Wristwatches are the ultimate collector's item and this handsome volume chronicles the history of a Swiss watch manufactory that is an industry standard setter. Arriving at the crossroads of design and technology, Girard-Perregaux has created timepieces of superior quality and timeless elegance since 1791. The company designed the first wristwatch to replace the pocketwatch, set the quartz standard, built the timepieces used to record the first Zepplin flights and Formula I car races, and designed a watch exclusively for Ferrari owners. Few watchmakers can boast as fine a collection as Girard-Perregaux, which features luxurious "complications" such as the tourbillon mechanism covered by three gold bridges. In its unceasing quest for innovation and improvement, Girard-Perregaux has raised the mechanical movement of their watches to a degree of perfection. Such amazing design intricacies unfold in this book through a series of close-up photographs with vellum overlays that show the inner workings of the watches.

François Chaille is a costume historian. He also published Cartier: Creative Writing (2000) and The Little Book of Ties (2001) with Flammarion.