Girard, Constantin Othenin
Constantin Othenin Girard (1825-1903)
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 chronometers - 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 watches with three bridge movements 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 wristwatches for German naval officers and then produces two thousand pieces. This production is the first large-scale production of wristwatches. In 1889 the famous tourbillon watch with three gold bridges, 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.