A rare and important men’s Girard-Perregaux Chronometer, with the 39 jewel Gyromatic high beat movement. Number 567 of just 662 made.
HOW DO WE DATE THIS WATCH?
Girard-Perregaux were the first company to make a high frequency automatic movement in 1965, so this watch has to be after this date. The same company were also pioneers in quartz technology in the early 1970’s, so we think this watch falls between the two dates. For many this is a horological high water mark, and we have contacted Girard-Perregaux directly to try and find out more. UPDATE – The nice people at Girard-Perregaux have confirmed that this model, 8795, was made in 1967.
CONDITION
A chronometer is a watch of the highest timekeeping standards, and there used to be special competitions to see who could make the best chronometer. Now a £100 quartz watch easily meets these standards, but this watch was a tour de force for what Girard Perregaux could do. We are thankful to a customer who has found this article on the 32A movement and how precise the standards had to be. Priced at $170, this was not a cheap watch. For comparison, a 1967 Heuer Carrera 2447S cost $89.50 and a 1967 1675 Rolex GMT-Master cost $225.
This watch is also a bit of a wolf in sheeps clothing. Unostentatious, the slim solid stainless steel case may go unnoticed by most. The silver dial at first glance looks plain, but when you get up close and personal with the watch you see several things. The first is the lined pattern on the dial, which our microscope set to 43x shows superbly. This gives the watch a shimmer that at first you don’t see, then it captivates. The dial also has the high frequency symbol above 6, and this we have only ever seen on the case back stickers before. The hands are beveled, and perfect. The crown is original, as we believe is the magnified acrylic crystal (the magnifier is on the inside of the crystal). The dial does have some small pitting, but you would have to have very good eyesight to see this without a loupe. The case does have a small dent on the bottom left lug. The watch is fitted with a nice Hirsch leather strap.
We have taken a photograph of this watch next to a picture of the modern version that retails at $10,300.
This watch will be supplied with our Certificate of Authenticity.
Please see the HD video below for more detail.
SIZE
Width with crown 36.0 mm
Width without crown 33.9 mm
Between lugs 18 mm
Lug to lug length 40.7 mm
Bracelet maximum length n/a
Thickness 10.5 mm
All sizes are approximate
PRICE
£SOLD including a 3 months guarantee and free delivery to UK addresses. If you live outside the UK we can still deliver to most countries. Please see our Worldwide Shipping information, or Contact Us.
