La Esmeralda is a pocket watch made by Constant Girard for the Universal Exhibition of 1889, housing a tourbillon movement with three gold bridges in a sumptuous engraved rose gold case. Later, a famous watch and jewellery retailer, Hauser, Ziwy & Co, who ran La Esmeralda shops in Paris and Mexico, was commissioned to sell it: it was bought by the President of Mexico, Porfirio Diaz (1830-1915). In 1970, a descendant of the president offered the manufacture the opportunity to buy the piece, which is now part of the Girard-Perregaux museum collection and has been known as 'La Esmeralda' for over a century.
A fascinating story, that of the Esmeralda and its movement, which in the late 1900s Luigi Macaluso - owner of the company until 2010 - revived first on the back and then on the dial of a wristwatch. Thus was born the myth of the Three Golden Bridges.
For the 230th anniversary of its foundation, the brand has created a watch that embodies the same spirit (and savoir-faire) as Constant Girard's Esmeralda. In the Esmeralda "A Secret" Eternity Edition, the tourbillon is visible on the dial and the three gold bridges are similar to those mounted on La Esmeralda of 1889.
Two galloping horses echoing those engraved on the case of the original, patiently hand-engraved, form the left and right ends of the barrel bridge and tourbillon bridge. By pressing the button coaxial to the crown, a secret cover reveals the automatic movement. The pink gold case is entirely hand-engraved. The engravings inside the secret cover can be personalised.
Grand feu enamel embellishes the dial, the secret cover and the sides of the case and lugs. A dial with perfect grand feu enamel will retain its colour forever: this is why both the new edition of the Esmeralda and the rest of the 230th anniversary collection are called the Eternity Edition.
