When it comes to horology, producing most of your timepiece in-house is always a flex. More so if you’re constantly pushing the boundaries, and Girard-Perregaux is certainly doing so with its latest Minute Repeater Flying Bridges watch. As if the minute repeater complication alone isn’t intricate enough on its own. Instead, you have the trademark three-bridge design to build this complication upon, and by golly, is it a marvel.

The first glance will give you the impression that this entire movement is simply floating in the case. Maybe it’s the emptiness that gives this illusion, as there is a kind of spaciousness afforded by the domed sapphire set atop a 46mm case. With a similar setup on the back, you get to see right through this watch, too. And this is a watch that you’d definitely want to see the inner workings of, especially when you activate the minute repeater.

But before we even get to all that, it’s important to note that this is Girard-Perregaux’s first automatic version (through a micro rotor) of the minute repeater, adding to the long list of technical achievements this watch already carries. Then you have the detailed finishing of all the components that totals up to 240 hours on this part alone (which beats the assembly time of 200 working hours). Timepieces are usually works of art, but this particular watch goes beyond that and straddles the line of perfection. It’s hard not to feel pride having something like this on your wrist, especially with all the care taken by some of the best watchmakers in the world to produce something of this calibre.

Speaking of calibre, the Calibre GP9530—tourbillon and all—runs up to 60 hours, which is nothing to scoff at. And it is all protected by a 30-metre water resistance, not so much to take on a swim, but to protect such an intricate device from external hazards such as dust. It’s hard to imagine anyone daring to bring this watch anywhere near a pool, anyway. One could argue that water would make for nicer acoustics, but I digress.

It’s not like the watch needs any help sounding good, however, as the aforementioned domed sapphire crystals allow the sound to be expressed clearly, giving its user the ability to listen to the time. Then you have the gongs that are placed on the dial side, so that less of the sound waves are absorbed by your hand. Look even closer and you’ll see that the gongs and gong stud are made from a single piece of metal, further optimising sound quality. Alas, there is only so much words can do when it comes to describing sound. Perhaps a quick search on YouTube would furnish you with a better understanding of what this particular minute repeater sounds like.

The Girard-Perregaux Minute Repeater Flying Bridges may check all the boxes of technical expertise, but what it does well with this model is showcase its brand DNA while doing so. It does not lose any of its trademark characters in its pursuit of excellence, and it stands as a beacon of what can be achieved when passionate experts set their minds to see how far they can go.