A Visit to the Girard Perregaux New York Flagship Boutique

- by Z3

    On April 1, 2010. The long awaited GP's New York flagship boutique was open for business. Located on the corner of 63rd street and Madision Ave, right in the heart of Manhattan luxury shopping and next to Hermes, Chopard and F.P. Journe, it is a meticulously designed space that really appeals to one's senses...

    Upon hearing the news, I arrived the very next day, and shot some photos.

As the owners (the Macaluso family) are of Italian decent, the wooden panels, the marbles on the floor and the chandeliers are all from Italy. Very high quality indeed.

What I really like about the boutique is its high ceiling. It creates a lot of comfortable breathing room and gives the boutique a grand feel.

Just a very modern and clean look, no excessively ornate details. Nice, streamlined furniture with a touch of floral decoration.

Here come the eye candies!

Let's start with the watches in the outside window display. Sorry for the bad pictures as I was shooting through the glass and the light was a bit too bright.

WW.TC in rose gold.

The 1966 annual calendar in palladium. This is the new model introduced in 2010 SIHH.

The Vintage Power Reserve in rose gold, with enamel dial.

Being that it is a flagship boutique, there are obviously pieces in the window that we normally would not see in a retail store.

The piece that caught my eye immediately was the 1945 Jackpot Tourbillon in white gold. I've first read about this watch almost 3 years ago, but have never seen a live model in person.

It is a manual winding tourbillon with 96 hours of power reserve. The slot machine is activated by the lever on the right hand side. There is a little gong that strikes when each column stops. The slot machine serves no particular purpose, but it is tremendously fascinating to play with. There are 6 different symbols on the slot machine, fashioned after the original slot machine introduced in San Franscisco.

By the way, for you curious souls out there, nothing happens when you hit a jackpot.=)  I was wondering about the same thing myself...

The boutique manager told me that there are currently only two pieces of the Jackpot in the U.S., one in rose gold, one in white gold. The white gold pictured here is number 1.

At 43mm by 44mm in dimension, and over 17mm tall, it is a formidable and heavy watch and would be tough to wear every day. There is no way to avoid the size as the movement, itself 38mm by 32mm,  is very complicated with over 700 parts!

Here is a size comparison with an AP Royal Oak Offshore. Side by side,  the Jackpot makes the Offshore look like a midsize watch? 

Three-Bridges Tourbillon, a GP icon, in the Vintage case

Another two rarities: the Bi-axial tourbillon the the left, and the Opera Three on the right.

Introduced in 2003, the main point of attraction of the Opera Three is the fact that it is able to sound the passing hours with a melody. The movement's miniature carillon is composed of a keyboard with 20 blades and a drum whose surface has around 150 hand-mounted pins. A selector allows a choice between two different tunes (Tschaikovsky or Mozart). No other watch manufacture has ever produced something like this before.

Blinged out version of the ww.tc.

Several variations of the lady's Cats-eye collection

Vintage for ladies.

The new chronograph and perpetual calendar in the extra large Vintage cases.

Here is my favorite: The Vintage Power Reserve w/ Date, in white gold, with enamel dial. The slightly off-white enamel dial is unique and stunning. As previously seen in the window, there's also another variation in rose gold.

The 1966 series - eminent examples of proportion and streamlined elegance. 

The sport models: Laureato, RD01, and Seahawk.

The Laureato Three-Bridge Tourbillon in titanium with titanium bracelet - an interesting modern and sporty interpretation of the classic.

We also have pens incorporating design elements from the Three-Bridges Tourbillon.

The boutique's airy elegant interior, coupled with a friendly and helpful manager Milen and the boutique staff, made the visit a very nice experience. 

If you are in the area, stop by and check it out.  I am sure you will find yourself pleasantly immersed in the atmosphere, and appreciating GP watches in a different sense, than you would normally find at a watch retailer.

Hope you have enjoyed the article.

Yours truly.

Jon (Z3)