Some thoughts on the new ref. 25820 Vintage45 "Square" and GP´s new caliber 4500

Apr 02, 2007,23:58 PM
 

Dear enthusiasts,
following up to our previous introduction , i´d like to have a closer look at GP´s new pre-SIHH introduction reference 25820, dubbed the Vintage 45 "Square" or "Carree":

Vintage 1945 Carrée

At the beginning of the 90s, well before "vintage" swept in to dominate all the trends, Girard-Perregaux was conceiving a collection inspired by the retro shapes of the art deco watches from 1945.

In 2007, the Vintage 1945 Carrée has reinvented this heritage, with both a movement and aesthetics, which come from recent developments at Girard-Perregaux.

For over 10 years, the famous Vintage 1945 has been opening the way for a plethora of new fashions. Far from being simple nostalgic replicas, they interpret in a modern way the unique personality of this rectangular-shaped model. Remaining faithful to the well endowed original model, the Vintage 1945 Carrée has retained the four right angles, while still adapting the square case. This combination results in one of the purest expressions of the line. The elegant silhouette of its doubly curved dial, lifted by the dauphin-style hands, gives it extra depth.

The Vintage 1945 Carrée is the first watch equipped with the GP 4500 mechanical movement with automatic winding. This calibre is one of the latest to emerge from the Manufacture, for which it is a point of honour to continually improve its range. Its 13 1/4 ligne diameter represents a choice reserved for watches of generous dimensions. It presents a number of innovative characteristics including an improved more efficient winding system. 190 elements make up this new movement, which can be seen through the transparent case back.



Girard-Perregaux ref. 25820 "Vintage Square"

Technical specifications

    Case in pink gold
    Dimensions: 32.00 x 34.20 mm
    Height: 11.15 mm
    Anti-reflection sapphire crystal
    See-through case back
    Water-resistant to 30 metres
    Alligator strap with folding clasp

    Also available with a steel case

  • Estimated tentative world price, in CHF (ex Switzerland, not including taxes):
    - rose gold: 15.930 CHF
    - steel: 7.330 CHF



Girard-Perregaux caliber 4500

Movement Girard-Perregaux GP 4500

    Mechanical with automatic winding
    Casing-diameter: 30 mm
    Calibre: 13 1/4 ligne
    Thickness: 3.95 mm
    Jewels: 27
    Frequency: 28,800 vibrations/hour (4 Hz.)
    Power reserve: minimum 56 hours
    Number of components: 190
    Functions: hour, minute, small seconds, date
    Oscillating rotor with unidirectional winding with ceramic ball-bearings
    Three position winding stem
  • Fine adjustment



The "Vintage Square" carries forth an addition by Girard-Perregaux in 2006; in order to offer a dedicated model for enthusiasts who prefer a more massive, but still highly comfortable and balanced case, the formerly rectangular shape of the "Vintage45" became a square.
The ref. 25810 "Vintage45 Triple Calendar" made the first model to feature this new case, subsequently winning (or breaking, depending on the perspective smile) a considerable number of hearts. This model with it´s beautiful proportions is in comparably high demand meanwhile.



Girard-Perregaux reference 25810 "Vintage 45 Triple Calendar"

While the "Triple Calendar" pursuits a classic approach with a touch of Art Deco, the new reference 25820 adds modern elements.
Notably the dial, which is fitted with unusual numerals of different sizes, a practice GP fans and watch enthusiasts already learned to appreciate by it´s use for several models of JeanRichard, the second brand of the SOWIND Group.
The seeming sober dials, which can be had in black and off-white colour, features "dauphine"-style hands, which are polished and chamferred in order to allow for interesting reflections of the light while remaining always perfectly legible.

On a closer view, the ref. 25820 reveals two major differences towards other models within the "Vintage45" line; both unveil the main difference aside the case, which is the completely new manufacture-made caliber GP 4500 introduced in 2006:





The date window is fitted with red numerals; again, a practice already established at JeanRichard to highlight the manufacture-made movement inside. But different from others, in particular the reference 25830 "Kingsize" models, the date disc is located closely underneath the dial itself. This way a "sunken" date window is avoided and subsequently, shadows caused by deeply recessed disc. While other variants of the "Vintage 45" range utilize an ultra-thin GP movement of the caliber family GP3000, which requires a module to indicate the seconds in an non-centric position, the new caliber GP4500 allows to achieve the same appearance without ressorting to the use of modules. The reduced height achieved this way allows for a much closer distance between the dial and the date disc, thus improving legibility.

