Girard Perregaux Neo Tourbillon Quasar: A Hands-On Review of Transparency

amanico · 2020-06-03T03:45:50Z

Explore the Girard Perregaux Neo Tourbillon with Three Bridges Quasar, featuring a revolutionary sapphire case. Discover its evolution from earlier Neo Tourbillon models and community insights.

amanico

WPS member · Girard Perregaux forum

16 replies3925 views10 photos

Amanico's insightful review of the Girard Perregaux Neo Tourbillon with Three Bridges Quasar offers a deep dive into a significant evolution of GP's iconic design. This article explores how the Quasar, with its innovative sapphire case, pushes the boundaries of transparency and material use in high horology. Amanico meticulously traces the lineage of the Neo Tourbillon, providing crucial context for understanding the Quasar's place in this distinguished collection.

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The Quasar, hidden during the SIHH and unveiled at the 2019 Edition of Watch and wonders, is the fourth opus of the Neo Tourbillon with titanium bridges.

Indeed, the first Neo Tourbillon was a revolution when it was introduced in the 2014 catalog.

No gold bridges, but some sensual, even if less refined, titanium bridges, all in curves, but quite powerful, contrasting in an eye catching way with the warm 45 mm rose gold case.

It had its charm, but for those who wanted to go farther in the concept watch look, they just had to wait one more year, to see what I consider, to this day, as the best Neo Tourbillon version, the DLC Titanium, affectionately called " Neo Tourbillon Black ".

After a pause of three years, Girard Perregaux revisited the Neo Tourbillon with a skeleton version, in a Titanium case.

And this year, the Blue House revisits in a deeper way the transparency of the Neo Tourbillon Skeleton, with the Quasar.

Not that the dial is more skeletonized, it is, from what I furtively saw, the same, with the same strange luminous hands ( I still wonder why they opted for the lime in the hands on the Skeleton and on this one... ), the huge difference, and the big novelty is... The case.

Indeed, the case is made in sapphire. I still have to find the true meaning of Quasar, by the way.

Even if some other brands released some watches with a sapphire case, such as Jaeger LeCoultre and the Hybris Artistica Duometre à Spherotourbillon in 2014, they are not legion.

I asked Girard Perregaux how much time was required to make a sapphire case, they told me a bit more than... 200 Hours.

The skeletonized version of the movement has a big advantage, compared to the normal one. There is something to see on the back side, while the view on the non skeleton versions ( rose gold and titanium DLC Black ) is less enjoyable...

RG and Titanium DLC Black:

The movement is the Cal GP 9400, huge ( 36 mm ) and thick ( 9, 54 mm ), automatic, with a delicious micro rotor located under the upper bridge at 12 o'clock, made of 260 parts, beating at 21, 600 vibrations per hour, with a power reserve of 60 hours.

It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to handle this watch for some minutes. Yes, it is a nice and original version of the Neo Tourbillon, but I am not very fan of these transparent cases, and my favorite remains the Neo Tourbillon Titanium DLC Black.

Looking forward to reading your comments and thoughts,

Best.

Nicolas

Key Points from the Discussion

The Quasar's sapphire case represents a significant departure, with some collectors preferring sapphire within the movement but not for the entire case.
The aesthetic of the Neo Tourbillon's bridges has evolved to a point where some find them overly technical and less appealing than earlier iterations, preferring the 'Neo Tourbillon Black' or traditional three-bridge designs.
The Neo Tourbillon Three Bridges, including the Quasar, is celebrated as an example of avant-garde high horology, showcasing Girard Perregaux's capabilities and standing as a favorite tourbillon design for its distinctive aesthetic.
There is an appetite for continued experimentation with the three-bridges motif, with a preference for innovation focused specifically on the design and materials of the bridges themselves.

The Discussion

jlux

Jun 3, 2020

Avantgarde high horology at its best and it really shows what GP is capable of. Anyhow, the neo tourbillon three bridges (together with the JLC spherotourbillon) is my favorite tourbillon design: maybe one day ….

Jun 3, 2020

I do think there is room for more experimentation with the three bridges motif, but I hope this will be focused on the bridges themselves.

cazalea

Jun 3, 2020

And the shape of the bridges now seems too technical, too curving, arching, cutaway... I can’t exactly put my finger on it. Rather than a watch movement, this now looks like (to me) a tiny wrist-mounted paper shredder. Sorry. I’ll take the neo black or traditional 3 bridges models instead.

cory

Jun 3, 2020

I hear new and exciting things are coming soon from GP which I for one am very excited to see and learn more. I don't mind sapphire inside the watch movement but not used for the case.

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Girard Perregaux Neo Tourbillon Quasar: A Hands-On Review of Transparency

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