One of the biggest news items for watch fans last year was about something small: the Corum Golden Bridge turned 30.  Introduced in 1980, the Corum Golden Bridge was then and is now a design that plays against conventional expectations of a watch.  The Golden Bridge begins with an unusually shaped mechanism: it’s what’s known as a “baguette” style movement, resembling the elongated loaf of the same name, and instead of putting the gears in a circular arrangement, as is normally the case, they’re placed in a straight line, so that the mainspring barrel is at one end and the escapement (with its oscillating balance wheel) is at the other.

The unusually shaped movement is the star of the watch in the Golden Bridge timepieces and as such, it’s not hidden under a dial; instead, the Golden Bridge watches have since 1980 featured a case that’s open both front and back to allow the movement to be seen in its entirety.  Last year, to celebrate the anniversary of the design, Corum introduced the first Golden Bridge tourbillon watches in a limited edition of 33, and this year Corum introduced an even more exotic version of the Golden Bridge Tourbillon, with a sapphire bridge holding the tourbillon carriage in place.

Source: Haute Living