Girard Perregaux

crown comfort
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GP Modernist-Style watch, Ref 8772 W

Modernist-Style or influenced by Bauhaus or if you wish you may also call it a “flying saucer” watch, Girard-Perregaux Reference 8772 can have many facets.

You may have noticed my compassion of finding some “out-of-the-ordinary” GP vintage watches and I have shown you in the past a few examples that are either classic 60ies Dandy-style watches or have some other unusual twist.

I first came aware of Ref 8772 on Facebook from a Cypriot collector. His 8772 had a steel case with an usual bezel pattern and a black dial. It immediately hit me and I have been on the look-out for a while to find me one.

So far, I have not managed to find the black dial / steel version but I did come across the gold dial and gold (plated) case version and I pulled the trigger without hesitation.

The case diameter is a small 31.5mm while the dial itself is even smaller with 22 mm. But then you have the thick 4 mm wide bezel which gives the watch its flying saucer look. The Bezel is superbly radial sunburst brushed, while the inner bezel and lugs are polished.

The Dial is also brushed and I totally love the hands and the indices. The case-back is polished gold-plated and lugs are (the standard) 18mm wide.

Inside beats the manual wind caliber 26, which is an AS design and provides for easy service and parts (should that ever be needed). The crown is very tiny and delicate to operate, well a dandy watch as I said.

Next I had to find a good matching strap. Normal choice would be black, but somehow black does not do justice to the extravagant look of this watch. Dark blue would have been option but I already have that combo on my ellipse 9628 Gold/Gold watch. I was very pleased when I found this vintage grey strap. It’s a Rado strap, but otherwise perfect: NOS, 18/14mm with a nice structure.

Needless to say that a matching buckle is the icing on the cake.

So what’s next? Well, need to do some careful work on the case (not visible on the photos but needs to be done). Then I’m still looking for the Steel/Black dial version and yes, I do already have another 8772, different dial version with a rose gold coloured dial, but with steel case. Well, the steel case revealed itself on closer inspection that it was previously gold-plated and the plating had been polished off. Furthermore, this one has a (very) wrong plexi and a wrong minute hand. I’ve put this into my “long-term projects” box, not worth showing here yet.

CC