Girard Perregaux Tip of the Week 36

In the 18th Century, improving time measuring instruments became a factor of necessity, due to the increasing commercial travel and trade. Timekeepers had to be able to determine the position of ships at sea.

The quest for accurancy, which escalated in the 19th century, concentrated on the regulating part of the timepiece, and saw the invention of the detent escapement, the anchor escapement and the Tourbillon. Constant Girard was famed for the extraordinary quality of his chronometer timepieces. One of his models, a Tourbillon pocket chronometer, won the record for accuracy in the Neuchatel Observatory competition which it held for 17 years.