Girard-Perregaux: Constant Escapement L.M.

“Constancy” is a key element for Girard-Perregaux. In 2008, the Swiss house unveiled the Constant Escapement – whose name is also a nod to Constant Girard-Perregaux – which represented a big revolution in chronometry (timekeeping precision). Leveraging the extraordinary properties of silicon, the mechanism supplies the balance wheel with constant force that never dwindles, however much energy is available, allowing a continuous timekeeping precision.

Today, almost ten years after this major breakthrough, Girard-Perregaux introduces a new Constant Escapement L.M. model that reprises the 2008 mechanism and innovates with four other invention patents.

A butterfly-wing frame is placed between the lever and the balance spring. This intermediate device serves to support a silicon buckled-blade measuring just 14 microns thick – six times finer than a human hair! Flexed at the point of instability, it is capable of storing a certain amount of energy, before releasing it all at once. This entirely novel constant force escapement represents a victory over the loss of energy typical of traditional watchmaking, thereby guaranteeing unprecedented precision.

Another distinctive feature of this movement is its one-week power reserve, thanks to two double barrels. The autonomy is displayed on a linear indicator at 9 o’clock. Hours and minutes are read off on an offset counter at 12 o’clock, only the seconds hand remains centrally fitted.

With its technical and contemporary design, the GP Constant Escapement L.M has features an imposing 46 mm-diameter case, an all-black dial and it is available in pink gold (€.119.000), white gold (€.125.000) or a carbon-titanium composite (€.103.000).