Girard Perregaux

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A deeper look at the Girard-Perregaux 4946 Chronograph and its origins

Friends,

It is time to take out one of my favourites in my collection and have a closer look at it. We are going back to the year 1999, when the Vintage 1999 Chronograph 4946 was conceived. Although it appeared first in the Year 2000 catalogue, we could approx. put the production from 2000 onwards for a few years.

However, the 4946 had a direct predecessor in the GP collection, which was called the Vintage 1996 Chronograph aka Ref 4930, which you guessed it, made its debut in 1996.

From a first look they are almost identical, however, the 4930 came with a 36mm case while the 4946 had a more modern 38mm case. Both versions housed the 3370 GP calibre, however, the other main difference was that the 4930 was only available in precious metal while the 4946 came only with a steel case.

There have been some variations of the 4946, some with precious metal cases, but with different Ref numbers, Pour Ferrari or other special editions. I’m not going into those details as you could quickly get lost in the many special editions.

Back to our main subject the 4946. Two dial versions were available. A cream dial with applied gold numerals and blued hands. This watch first got my attention from our former GP moderator AndrewD who has this watch in his collection and presented it often in the forum.

For me it was love at first sight. The case proportions with the mushroom pushers and those blued hands just did it for me. However, when I one day spotted a black dial in the metal, I was head over heels.

It is arguable, that on the black dial, the date window with its white background is more disturbing than on the cream dial version, but on the other hand, the play of the applied numerals and the white/silver printing on the dial just makes this version very special for my taste. I always had a slight reservation towards the golden hands and numerals on the white dial version, but the black is just perfect for me.

Now, when I say black, the dial is not just plain black, it can change its appearance from dark grey to almost a blue touch, even there is absolutely no blue tint in that dial. Perhaps the boxed crystal and antireflective coating plays tricks here. Something I really appreciate when wearing that watch.

So let’s look at some of the origins and why GP labelled this watch as “vintage” in its catalogue. The design of a 3 register Chronograph with mushroom pushers goes back to the 1950s and also has roots in the 1960s.

In the 1950s, a Chronograph with mushroom pushers and 3 registers with Valjoux 72 was quite popular. Here is an example from an unknown source

Vintage 1950s GP Chrono with Valjoux 72 (photo credit unknown)

I think the roots of the design are already apparent. Later in the 1960s and I would think those were the real inspirations, we had the GP Calibre 07, a 3 subregister hand-wound Chronograph based on ExcelsiorPark 40 movement and its most known application in the Olimpico 8846 models. A side-by-side shot of the 8846 with the 4946 shows where the vintage inspiration came from. Both 38mm case size.

After the 4946 there has been further models, like the 49580 (Fly-back Chronograph with black or cream dial in 40mm) and the 49585, which looked very similar to the cream dial 4946 but also in 40mm and slight changes on the dial. However, for me, it never reached again the perfection of the 4946.

Ref 49585 photo credit Nomer

Very recently even (~3 years ago), GP brought back the 3 register Chronograph with mushroom pushers, Ref 49590 also dubbed the Stradale. Still in the catalogue. For however, a very different watch in terms of size (42mm), look and appeal. The classic 4946 remains unrivalled in my book.

Ref 49590 Stradale

Hope you enjoyed the little excursion into history and the closer look at this wonderful Chronograph.

CC

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