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Any Love for GP?

7K views 44 replies 31 participants last post by  Barge 
#1 ·
I look at the Public Forum quite often yet I never ever see anything posted about GP. I realize they've had a somewhat storied history but is there any love out there for this brand?





Photos copied from a Google search
 
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#5 ·
They cater to a specific crowd, your average Joe cannot afford one, hence we hear less about them.
 
#9 ·
They get criticized a bit for low resale values (doesn't bother me) I've noticed and that might have something to do with it. I like some of their offerings, one I had and one that has caught my eye, we'll see . . .
 

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#14 ·
They don't do chronographs right! But that's just me. I love chronos, but I dislike modular designs (a Dubois-Depraz module riveted to a movement that was originally designed to just tell time). I think I developed the bias reading about the Omega version, and how it is so difficult to service the chrono module they simply replace it. And I'm not fond of the idea of the module's "parasitic" relationship with the "host." The amplitude is affected when the chrono module is engaged, and burdens the ETA (Sellita, or whatever) time movement.
And for the record, I do recognize that a Dubois-Depraz module has a high quality manufacture.
 
#23 ·
Couldn't agree with this more. When a watch company develops "complications" by slapping modules on top of 3 hand movements it demonstrates their limits as a true manufacturer. True manufacturers build each complication movements for a singular purpose. As long as this is the practice at GP, it is hard to consider them a high end manufacturer. I probably own half a dozen GP watches and consider them a mid-range producer.
 
#16 ·
I love my ww.tc.

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The things I like most about their watches are their lugs, which curve down to hug the wrist and make me think of race cars; the red accents on their dials, like the red '60' in the small seconds subdial above, and which again evoke racing; and the minuscule gap between strap and case, giving it a seamless look en face.

They have great vintage watches as well, like the Deep Diver, Richeville and Laureato lines. Their vintage watches weren't targeted at the high-end segment, unlike their modern offerings.

They just announced the Competizione line, with the beautiful Stradale chronograph.

Their former owner, Gino Macaluso, was an Italian with a penchant for racing cars, hence the automobile bent to their watches.

All in all, they are like JLC to me, a true manufacture with a rich storied history, and great watch designs that draw on their past.

Looking forward to seeing the 225th anniversary Laureato in the metal.
 
#18 ·
I love my ww.tc.

View attachment 7556378

The things I like most about their watches are their lugs, which curve down to hug the wrist and make me think of race cars; the red accents on their dials, like the red '60' in the small seconds subdial above, and which again evoke racing; and the minuscule gap between strap and case, giving it a seamless look en face.

They have great vintage watches as well, like the Deep Diver, Richeville and Laureato lines. Their vintage watches weren't targeted at the high-end segment, unlike their modern offerings.

They just announced the Competizione line, with the beautiful Stradale chronograph.

Their former owner, Gino Macaluso, was an Italian with a penchant for racing cars, hence the automobile bent to their watches.

All in all, they are like JLC to me, a true manufacture with a rich storied history, and great watch designs that draw on their past.

Looking forward to seeing the 225th anniversary Laureato in the metal.
Thanks for the info, interesting stuff. I guess the vintage watches not being high-end helps explain the low vintage ebay prices.

One of the two greatest looking watches I ever sold, a pre-owned Richeville Grande Date in RG and Blue dial. Just an
incredible looking watch. Just drooled looking at it.
Have to ask...what was the other watch??
 
#20 ·
I really like a number of their watches--Hawk series (Sea Hawk and Chrono-Hawk, 1966, 1957, Laureato, and Competizione Straddle. I would pick up several if I had the funds.

From the Watch Snob (for what it's worth) Girard-Perregaux Watches - AskMen

"Girard-Perregaux is haute horlogerie to be sure. The company makes some fine timepieces with hand-built, finely decorated in-house movements. The 1966 line, for example, is a masterful execution of classically styled watches. All in all, the brand makes a worthy alternative to the usual suspects at the top of the horological heap. The problem with Girard-Perregaux is, when people have enough money to enter this stratus of watches, they tend to go for Lange or Patek or Audemars-Piguet, and it has given Girard-Perregaux a bit of an inferiority complex. And that's a shame because, other than Jaeger-LeCoultre, Girard-Perregaux might just represent the best "bargain" (I hate that word) in high-end watchmaking. You'd never be able to touch a chronograph from Patek or Lange for $20,000, yet the 1966 chrono from Girard-Perregaux gives up little to its Swiss brethren yet costs less."
 
#21 ·
From the Watch Snob (for what it's worth) Girard-Perregaux Watches - AskMen

"Girard-Perregaux is haute horlogerie to be sure. The company makes some fine timepieces with hand-built, finely decorated in-house movements. The 1966 line, for example, is a masterful execution of classically styled watches. All in all, the brand makes a worthy alternative to the usual suspects at the top of the horological heap. The problem with Girard-Perregaux is, when people have enough money to enter this stratus of watches, they tend to go for Lange or Patek or Audemars-Piguet, and it has given Girard-Perregaux a bit of an inferiority complex. And that's a shame because, other than Jaeger-LeCoultre, Girard-Perregaux might just represent the best "bargain" (I hate that word) in high-end watchmaking. You'd never be able to touch a chronograph from Patek or Lange for $20,000, yet the 1966 chrono from Girard-Perregaux gives up little to its Swiss brethren yet costs less."[/QUOTE]

Yup this sums it up right here.
 
#24 ·
Loved mine... in fact, I still love it but did not wear it as much as my OQ and I really needed the funds.
It may still be in my future yet if the opportunity presents itself.

