I last wrote about the Girard-Perregaux Neo Constant Escapement watch back in 2024 when the collection was closer to being newly released. The “Neo” Constant Escapement is a revised version of the original Girard-Perregaux Constant Escapement models that originated back in 2013. I would argue that the Constant Escapement watches, in many ways, were ahead of their time from a marketing perspective when they first came out. Girard-Perregaux was among the companies that were really big on silicon at the time, which they have only further leaned into these days, given the relationship with Ulysse Nardin (who makes the Freak as well as in-house silicon components). There isn’t too much new technical information to say about the Neo Constant Escapement, but I have not featured the Neo Constant Escapement Pink Gold, or this limited edition of just two pieces, “carbon silicium” version, which is an off-catalog special model. I also have some observations about the lack of details Girard-Perregaux themselves say about the Neo Constant Escapement watch on their own website.
In general, I am quickly ‘getting over’ skeletonized watches as the timepiece industry has been quickly saturating the market with them. Skeletonization makes the most sense not when you simply apply the technique of removing extra elements, but when the skeletonization reveals something actually cool to see. The Girard-Perregaux Neo and original Constant Escapement watches are a perfect example of when skeletonization makes sense. The entire point of these watches is the novel escapement system (known as the “Constant Escapement”), which is made from a single piece of photolithography-created silicon. It looks awesome, and it performs much better than traditional metal systems in many regards. This is the exact type of view that you want in a watch with an open part of the dial. I also love to photograph it. Depending on the light, the colors change, and there are a lot of details you can only see clearly under magnification – such as the hair-width spring element, which is a key part of the system’s operation.
What you are seeing in the operation of the in-house-made caliber GP09200 manually wound movement is a novel approach to allowing power to pass from the mainspring to the movement through the regulation system. The system uses that hair-thin blade and dual escapement wheels to consistently dole out power to the movement without changes in rate results over time. What that means is that over the seven days it takes for the power reserve to wind down, the accuracy of the movement does not change. Most watches with longer power reserves have very different rate results when the mainspring is fully wound or near unwound because of the different levels of torque being released. In most watch regulation systems, such dramatic shifts in torque force the watch to run fast or slow. A constant force escapement is a type of system designed to reduce this torque curve fluctuation. There are many types of constant force escapement systems, and the Constant Escapement by Girard-Perregaux is just one of them. It also happens to be a very modern and very high-performance system that was made possible by the use of silicon technology and complex computer modeling that allowed the engineers to determine the correct shape and geometry of the components. The GP09200 movement operates at a frequency of 3Hz and is comprised of 266 parts. The movement indicates the time with minutes, hours, and seconds, along with a power reserve indicator on the dial.
Girard-Perregaux does nearly no storytelling about this movement or the Constant Escapement system on its website. The product page for the Neo Constant Escapement merely describes the watch, without actually explaining it. It is somewhat surprising that Girard-Perregaux would put in all the effort to design this movement for the particular purpose of it being more accurate over time, and for those details to be entirely missing from their marketing information. Aside from mentioning that the GP09200 movement is COSC Chronometer-certified, there is nearly no indication on the Girard-Perregaux website that this movement is designed for accuracy or chronometric performance. It just seems like a glaring omission. If Girard-Perregaux’s own website cannot properly educate people on its products, where does the brand expect people to reliably learn this information?
For example, “Constant Escapement” is not just another way of saying “constant force escapement” in a more compact manner. “Constant” is actually the first name of “Constant Girard,” the cofounder of the Girard-Perregaux brand (founded in the mid-1800s). I think it is pretty cool that his name was the same as the operative concept in the constant force escapement, but it would take some sleuthing for most casual watch fans to make that connection. All because Girard-Perregaux fails to do that, where people expect to find it, on their website product pages. Amusing, right?
The first pink-gold version of the Girard-Perregaux Constant Escapement watch came out in 2014. Now in Neo Constant Escapement form, pink gold makes a return for this 45mm wide case. That sounds big, but with the shorter lugs and rounded proportions, the Neo Constant Escapement watch doesn’t wear as large as its 45mm wide, 14.8mm thick size might suggest. The case is water resistant to 30 meters, and has a sapphire crystal over the top and bottom. The 18k pink-gold version of the Neo Constant Escapement is pretty, but it isn’t as ritzy as the carbon silicium model. As described, that material is a combination of carbon and silicon, and is rather exotic. For that reason, Girard-Perregaux only produced two of them, and they cost well over $100,000 more than the 18 pink-gold versions of the Neo Constant Escapement models.
Girard-Perregaux currently undervalues the importance of these models in its own product presentation online. Nevertheless, these are competent and innovative ultra-luxe watches that make for good daily wearing on account of their week-long power reserve and focus on accuracy. I know that the Neo Constant Escapement is probably the definition of a niche-appeal timepiece, but I really enjoy it despite its quirks and the brand’s poor communication. Price for the Girard-Perregaux Neo Constant Escapement Pink Gold 93510-52-3552-5CX is $134,000 USD. Price for the limited edition Girard-Perregaux Neo Constant Escapement Carbon Silicium 93510-41-3094-5CX is CHF 246,000. Learn more(ish) at the Girard-Perregaux website.