Girard Perregaux Chronometer HF Ref. 9086 AF

Crown comfort shares his journey to acquire the Girard Perregaux Chronometer HF Ref. 9086 AF, a vintage piece he'd been hunting for six months. Inspired by fellow collector Blomman, he details the watch's aesthetic appeal, horological significance, and the meticulous process of finding the perfect strap to complement its unique dial.

Our dear mod Blomman has been a great inspiration with his GP vintage treasures and the Chronometer HF, especially the Model 9086 has, ever since introduced here, made me hunt for it. What really does it for me are the elegantly shaped markers and the no-nonsense hands which gives this model a timeless classic look.

The C-shape case and the relatively small size works perfectly for me. As a horological marvel there is the high frequency (just put it at your ear…amazing) and, of course, the Chronometer certification.

So I would say I have been hunting for almost 6 months now and I came close a few times, but it was never really the perfect one. I had considered older model Chronometer HFs, I had seen a number of gold-plated watches as well, but finally I found this black dial 9086 AF in Moscow.

It looked in excellent condition, it was the right model and it even came with the original bracelet in very good condition. Finally, the price was right for me too, so I did not hesitate this time and quickly concluded the deal.

I had to remove the bracelet as I much prefer a strap, gave it some cleaning and closer inspection. I can hardly see any scratches with the naked eye while of course under magnification you can see a few but nothing significant considering this watch is older than myself.

The dial colour is not really black but more of a dark grey. I really like that! For my aesthetical feeling that excludes a black strap. I also did not want to use a croc strap on this vintage watch, so I was looking for quite some time for the best matching strap with a bit of a more casual, sportier look. That helped me over the time I had to wait for the watch to arrive from Moscow.

I now have a grained brown leather strap (not sure what it is, but likely some reptile) that has some texture and a nice vintage look. It’s actually a Blancpain strap in 19/16mmm. I believe the original strap size should be 18/14, but I was able to fit the 19mm strap without looking too squeezed. For now, I used another GP buckle from modern times, which is a compromise I can live with until one day I find an original buckle.

The watch is running well, although not up to Chronometer specs. The Gyromatic winds very efficiently and power reserve is as expected. At the moment it looses 1 sec per hour but very very consistently. So over the next few weeks I will give to my watchmaker for a cleaning and oil service and to adjust it.

 

So here it is on the wrist. On one shot you can nicely see the grey colour of the dial.

 

 

 

So my vintage collection keeps growing, currently standing at 4 GPs. It’s still a bit on the dressy side but one day I will find one of those lovely Deep Divers.

I have another vintage on the way (an ellipse 9628), in fact it is 2x 9628 but both in not so good shape and will probably need to salvage one to get one very good one. This is going to be a bit of a project but if all goes well, I will have another one of my dream vintage GPs in my collection.

 

Best,

 

CC