still, everything is super-nicely executed, and the caseback provides information on the exclusivity of the Girard-Perregaux Neo Bridges Aston Martin Edition – One of 250 – and the number of jewels – twenty-nine. The GP 84000 calibre, composed of 208 components, beats at a frequency of 3Hz.

This new Girard-Perregaux Neo Bridges Aston Martin Edition is presented on a black rubber strap with a fabric pattern effect and green stitching, again paying homage to Aston Martin’s signature colour. The ensemble is completed with a matching titanium DLC triple-folding buckle, a perfect finishing touch to this exclusive collaboration, priced at CHF 36,000 or EUR 39,800 and available starting December 2023. For more information, please visit girard-perregaux.com.