And now for something completely different from Girard Perregaux: the Vintage 1945 XXL Large Date Moon-Phases Mechanics of Art Deco, though to keep it simple we’re just calling it the Vintage 1945 Mechanics of Art Deco.
(Please note that the piece I handled was a prototype, so certain details in the case as well as the dial and movement are slightly off.)
As the name implies, the Vintage 1945 is based on a model that that was created in, well, 1945, and boasts the same curved rectangular shape with a domed crystal that gives the impression that the dial and movement are also curved, a sort of tromp-l’oeil. And don’t let the XXL in its name fool you, the watch comes in a very reasonable 36,10 x 35,25mm case size, in either stainless steel or rose gold.
The dial is done in smoked sapphire glass that allows you to see just enough of the movement without looking like an open dial. One can still admire the vertical côtes-de-Genève stripes and a few gears and pinions, but there’s a certain subtlety to it, and I can’t help but feel this is exactly the kind of detail that Girard Perregaux needs to be doing to attract a younger generation of horophiles.
The smoked glass dial is set with applied Arabic numerals in a very art-deco “Breguet” style, which give the impression of floating as they case a shadow onto the visible movement beneath. The hands are fashioned in polished Dauphine-style, which admittedly can be difficult to read at times as they appear black at certain angles and under direct lighting.
One of my favorite details is the moon-phase, where you can see the entire disk through the sapphire glass. The polished moons and stars are set against a deep blue sky, slightly darkened by the smoked sapphire dial.
I’ve always found the way Girard Perregaux implemented the big date complication quite interesting, and here on the Vintage 1945 Mechanics of Art Deco you get to see just how it works. To give the impression that the two date wheels are on the same plane and to keep both digits in a single window, one of the date wheels is done in transparent sapphire glass and overlaps the black one. Pretty nifty.
The movement is the in-house automatic GP03300-0051 with a module for the big date and moon-phase. Unlike other recent Girard Perregaux pieces where the movement is clearly too small for the case and complications are too close to the center of the dial, it works perfectly with the vintage 1945 XXL’s proportions.
On the wrist the Girard Perregaux Vintage 1945 Mechanics of Art Deco. The curved case has a way of wrapping around the wrist that other rectangular watches just can’t replicate. And in spite of its rather modern dial aesthetics, the Mechanics of Art Deco has a sort of timeless charm about it that I don’t think I’d ever grow tired of. In fact I can easily say that this is my personal favorite non-high complications Girard Perregaux in years.
The Girard Perregaux Vintage 1945 Mechanics of Art Deco comes with a price tag of $16’000 USD for the steel version, and there’s also a rose gold edition retailing for $ 33’800 USD.
More information on www.girard-perregaux.com