The other visual difference towards the earlier iterations of the "Vintage 45" family, but probably most other watches as well, is the unusual position of the sub-seconds hand.
Turning it´s circles in a position between 10 and 11, the seconds hand, which is heat-blued steel, indicates something special underneath the dial.

In this, the new reference 25820 is not just visually and aesthetically new, but to achieve the result it required to incorporate some new constructions into the new caliber.

Please feel kindly invited to follow the next part, in which we will have a closer look at the new movement and it´s features.

Greetings from Germany,

Peter

This message has been edited by PeterCDE on 2007-04-03 00:05:08


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Part 3 - some more details of the new caliber GP4500

 
 By: PeterCDE : April 3rd, 2007-00:07
As we´ve seen, the new GP4500 caliber incorporates some practical, new solutions to improve the efficiency, longevity and durability of this movement. It is promising to be an accurate, sturdy timekeeper for a long time to come. But is it a nice movement ...  

Thanks a lot for this exciting pics and insights

 
 By: Alexander from Germany : April 3rd, 2007-06:42
Peter, that's a great thing what you're again doing for us! Amazing pictures I love very much. And I'm particularly glad to learn about and understand now this movement in a way I would like to be able to understand the 3XXX mvts. as well, which have not ... 

Oh, there´s something for you!

 
 By: PeterCDE : April 3rd, 2007-12:06
Hi Alexander, thank you a lot! That´s much appreciated and the pleasure is completely on my side! In terms of the GP3xxx range, have a look here. There aren´t many chances to get much closer than this: http://www.tp178.com/jd/gp/article1b.html Sure it´s n... 

Indeed,

 
 By: Alexander from Germany : April 4th, 2007-03:42
thanks again for this hint, I didn't note this study before, best wishes for the feast days, Alex

My pleasure!

 
 By: PeterCDE : April 4th, 2007-12:06

Thank you Peter

 
 By: pr7 : November 2nd, 2007-09:07
Hello Peter, first I wanna thank you for this indepth look. I was wondering about how GP will provide the same moment with the central second position with a double third wheel, but with the second at 9 with a singular third wheel? Because in my opinion t... 

Like this?

 
 By: PeterCDE : November 2nd, 2007-11:59
Hi Philipp, something like this? These are prototypes and in fact the GP4500 caliber with central second! While i can´t share details on upcoming models, at least it seems such is being evaluated very closely... Does this help a bit? Cheers, Peter...  

More technical...

 
 By: pr7 : November 3rd, 2007-15:16
Hey Peter, hmm... that's not really what I meant, but also nice pictures of course. In part 2 you showed us a picture with details of the different variations of seconds. And if GP produces the second at 9 they perhaps will have different torques and thou... 

Oh, that´s what the double third wheel is made for

 
 By: PeterCDE : November 3rd, 2007-16:23
G'day, regardless the attachment of the wheel driving the second hand, amplitude and performance will always be the same. As noted, that´s what the double third wheel is made for; the second hand pinion always engages the same wheel, eliminating the need ... 

We're getting closer :o)

 
 By: pr7 : November 4th, 2007-03:45
Hello Peter, yes in this case you're right. But what if you use the second wheel to display the small second at 9 without the second hand pinion like on the picture with only a single third wheel. You definitly will have less engagements in your going tra...  

Well, i think that´s not possible

 
 By: PeterCDE : November 4th, 2007-06:30
G'day, i´m rather tempted to trust GP´s engineer in this one Actually attaching a seconds hand onto the second wheel is a rather unconventional thing to do and as said, regardless the position of the second hand there´s no difference otherwise. In this i ... 

Difficult issue

 
 By: pr7 : November 7th, 2007-00:32

Hi, Philippe,....

 
 By: SuitbertW : November 4th, 2007-06:57
....I believe GP opted for this design for beeing flexible and vesatile. Of course one could use the classical small seconds design and use the fourth wheel directly to display the second. But, than you're also bound to design the train around it - i.e. o... 

strange arrangements on pictures

 
 By: robert_bob_stefan : November 5th, 2007-02:48

The black dial looks smart

 
 By: Jokoh : April 3rd, 2007-02:01
Can't wait to "feel" it on my wrist thanks Peter cheers joe