The Girard-Perregaux 1966 Equation of Time watch with Minute Repeater and Annual Calendar.
A model of technical ingenuity, the new Girard-Perregaux 1966 Minute Repeater, Annual Calendar & Equation of Time watch has all the attributes to earn its place in the firmament of the most outstanding watchmaking achievements. A worthy heir to the Girard-Perregaux 1966 Collection, it displays its various functions with a remarkable sense of aesthetic balance, despite its hidden complexities.
For the elegantly proportioned dial, a silvered sunburst decor has been chosen as a background to the various time indications. Surrounded by solid gold applique hour-markers with sharply defined profiles, the various indications perform their functions as the hours and minutes hands pursue their paths above them. You are instantly drawn to the imposing date located at 1:30 on the dial. The month is shown within a window opposite to complete the Annual Calendar function. This construction only requires a single adjustment of the date per year, in February, which is easily carried out through the watch’s crown.
Indicated by a cam appearing in relief on a wheel that completes one revolution per year, the Equation of Time is displayed at 4:30 on the dial. It shows the difference between civil time and solar time. For, in reality, the solar day varies in duration from day to day. While the two reference times in question coincide exactly four times per year, the accumulated difference between them can be as much as, for example, 16 minutes in November.
To complete the Girard-Perregaux 1966, a Minute Repeater enables the user to hear the striking of the hours, quarter-hours and minutes. Conceived in an age before the advent of electricity, when people needed to be able to hear an indication of the time during the night, today this has become one of the complications that is most appreciated by connoisseurs of fine watchmaking. In order to create the vibration that will produce a crystalline sound, the adjustment of the striking mechanism is one of the most delicate operations for a watchmaker, requiring nimble fingers and a particularly acute ear. The fruit of exhaustive acoustic research, the Girard-Perregaux Minute Repeater mechanism benefits from three specially designed aspects of the construction of the watch-case: an optimal fit between the internal diameter of the case and that of the caliber, so as to achieve maximum resonance; a curved case back that increases the volume of air between the movement and the case, and enhances the sound production; and the diamond-polished bottom of the case back, which reduces acoustic interference.
Visible through the sapphire crystal case back, the manually wound mechanical caliber perpetuates the great Girard-Perregaux watchmaking tradition. With its constant concern for aesthetic standards, Girard-Perregaux has designed the balance-cock in a semi-arrow shape that recalls the Golden Bridges, the brand’s emblematic signature.
Girard-Perregaux 1966 Specifications
- Case in polished pink gold with anti-reflective sapphire crystal
- Bezel: circular, satin-finish interior
- Dimensions: 42 mm
- Crystal: Domed anti-reflective sapphire
- Dial: brass, appliques in 5N18 pink gold
- Hands: “Leaf”, “Baton” and “Arrow” styles in 5N18 pink gold and coated in diamond powder piece by piece
- Crown: 5N18 pink gold with GP logo engraved
- Case-back: sapphire crystal, closed with 6 screws, all inscriptions hand-engraved Water resistance: 30 meters
- Girard-Perregaux E09-0003
Movement
- Handwound mechanical movement
- Caliber: 14¼”’
- Frequency: 21,600 vib/h – (3 Hz)
- Power reserve: min.100 hours (4 days)
- Jeweling: 48 jewels
- Number of components: 419
- Plate: rhodium-plated and circular-grained
- Bridges: côtes de Genève, polished beveled angles
- Balance-cock: gold semi-arrow shaped, “rounded-off”
- Balance: with variable inertia
- Striking mechanism: repeating with two facing hammers, hours, quarter-hours, minutes. Regulation of the speed of the striking-mechanism by inertia-driven governor, countersprings accessible on the bridge side, inverted minute rack; conventional gong pitches.
Functions:
- hours, minutes, small seconds, minute repeater, annual calendar, equation of time
- Brown alligator strap
- Ardillon buckle in pink gold
- Reference: 99651-52-131-BKBA
- Limited edition of 15 pieces