Girard Perregaux 1966 Minute Repeater

Minute Repeaters and Girard Perregaux are not a recent story...

Some you may not have in mind, were made as early as 1850, like this " Tact " pocket watch, which strikes the quarters, by Jean François Bautte & Co:





Or this hunter case with quarter hour repeater, made by Girard Perregaux, in 1900:



What to say about this Grande Complication, made in 1906, featuring a perpetual calendar, a chronograph and a ... Minute Repeater?



In a more recent era, you may well remember two or three great minute repeaters from Girard Perregaux...

The Reference 99550, for example, which was born in 1996, and which was developped under different configurations, some being just sublime, like this blue dialed one:



Or the extraordinary Opera One or Two, The One being unvelied in 1999, while the Two was first in production since 2001:



Another terrific Opera One ( Credit picture: Sothebys )



Opera Two:



To each his own, but I think we are in presence of a winner, this year, with the Girard Perregaux 1966 Minute Repeater.

We have all the ingredients in this watch: An elegant case, a superb dial, and a fine movement.

Let's see all these details.

1/ The Case:

An elegant polished case, borrowed to the 1966 family, with a paradox:

On the paper, it is written that the diameter is 42 mm.

I had to ask twice, at it looks like a 40 mm watch.

So to say that the dimension is pleasant, coherent with the purpose of the watch.

The shape of the case, its profile enhance the elegant character of this minute repeater.



The case is 12, 90 mm high, but as for the diameter, in looks thinnner, in the real life. Is that another evidence of the coherence of the watch?

The lugs are ideally proportionned: Longer, it would have been problematic in terms of comfort, shorter, it would not have been as nice.

Aesthetics are one thing, for a minute repeater, the case should not create an acoustical issue.

In order to not disturb the sound of the minute repeater, Girard Perregaux used two " tricks ":

- The sapphire on the case back is convex, to increase the volume of air, which is the " natural " vzhicle of the sound.

- The inner ring of the case back is diamond polished. I thought that is was for aesthetics purpose, but I was told by GP that it was to reduce the sound interferences. That, I didnt' know....

2/ The dial:

The dial is in ... Enamel " Grand Feu ". Do I have to elaborate?

For those who didn't see an enamel dial yet, the depht and the warmth are an unforgettable experience.

The combination of an enamel dial with a such a traditional complication is very à propos, in my opinion.

You blend the subtle visual appeal of an enamel dial, with the superb acoustical experience of a minute repeater.

And here, to complete the visual feast, you have applied gold " Breguet " numbers + a Red 60 in the Seconds subdial + heated blue hour, minute and second hands, to enhance the contrast between the milky dial and rose gold case.



All the codes are gathered, in a discrete way, as it takes time to pay attention to these details, to get a superb timepiece.

3/ The movement ( E 09 - 0001 )

The movement is another important part of the watch, and here, it is not disappointing.

The level of finish and decoration is à propos, on a watch of this category, with some nice details.

Here are two technical draws of the movement:





The bridges are decorated with Cotes De Genève, while the mainplate receives " perlages " ( circular grained ).

Of course, the angles are polished, accordingly to what you are in right to expect from an Haute Horlogerie piece.



A view on the perlages on the plate :



Even the hammers are nicely finished:



But have a second look at the movement...

Look deeper, pay more attention.

Focuse on the balance wheel...

Now, look at the bridge above the balance wheel... Do you see the superb half arrow which is used as a balance bridge?





( Half ) Arrow Bridge... Now that is an important signature, piece of DNA in a Girard - Perregaux watch, already seen in pocket watches or in Tourbillon with gold bridge(s) wristwatches.

This movement is 32 mm big, 5, 36 mm high, 27 jewels manual winding Calibre, composed of 317 parts, beating at 21 600 alternances per hour, and offering a power reserve of 100 hours.

It has a variable inertia balance.

4/ General thoughts:

A Minute Repeater requires more than " simply " being a nice watch, it must sound nicely.

And here, Girard - Perregaux did an awesome job.

Those who are fans of minute repeatets know that this complication is based on a dilemma: Volume or richness.

The louder the minute repeater sounds, the poorer the sound is.

But what would be the pleasure / utility of a nice minute repeater if you can't hear it?

The sound provided by the two hammers hitting their respective circular gongs, is round, very generous, rich in the low frequencies and the high frequencies are not agressive at all.

The Hammers, with their gongs:



This is not the loudest minute repeater I heard, but it is one very pleasant one.

I would rate it above the Breguet / IWC I heard, and I find it a tad richer than the JLC, this last one " singing " louder, though.

The milestone being the Vacheron Constantin I heard at the Boutique.... This GP 1966 Minute repeater is in the superior category, without any doubt.

Only one flaw, actually: I find the striking regulator of the minute repeater a bit noisy, but there is worse in this category.

Clearly one of my favourite Minute Repeater which would haunt me if GP decides, one day, to release it in white metal, and the co winner, in my book, with the Jaeger Lecoultre Duomètre à Sphérotourbillon, this year.



Looking forward to reading your thoughts and comments,

Best.

Nicolas This message has been edited by amanico on 2012-05-01 00:07:33 This message has been edited by dxboon on 2012-05-08 19:03:23