Precision has always been at the heart of Girard-Perregaux’s business. This year, to uphold this tradition and underscore its passion for motor racing, the company founded in 1791 is launching its first two automatic chronographs in the new “Sport Competizione” collection: the elegantly designed “Stradale” and the radially sportier “Circuito”. Both ex-press the same desire of the Maison, renowned for its passion for excellence, to offer discerning enthusiasts a place in a world on the move.
Writing the history of time
Girard-Perregaux began making chronometers as soon as this complication appeared in the XiXth century. Girard-Perregaux’s most sophisticated pocket models were always designed to achieve the highest levels of precision. In some cases, they were also fitted with a rattrapante, an additional compli- cation enabling the measurement of intermediate times or two actions with the same start but a different end.
Symbols of dynamism and entrepreneurial spirit, these instruments evolved over the decades to become wristwatches in the 1920s and 1930s. During the fifties, Girard-Perregaux produced chronometers designed to meet the needs of engineers. Then, at the beginning of the Sixties, the company launched shorter, more “sporty” time-measuring instruments, designed to appeal to younger generations looking for timepieces that could measure individual performance. The three-counter chronograph known at the time as the “ready-go”, especially designed for rally and motorcycle drivers, was a great success.
These historic models prompted the management team of the time, passionate about rally cars, to relaunch a collection of chronographs in the 1990s, inspired by those of the 1960s and also dedicated to the world of racing cars.
With the race in mind
The new Sport Competizione chronograph collection presented this year by Manufacture Girard-Perregaux pays tribute to speed through inspirations gleaned from the automotive world. Subtly retro-futuristic, this line freely evokes the famous Club italia chronograph which, launched in 1987, was the starting point for the brand’s reconquest, at a time when quartz reigned supreme, of an emerging market in search of quality historical products.
Chronographe Stradale
The Manufacture Girard-Perregaux, determined to maintain the myth of specialized instruments ready to defy time itself, has chosen to dress the Stradale chronograph in a 42 mm-diameter steel case. This contemporary size, combined with a classic design inspired by the finest products from the golden age of the wristwatch, ensures that this piece, which combines elegance and dynamism, will always remain totally timeless. Water-resistant to 30 meters to keep out moisture at all latitudes, this watch features long, subtly curved lugs to follow the natural curve of the wrist. It also features “mushroom” pushers visually identical to those used during the “golden fifties”, and is adorned with a transparent sapphire crystal caseback allowing aesthetes to visually enjoy the finishes of the GP03300 manufacture movement.
The 11-line 1⁄2 (25.60 mm), 6.50 mm-thick manufacture caliber that gives life to this sparkling chronograph is made up of 435 components, including 63 jewels. Vibrating at 4 hz (i.e. 28,800 vibrations per hour), it has an autonomy of 46 hours. Once the movement has been wound, the dial – available in silver or black – displays the classic time information, but also indicates the timed times at the tip of the long second hand starting from the center, as well as the elapsed minutes and hours in additional subtly recessed and finely azure counters. Efficient, this model features a calendar in a soberly open window between the 4th and 5th hour markers, on
Black or steel dial, it can be worn in any urban setting on an alligator strap closed by a branded folding clasp, or on a steel bracelet.
Circuito Chronograph
Living with the times, Manufacture Gi- rard-Perregaux also wanted to offer enthusiasts of contemporary products a chronograph that harmoniously combines avant-garde and tradition. They will appreciate the Circuito version of the Competizione sports collection, for which the Manufacture’s engineers and watchmakers have opted for robustness and lightness in an innovative 42 mm-diameter case that combines titanium with carbon for a metallic effect reminiscent of the bodywork of top-of-the-range cars. an alloy that has necessitated the development of a case design based on composite materials. Lightweight and highly resistant, this 30-meter water-resistant case, with its design inspired by chronographs from the golden age of wristwatches, protects the chrono caliber from external aggression.
manufacture reference GP03300-0122. Carefully hand-finished in the Manufacture’s workshops, this 25.60 mm (11 1⁄2 in.) mechanism with blued screws, circular-grained plate and bridges adorned with Côtes de Genève reveals, through the metallized case-back, some of its 435 components, including 63 jewels, the column-wheel and steel oscillating weight. The regulating group, vibrating at 28,800 vibrations per hour (i.e. 4hz), ensures optimum precision for this timepiece designed to run for 46 hours. Available on a carbon-effect calfskin strap fastened to the wrist with a double folding clasp in dLC-coated bead-blasted steel. This efficient chronograph, designed for everyday adventures, boasts a dial in “honeycomb” composite reminiscent of the grilles and air intakes of the auto-mobile industry, for an assured sporty-chic effect.
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