New Release
Blomman Mr Blue presents an in-depth review of Girard-Perregaux's "Chamber of Wonders" trilogy from BaselWorld 2015, highlighting the artistic watches with unique dial motifs. This post focuses on the innovative material choices and historical inspirations behind these limited-edition GP1966 models.
Friends,
This year many of the major brands released very artistic watches with beautiful motifs on the dial and so did Girard-Perregaux as well!
What differentiate the trilogy from GP this year is most of all the material chosen for each dial.
These watches are made in sets of three, limited edition of 18 sets.
The base is the GP1966, 40 mm case in Pink gold. Same case seen in several different iterations of the GP1966, among them one of my personal favorite: The Enamel Dial with sub-seconds and heated blued hands.
Inside all three watches have the automatic GP03300 movement.
Here the similarities with any existing GP1966 stop. Yes, the motifs are similar to last year’s Enamel dial World map… But if we talk in terms of material.
At first glance it is easy to mistake the Chamber of Wonders dials for enamel… But if you look closer you will discover the approach is quite different here!
The choice of the three motifs – a vision of the World through the ages.
Three maps from three different eras, three different styles and materials!
Please see respective parts for more details and shots.
Best
Blomman
The motif is based on a map drawn by the historian Ibn al-Wardi who lived in the first half of the fifteenth century. Inspired by the theories of Ptolemy, the Greco-Egyptian astronomer and astrologist who lived in Alexandria at the beginning of the 2nd century AD and who is considered to be the father of geography. The base of the dial is made of a 0.70 mm thick sodalite stone disk. The disk is then carved by hand and fitted with a mosaic of a papyrus, 0.25 mm thick. To finish, the dial is hand
The motif for the Terrestrial map is inspired by the work of Italian Jesuit, Matteo Ricci. A theologian, philosopher, mathematician, cosmologist and astronomer, this priest took part in his congregation’s missions in Asia. Landing in Macao in 1582, he spent the rest of his life in China, sharing his knowledge with scholars and officials at the point of becoming one of the first Westerners allowed within the walls of the Forbidden City. This dial is made of a white jade stone disk, manual polishe
Thanks for all these précisions, Blomman. I didn't get all these informations when these watches wre unveiled. Best, Nicolas
From the beginnings of modern cartography, 142 drawings of maps are attributed to Sebastian MĂĽnster (1488-1552), a German scholar who moved to Basel following his conversion to Protestantism. His work, Novus Orbis, resembled an encouragement to exploratory voyages, was included in his major work, Cosmographia Universalis, a richly illustrated and detailed cartographic collection. The New World dial is made of small fragments of stone. A mosaic using stone marquetry, blending different type of st
What about the depth of the dial, in the real? Best, Nicolas
Friends, When I first saw these Chamber of Wonders watches I was blown away! I love the art work, the different styles, and the travel through time! :) From Egypt to China… From China to America… And back again! :) A big part of my fascination with these watches is not only the different styles, but the very different materials and techniques used! The perfect matching of style and material is just awesome! :) The only bad part here I would say is that they are sold in sets of three and that it
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