Girard-Perregaux Chronometer HF, Ref. 9086 FN, a vintage review
Friends,
I have one more Easter Egg in my bag I can show you. Lately, we had a lot of discussions on the Girard-Perregaux Chronometer HFs and especially on the 1966/67 achievement of certifying the entire production of HF movements 32A at the Neuchatel Observatory.
Even though the actual Chronometer competition at the Neuchatel Observatory ended in 1967, Chronometer specifications continued and despite the rise of Quartz accuracy in the early 70s, GP did continue to make HF mechanical watches with Chronometer certification.
A splendid example is the C-Shape 9086 Reference from the early 70s. And one very special one is the blue dial 9086 FN
Yes, that blue dial. It has struck me years ago when Blomman introduced his blue 9086 Chronometer HF
We all know the connection of Blue and Girard-Perregaux, so this was a watch I had to hunt.
While I have come across many C-Shape Chronometer HFs and I even added some into my collection, finding the blue turned out much harder than I thought.
But, with patience and perseverance you will eventually get there and now I’m happy to report, I can show you my example and provide a short review.
First, there is the known C-Shape case. It is distinctively late 60s look and I always wondered why it is not as popular today anymore. I just find it very classic and working very well with moderately sized cases, like 35-36mm. Maybe that’s a reason why it is not as popular anymore as most modern watches are simply bigger. A real shame.
The blue dial provides many shades of blue. It can be almost black and then again very blue. The effect comes from the vertical brushed blue that is very hard to capture.
Inside you have the high frequency (36000 vph) movement 42.4, which is an evolution from the famous 32A. It comes with the Gyromatic winding, date window with fast date setting (between 20:30 and 24:00h, not via the crown) and seconds stop for accurate setting.
The movement is shielded with an antimagnetic lid.\
The High Frequency beat provides a very smooth seconds hand that has virtually no jumps observable by the naked eye.
On the wrist, the watch works very well for me. Great size, many interesting details and the blue dial changing its look depending on light.
Finally, to wrap things up, let’s take a look at my C-Shape case family of Chronometer HFs.
We have two 8795 with 32A and two 9086 with Cal. 42.
Best,
CC
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