Tourbillon Signature Mystérieuse Chevrons

The “Signature Mystérieuse” Tourbillon by Charles Girardier

The "mysterious signature" first chapter of the House of Charles Girardier in the 21st century

We wanted to revive the legacy of Charles Girardier " said the Elder ", whose eponymous House had disappeared at his death in 1839, by transposing his visual signature to the 21st century. The Tourbillon Signature Mystérieuse^Ò (registered trademark) for men and women embodies the first chapter of a Geneva watchmaking House that had fallen asleep in the 19th century.

Our aim is to create timepieces with playful complications and in the spirit of the founder.

We wanted to take up the characteristic elements of his pocket watches which were very often dressed with dials in grand feu enamel. Among his watches with complications some were “Jacquemarts”, a form of automaton from which we were inspired to create the mysterious signature.

A double mechanical animation

The flinqué* grand feu enamel dial features a double complication:

• o at 6 o'clock, a flying tourbillon set with a set tourbillon cage. The tourbillon makes one revolution per minute.
• o at 12 o'clock the mysterious signature - an automaton featuring Charles Girardier's logo with an interlaced C and G arranged on two elements pivoting on an axis. The energy required for this ballet is provided by an oscillating weight dedicated to this complication hidden beneath the dial. With each movement of the wrist, the kinetic energy causes the two mobiles to move in opposite directions, finally returning to the initial position when the wrist is tilted to read the time. This automaton is a playful and poetic interpretation that can be personalized to the client's taste with color and the client's initials if he wishes.

*engraved motif on a gold plate seen through the translucid enamel

A personalized CG 1809 caliber

Our collaboration with the Timeless manufacture has enabled us to create a unique complication based on a flying tourbillon movement with automatic winding by a peripheral mass. The automatic winding brings the desired comfort to the wearer without thickening it and keeping an open view on the movement thanks to this bidirectional mass evolving at the periphery of the movement. The special feature of the winding system developed by Timeless is a unique ball bearing which makes it a first in this type of mechanism.

The decoration of the movement is refined with bridges highlighted by a traditional hand-made graining by the application of silver powder with a brush. The hand-made re-entrant angles on the barrel bridge and the tourbillon bridge respect all the codes of Geneva's haute horlogerie.

A flinqué grand feu enamel dial 

The mastery of craftsmanship by the in-house dial workshop enables us to perpetuate a centuries-old tradition that only a few watchmaking houses master today: grand feu enameling. This technique consists first of all in engraving a gold plate with a herringbone pattern... which can be found on the calf leather strap.

Then the enamellers come to apply with a brush the colored and translucent enamel powder to let the engraved pattern appear. The enamel powder is then fired in an oven heated to 800 degrees (technique known as "grand feu") which allows the enamel to vitrify. Finally, the enameller will cover the whole with a new layer of translucent but colorless enamel, this time called "fondant", which will give the enamel its full depth. The dial goes back into the oven to transform the enamel powder into a solid form.

All these operations are performed internally.

Made in Geneva

All of the movement and casing elements are made in the same independent Geneva-based manufactory. We are proud of this collaboration, which allows us to reconnect with Charles Girardier's Geneva roots.