Girard-Perregaux
Watchmaker Jean-François Bautte signed his first watches in Geneva in 1791, the year Washington (DC) was founded as capital of the United States. Shortly afterwards, his apprentice-master, J.D. Moulinier, made him a partner in the firm. He valued Bautte as a creative and a cultivated man of business. Bautte used to ensure a pleasant atmosphere for the aristocratic clients of Mouliner & Bautte by having the steps of the shop sprayed with Eau de Cologne. The log fire in the open hearth was also a draw. After Bautte’s death in 1837, his son and his grandson successively decided the fate of the company. In 1897, Felipe Hecht became owner. In 1906, his son, Juan Hecht, handed over the luxury company, along with its founding date of 1791, to Constant Girard-Gallet, a relative and friend. The latter was heir to a watch factory founded by Constant Girard in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1850, which took its name, Girard-Perregaux (GP), from its owner’s marriage to Marie Perregaux, the daughter of a prominent chronometer-maker, in 1854. The couple’s efforts towards uncompromising precision paid off in GP’s numerous victories at the Neuchâtel Observatory’s timing competitions until 1876. In addition, the ambitious company was awarded 13 gold medals and testimonials at international exhibitions to 1889. From 1880, GP delivered to the German navy a large quantity of what were probably the first series-produced wristwatches. Destined for officers, they were worn around the wrist on a chain. Kaiser Wilhem II himself commissioned the watches on the occasion of the 1879 Berlin trade show. Success encouraged Constant Girard-Perregaux to offer this new watchmaking phenomenon on the other side of the Atlantic. However success there was limited because people did not quite trust watches attached to the wrist. In 1903 Constant Girard-Gallet stepped into the shoes of his late father. In 1905 GP was elected a permanent jury member of the most popular world exhibitions, not least for its unceasing promotion of precision. Despite this, little else was heard from Girard-Perregaux. Sometime in the 30’s, Graef &Co., founded in 1889 by the German Otto Graef, took over the venerable company. This meant GP had to hold its own against Graef’s Mimo brand. Among its most noted products were the “Mimo-Meter” (digital date, 1932), the “Mimorex” (women’s double sided wristwatch with analog and digital time indications, 1934), the “Mimolympic” (stop-watch, 1936) and the “Mimo Loga” (calculator, 1940). Every Olympic year saw Girard-Perregaux come out with a new “Olimpico” wrist-chronograph. In 1957 the legendary “Gyromatic” appeared on the market with a sensational reverser gear. In 1966, GP launched the first-ever high frequency movement with a balance vibrating 36000 times an hour. Wristwatches fitted with this movement naturally received excellent rating results. In 1967 more than 70 % of all chronometer certificates issued by the Neuchâtel Observatory went to GP “Chronometer HF” models. Then the factory went into the field of quartz movement, giving Switzerland its first industrially produced quartz wristwatch. Its frequency of 32,768Hz remains the world standard for the quartz. The following decade saw GP understandably upholding the electronic revolution. Since September 1992, the Italian, Luigi Macaluso, a former race driver has been boss at Girard-Perregaux. Under his aegis, a new family of ultra-thin automatic movements was launched in1994 – the calibres 3000 and 3100. In 1999, the factory produced an automatic chronograph with a flying-seconds hand which splits the seconds to eighths. The Daniel JeanRichard factory which produces very nice watches belongs to GP. GP sells its movements to the best Swiss manufacturers.
Wristwatches, by Gisbert L.Brunner & Christian Pfeiffer-Belli - Konemann
LINK
- Our Girard-Perregaux page