By John Galt
Girard-Perregaux have released two new traveller pieces: one to add to the traveller family, and the other a limited edition. Both are very good looking indeed. Let’s first take a look at the addition to the traveller family.
Available in two versions, either stainless steel or 18k rose gold, both are 44mm which given the complications is a nice size and sits nicely on the wrist with its wonderful curved lugs. The stainless steel version comes with a white dial whereas the rose gold comes with a choice of either a white or my personal favourite black dial, which really accentuates the grid-like pattern engraved on the dial to look like the imaginary longitude and latitude lines. The small bezel helps to make this piece feel very uncluttered even though they have managed to fit a lot onto it. The large date window at 12 o’clock really jumps out at you and looks right at home below the GP logo.
Two sub-dials are located at a slight lower placement than the normal 3 & 9 but look perfectly at home, overlapping each other slightly at 4 o’clock and 8 o’clock, The moon faze dial at 8 o’clock features a very realistic-looking moon and stars, achieved by plating metal in various shades of grey onto the disc, and is highly accurate (Girard-Perregaux say it will only need adjusting every 122 years!!!). Tucked inside the moon faze is the small seconds, which is highly readable but blends in nicely to the moon. Facing it is the GMT features with a nice black/white dial to show the intrepid traveller their home time.
Turn the piece over and you are greeted by an exhibition case back. As you all know by now I really love to be able to see the beating heart of a piece, and this is no exception. The Girard-Perregaux in-house calibre GP03300-0093 self-winding movement with 46 hour power reserve, finished beautifully with Geneva stripes, perlage and blued screws, and a rotor in the shape of the Girard-Perregaux Tourbillon Bridge completes the movement. Both pieces are finished off with a gorgeous alligator strap with folding clasp.
Prices are around 11,875 euros for the stainless steel version and 24,450 euros for the 18k gold.
Girard-Perregaux have released a limited edition of this piece called the John Harrison in homage to the great visionary and invertor of the marine chronometer, limited to 50 pieces only to mark the 300th anniversary of the longitude act passed by the British government. In 1735 John Harrison presented the first marine instrument that had a real chance of solving the problem of calculating a ship’s longitude.
As you can see the aesthetics of the piece remain the same but with some subtle differences. Only available in pink gold and with a white dial they have engraved one of the meridians on the dial with his name at the bottom of the meridian and Greenwich at the top. The GMT feature instead shows a map with Great Britain in bright red. Limited to 50 pieces with a price of 25,750 euros.
Conclusion
I do have a soft spot for Girard-Perregaux, especially for their tri-axis and Hawk sports watches, and this is another for me with its clean lines, beautiful low sub-dials slightly hugging each other, and stunning moon dial. But if I was being honest with myself, would I spend the little extra to have the limited edition? I’m not sure as I think the piece works best with the black dial, which with the longitude lines and sub-dials coupled with rose gold just looks downright gorgeous. For more info, please visit girard-perregaux.com
John Galt – Contributing Editor
John Galt caught the horology bug 4 years ago on his first visit to a London watch show and has snowballed since; John has become an avid writer and blogger of timepieces of all kinds, from everyday timepieces to modern Luxury Haute Horology, his favorite brands being HYT and Greubel Forsey that push the bounders of modern watch-making. John keeps a keen interest in the UK watch scene with their many emerging brands and timepiece’s. John Galt currently contributes watch related articles for online publications in the UK and USA. You can follow John on Twitter @johng73 Read his articles here.
