====== Girard, Constantin Othenin ======
{{wst>image_r|Girard,_Constantin|Constantin Othenin Girard (1825-1903)}}
**Constantin Othenin Girard** was a Swiss watchmaker.

Constantin Othenin Girard is born in September [[1825]]. In [[1852]], together with his brother Numa, he founds the company //Girard & Cie//. Two years later he marries Marie Perregaux, and from the merger of their names or through collaboration with the then already famous chronometer maker Henri Perregaux in [[1856]] the [[manufacture]] [[Girard-Perregaux]] is created in [[La Chaux-de-Fonds]].

Girard, himself a passionate watchmaker, directs his attention also to the production of precision [[chronometer]]s - whose enormous precision is confirmed several times in the 60s and 70s of the 19th century by the observatory in [[Neuchâtel]] at [[chronometer]] competitions. From [[1865]] he also manufactures [[pocket watch]]es with [[Bridge|three bridge movement]]s and [[tourbillon]]. [[1867]], he presents a watch with [[tourbillon]] at the World Exhibition in Paris and wins a gold medal. From [[1880]] on behalf of Kaiser Wilhelm I. he designs [[wristwatch]]es for German naval officers and then produces two thousand pieces. This production is the first large-scale production of [[wristwatch]]es. In [[1889]] the famous [[tourbillon]] watch with three [[bridge|gold bridge]]s, whose development has taken several years to complete, again obtains a gold medal at the World Exhibition in Paris. In [[1901]] this watch is then no longer allowed to compete due to its unattainability.

Constantin Othenin Girard dies in [[1903]], and his son Constant Girard-Gallet takes over the management of the company [[Girard-Perregaux]].

===== Literature =====
  *[[Armbanduhren Spezial Girard-Perregaux. Watches for the Few Since 1791. Mit großer Modellübersicht]]; author [[Peter Braun]]; ISBN 3898808041 


{{tag>Biographies}}