Girard-Perregaux Ellipse Vintage Restoration

Crown comfort's journey to restore a vintage Girard-Perregaux Ellipse, initially found in a 'horrible state' on an online auction platform, highlights the thrill of discovering hidden horological gems. This post delves into the meticulous process of transforming a neglected timepiece into a cherished possession, demonstrating that patience and a keen eye can turn 'junk into gold' in the world of vintage watches.

I had mentioned before that I’m on the look for a GP Ref 9628, which is GP’s adaptation of the Patek Ellipse. The elliptical case shape is just very appealing to me (Golden Ratio) even not for everyday wear.

While on the look I came across on a ‘well-known online auction platform’, a vintage GP Ellipse, I suspect from the 50ies, maybe early 60ies.

It was one of those ads you had to look at 16 times before you could see anything of value for sale. Watch was in horrible state, dirty, scratched, poor photos. So no surprise there were no bidders. Seller had the trustful alias “junkshop”.

The dark brown dial colour was another down-turner, but seen positively, it makes it “special”. Here are some impressions, so you get the picture.

So, would any of you bid on this???

However, on a closer look, the movement seemed to be clean, the dial mostly intact although dirty, and the crystal scratches likely pronounced by the use of a flash. In addition, it oddly had a vintage Omega buckle attached, which was also dirty but looked like it would resale for some cash back.

So let’s say I picked this up at a price it would not have caused any grieve if I would have needed to throw the whole thing away.

When it arrived, I put out my latex gloves and disposed off the strap into the bio hazard bin, gave it a first cleaning, put the buckle up for sale at the ‘well-known online auction platform’ (for which I got more than I expected) and then considered my options:

Option 1: put a cheap strap on it, resell it (possibly at a gain) and forget about it

Option 2: restore to perfect condition

Option 3: some middle way between 1 and 2

Given the brown dial, the gold-plated case and the size of the watch, I didn’t think I can justify Option 3 to myself. Let’s be honest, this is not a watch you want to wear on a night out in town with the boys.

Option 1 was also not easy to execute. I kind of liked the watch for what it is, just an unobtrusive time instrument that has had a beaten life and seen better days (so a bit like myself). Besides, it was not going to fetch a fortune either.

So, I took it to my watchmaker, gave him a 10er and asked him to give it some inside-out cleaning, do his best with the crystal and seal it back in. In parallel, I looked for a reasonably priced new strap that provides a bit of a contrast with the dial and case colour.

So here is the result:

Something to put into the collection, admire from time to time, occasionally wear when the occasion is right and being satisfied having taken the right decisions. So in the end, I did turn junk into a bit of gold.

CC