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I truly feel that it is one the best high end sports watches; equal to PP Nautilus and AP RO.
 
#27 · (Edited)
Girard-Perregaux is certainly not the first upscale watch company to use Dubois-Depraz modules, including all three of the Big Three.

GP is one of very few high-grade manufactures, including the Big Three, Breguet (with the old Lemania), ALS, Blancpain, JLC, Zenith, Rolex, Maurice Lacroix, Montblanc (but onlly their high-end stuff from Minerva), and a few others. GP falls into the middle of that range, with movements finished more beautifully (but not more competently) than Zenith, Rolex, and most JLC, and not as well as the the very high end. Until quite recently, the Big Three used Frederic Piguet chronograph movements (now the manufacture for Blancpain). Before that, the automatics were modular and the hand-winds were Valjoux ebauches.

The notion that something is really wrong with a modular chronograph doesn't make that much sense to me. Even with a DD module, the GP movement is quite thin compared to any integrated chronograph. And for a general service, the module usually does not need servicing at all and the base movement can be serviced and repaired without disassembling all the chronograph controls. Like most integrated chronographs, it is not designed for continuous operation, but the module really doesn't place any more load on the movement than the chronograph train on an integrated movement. Both the DD module and the 2894 module have a column wheel (of a sort) and a vertical clutch (really!).

Vintage GP is nicely collectible, but one has to be careful. I have one that just came to me, and while its caliber 461, which is based on a FHF ebauche, is nice but not haute horlogerie, the design of the watch is really excellent with better dial and hands detailing than from many other "nice watch" companies of the period, including Longines and Zenith. I would put it slightly above JLC in terms of watch design boldness, and on a par with JLC in terms of movement finishing.

Rick "stunned by the new Laureato" Denney
 
#31 ·
Thanks for asking the question, as it has been the catalyst for me to pull my much neglected GP out of the box that it has been hiding in for the last few years.

Years ago, before I really knew anything about watches other than I liked the look of them and wanted to get a nice watch, I bought a 1946 Girard Perregaux Sea-Hawk off eBay. I was seduced by the photos, but of course when it arrived I realised I had a made a huge mistake because at 33mm wide it was far too small for my tastes. Nonetheless, that was the first "proper" watch I ever bought, and it set me on a path to becoming a serious watch collector and also forced me to do much more thorough research the next time around. Not all was lost though, as I gave it to my wife who wears it on a daily basis when she is not wearing her comparatively massive TomTom Runner Cardio. Anyway, here is a picture of the watch that started it all for me.



Its probably not fully original, but it is close enough to these advertisements from the early 1940s for my liking.



Fast forward 10 years, and I had amassed a small collection of mostly Breitlings. Around that time I developed a watch collecting philosophy that was suppose to limit me to one watch per manufacturer - but each watch was to have some historical lineage back to watches at least as far back as the 1960s. While the limitation was never going to hold, it did open my collection up to a few more brands, so I thought I might see if I could find a modern Sea-Hawk that was reminiscent of the one I had originally bought years before. Sadly, Sea-Hawks had morphed into hulking beasts by then, and also cost a small fortune, so that was not going to be on the cards. However, the Girard-Perraegaux Monte-Carlo range of commemorative limited edition watches caught my eye as having a nice vintage look, and fortuitously they also were inexpensive by GP standards. The one I fell in love with was the Monte-Carlo 1973, limited to 250 pieces, with a lovely panda-like dial (pandas are not silver in case you're wondering why "panda-like") and powder-blue highlights.



This watch commemorates the 1973 Monte-Carlo Rally win by the Apline-Renault A110 number 18 piloted by Jean-Claude Andruet and his co-driver Michèle "Biche" Espinosi-Petit (or just "Biche" as she is acknowledged on the car). Coincidently, this rally was also the first ever race in the now long-running Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC) format.





Sorry OP to rabbit on with such a long post in your thread, but you see there is a lot of love for GPs here - even if I haven't worn mine for at least two years (perhaps longer). Part of the problem for me is that I never liked it on the strap, which squeaks horribly and really doesn't have a premium feel (apart from the deployant clasp). Moreover, I originally saw this watch when HankE on Timezone had just sold his back in 2010, and he had it on a genuine GP bracelet. I cannot get that image out of my mind; however, at AU$1200 + GST, there was always something else to put my money into.



I may still get around to buying the bracelet one day (anyone got one?), but right now I have a hankering for a custom made strap to replace the one I don't like. I think it will still be black, but with powder-blue stitching to match the watch. If there are any strap makers that think they can do the match, feel free to PM me.

Lastly, and as a nice way to bring this post full circle, Renault have recently announced that they are going to resurrect the Alpine name with the production of their Alpine Vision concept car that is a beautiful nod to the awesome A110. I'm so looking forward to seeing that car on the road in the next couple of years.

 
#32 ·
I would only ever buy one preowned or very deeply discounted from GM, but I like a number of their modern watches. The sport classique chronograph and the 30th anniversary fiat chronograph are really good-looking and available for great prices. 1945 series, Laureto, wwtc, and other lines are also of interest to me.

I owned this Seahawk for a short while and enjoyed it.

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#37 · (Edited)
Just to update my previous post in this thread, I eventually got a genuine bracelet for my Monte-Carlo 1973 and have had it fitted. It was a bit of a task as the bracelet endlinks are fixed (not like other watch brands) and were not quite right. Thankfully, one of the watchmakers at the Avstev Group (Australian distributor for Girard-Perregau) made the necessary modifications while I we happily chatted about GP watches and the watch industry in general. Here's the end result - much better IMHO.

 
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