Combining technical expertise and discreet elegance in a single quest for perfection, the Girard-Perregaux 1966 chronograph is a demonstration of the manufacture’s total mastery of watchmaking. With a 40 mm diameter and thickness of 11.25 mm, it is made in pink gold. Its finish is entirely polished. Naturally, it has two anti-reflective sapphire glasses, domed on the dial side and flat on the back.
Two dials are available: opaline silvered or anthracite. Both have relief hour markers in the same color as the case and a railroad minute circle. A tachymeter affirms the watch’s character and is integrated in a contrasting zone, as are the small second and the chronograph minutes counter. The hands are diamond-polished. The date appears at 6 o’clock inside a raised window.
The caliber GP03800
The fruit of five years of research, this latest member of the 3000 family launched in 1994, the caliber GP 03800, comes in the form of a classic column-wheel chronograph movement. It numbers 312 components. Its dimensions are 25.60 mm (or 11½’’’) in diameter and a remarkable 5.40 mm in thickness. It has 31 jewels. Its microvar variable inertia balance wheel beats at 28,800 Vib/h. The small second is at 9 o’clock.
The display of the chronograph includes a central direct-drive second hand and a jumping minutes counter; that is to say that the small hand jumps from one minute to the next in a fraction of a second, making it much easier to read than the usual continuous mechanism. The core of this integrated chronograph is of course the column wheel with its lateral clutch. In addition, a hammer lever allows one arm of the hammer to be wound up more or less strongly thanks to an eccentric in order to position the hammer face precisely on the minute heart cam. Special care has been applied to the finishing: the bridges are beveled and decorated with côtes de Genève, the steels parts, also beveled, are finished with hand-drawn strokes and wheels are circular-grained. Only the eccentrics are deliberately blued, so as not to overload the movement’s design and allow the watchmaker to spot possible adjustments easily.
Girard-Perregaux 1966
Column-wheel chronograph
Technical specifications
Case: pink gold
Diameter: 40.00 mm
Glass: anti-reflective sapphire (domed)
Case back: sapphire glass
Water resistance: 30 meters
Girard-Perregaux movement GP03800-0001
Column-wheel integrated chronograph, manual mechanical movement
Caliber: 11 ½ ’’’
Frequency: 28,800 Vib/h - (4 hz)
Jewels: 31
Power reserve: minimum 58 hours
Number of components: 312
Balance wheel: variable inertia microvar
Functions: hour, minute, date, column-wheel chronograph, chronograph hand, jumping 30-minute counter and small second
Hand sewn Black alligator strap
Pink gold folding clasp
Reference: 49529-52-231-BA6A
