Girard Perregaux

blomman Mr Blue
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My view of the Girard-Perregaux 1966 Skeleton

Friends,

As I told you, I finally got to see the Girard-Perregaux 1966 Skeleton in the metal during my last visit at the Manufacture.

This is a watch I had been waiting to see with a lot of anticipation!

Why? Normally I not a big fan of Skeleton watches. I don’t like to see my “hairy wrist” through the dial…

OK, my wrist is not that hairy but you get my point!

But from what I could see in pictures, the Girard-Perregaux 1966 Skeleton was promising…

Not too much areas of see-through to the “other side”, and I really liked what I saw in the press release.

We all know see in pictures and actually hold the watch in your hand are two very different things…

Another reason for my anticipation was that this watch fills a gap in the current collection.

You have the Three Golden Bridges Tourbillons which are a type of skeletonized movement but on a completely different level and then you have the Sapphire dials, but no “normal” skeleton watch!

So in my thinking, this one will fill the gap in between.

Already in pictures you notice that Girard-Perregaux didn’t go the traditional way of skeletonize the movement, i.e. remove as much material as possible.

Also the material chosen is a bit non-traditional.

One of the first thing you may notice is the ratio between the case and the movement.

The movement fills up the case in a very nice way!

Here, Girard-Perregaux opted for the GP1966, 38 mm case and the calibre GP01800-006, 30.60 mm movement.

Colour wise you have three colour codes;

Gold: Pink Gold for the case, minute track, logo and hands.

Grey: Ruthenium plated skeletonized base plate.

Silver: Screws, gear train and barrel.

Now how the skeleton is executed;

Following the lines of the base plate, barrel and gears on each side, meeting up at 12 where the GP logo and the balance wheel creates a natural point for the eye to fix on, the skeleton deign is a pattern of “floating arcs”.

This fluently wave of smooth arcs reminds me a bit of the Elf design in The Lord of the Rings!

Light, open, strong, more like a net then a surface…

And indeed, if the Elf King would have worn a wrist watch in the movies, this GP 1966 Skeleton would be a perfect fit!

Light plays a big part of the design here.

The way the plates and bridges are designed, to let the light in, to play and show the delicate bevels and mix of brushed and polished surfaces is a feast for the eye!

Every angle hides and reveals some subtle details which makes you interpret the watch differently…  

Is it an Elf warrior shield? Is it a butterfly….? Or Batman?!

But this is not a watch only to be admired from the dial side, this watch is as beautiful on the back as well!

Again, the same three colour codes; Gold, grey and silver.

Here the material is somewhat thinner and more delicate.

The view is dominated by the Pink Gold rotor that is built up by similar arcs as on the front.

Its rotation only allows you to see parts of the movement at the time, by each rotation your eyes discovers something new!

I have said it before, the GP 1966, 38 mm case is very comfortable to wear. Like a second skin!

But with this watch on your wrist, there is much more interesting things to see and discover than your own arm hairs!

I am really delighted to see this GP 1966 Skeleton entering the Girard-Perregaux collection.

A modern version of a traditional “complication”. Thin and delicate but still with a feel of strength!

To end this post I like to show some examples of how wonderful the light and reflections plays with this watch.

Enjoy!

Best

Blomman