GIRARD-PERREGAUX – TRAVELLER Large Date, Moon Phases & GMT & TRAVELLER Tribute to John Harrison Limited Edition NEW
The Traveller Large Date, Moon Phases & GMT model has been conceived
by Swiss watchmaker Girard-Perregaux as the latest in a long line of
watch creations specifically designed by the brand over the years with
the international traveling public in mind. This high-performing
timepiece is constructed especially to accompany the planet's
globe-trotting citizens on the road to adventure. With its evocative
name, its contemporary-sized 44 mm case available in steel, in pink gold
or in a limited edition dedicated to John Harrison to mark the 300th
anniversary of the Longitude Act, its role as an invitation to travel is
clearly displayed for all to see.
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Long-distance travel
Conceived
to meet the needs of long-distance travelers, the
Traveller Large Date,
Moon Phases & GMT watch aspires to be accepted into the lives of
those who have chosen it, just like any other much-loved possession
performing an essential function. Which explains why this new timepiece
in the
Traveller Collection is made to both to sit easily on the wrist
and to catch the eye of watch connoisseurs in the kind of location where
this model is most likely to be worn.
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An obvious choice for airport
lounges, very much at home in the lobbies of grand international hotels
and an invaluable companion for journeys across the planet, this watch
is destined to be synchronized to local time wherever it is, since it is
a timepiece that is perfectly attuned to its era. Urban by vocation
and totally at ease in its home environment, all it needs is a simple
invitation to go on a trip or attend a meeting – little matter if it's
in a neighboring country or on the other side of the world – and all its
huge potential and and ability to adapt soon make themselves felt.
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The art of detail
So
as to ensure that the
Traveller Large Date, Moon Phases & GMT
offers the wearer maximum comfort, every last detail has been attended
to, from the curve of its case band to the perfect alignment of its
screwed-down crown. Thanks to its ideal dimensions, generous 44 mm
diameter and a slim bezel combined with a deep flange, the case offers
exceptional legibility. The date is handsomely displayed on the dial in
an impressive aperture located at 12 o'clock.
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The information relating
to the second time-zone are indicated in the counter situated between 4
and 5 o'clock, while the details concerning the moon phases are
observed through the aperture opened into the permanent seconds counter.
Since every detail counts in a model such as this, the precise pattern
outlined on the dial, inspired by the Earth's interlocking meridians
and parallels, gives the model an outstanding feeling of volume.
In
addition to acting as a subliminal invitation to travel, these lines,
merging into the dial's narrow indexes, help to draw the eye to the
aperture in which the moon appears. The precision of its displays and
its ultra-detailed graphic treatment combine to make this watch truly
unique. Its stylish design gives this understated and atypical watch an
air of unmistakable strength, while seducing even the most rational
among us through the poetic attraction of our planet's natural
satellite, the Moon.
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A benchmark caliber
Water-resistant at up to
ten atmospheres (or a depth of approx. 100 meters), the satin-brushed
and polished case in steel or 18K pink gold with a 44 mm diameter and a
thickness of 12.10 mm protects from external contact a
GP03300-0093
self-winding manufacture caliber.
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Viewed through the transparent
case-back, the self-winding movement measuring 13½ lignes (equivalent to
a diameter of 30.40 mm) reveals some of its components, including the
oscillating weight inspired by the shape of the
Girard-Perregaux
tourbillon bridge, and shows the great care dedicated by the Manufacture
to its finishes, all undertaken in its own workshops.
Delicate but
robust, this top-of-the-range watch mechanism, equipped with 35 jewels
and a 46-hour power reserve, beats at 28,000 vibrations per hour, to
ensure the very highest accuracy in all situations. The
Traveller Large
Date, Moon Phases & GMT model is, by definition, an urban watch, the
main role of which is dedicated to the theme of travel. It will seduce
watch-lovers by its generous dimensions and its highly legible dial,
the symmetry of which contributes to the model 's overall balance.
Available on a large alligator-skin strap perfectly adjusted so as all
the better to emphasize the thinness of the case design, this new model
is attached to the wrist by means of a folding clasp so as to ensure it
remains intact in all situations.
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Technical Details and Specific Features
The Large Date function:
The design patented by
Girard-Perregaux displays the date without separating the two numerals that make up the figure. To achieve this result, the tens disk is opaque while the numerals representing the units are positioned on a transparent disk that is only 0.10 mm thick – the thickness of a piece of paper! The superimposing of these two disks means that the 30 or 31 days of the months can be displayed in an unusual format that is highly practical for all those who wish to read the date without needing to adjust the distance they hold the watch from their eyes. Not only that, but this clever system is linked to an instant date-change, which means that it changes in a fraction of a second (specifically, 15/1000ths of a second).
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The Moon Phase function:
Magical and dream-like, the indication of the moon’s phases found here is highly unusual since our satellite is not represented by a simple gold disk on a blue background, as is usually the case. Rather, it displays in miniature all the features of the real moon that we can observe in the sky above us on a clear night. To obtain this level of detail, the image of the heavenly body is metal-plated with a multiplicity of shades of gray on top of an extremely thin disk. This is what gives this representation its unique transparency and the impression of lightness that emanates from it. While remaining ultra-precise in functional terms, this moon is not linked to the conventional gear-train, but rather to the barrel. Thanks to its wheel with 135 indentations, this guarantees such a high degree of accuracy that it will only need to be readjusted by one day after a period of 122 years and 45 days! And since every detail counts, one of the delicate silvery stars symbolizing the night sky bears the
Girard-Perregaux logo at its center, like a secret signature.
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Technical Specifications
Reference: 49655-52-131-BB6A Pink Gold Brown alligator Strap
Reference: 49655-11-132-BB6A Steel Brown alligator Strap
Reference: 49655-52-631-BB6A Pink Gold Black alligator Strap
Case:
Diameter : 44.00 mm
Crystal: anti-reflective sapphire
Dial:
- off-white
- opaline silvered
- galvanic black
Case-back: Sapphire crystal, secured by 6 screws
Water resistance: 100 meters (10 ATM)
Calibre:
Girard-Perregaux movement GP03300-0095
Mechanical, self-winding movement
Caliber: 13 ’’’
Diameter: 30.40 mm (13 ½’’’)
Frequency: 28,800 vib/h - (4 hz)
Power reserve: min. 46 hours
Jewels: 35
Functions:
Functions: hour, minute, small second, large date, moon phase
indicator, 24-hour 2nd time zone with day/night indicator
Strap:
Brown alligator strap
Black alligator Strap
Folding buckle
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The Traveller John Harrison Limited Series watch (restricted to 50 pieces)
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2014
marks the tercentenary of the passing of the Longitude Act by the
British Parliament. By this official Act of Parliament, adopted in
1714
and motivated notably by a terrible shipwreck near the Isles of Scilly
off the south-west coast of England that had destroyed several Royal
Navy vessels and led to hundreds of sailors losing their lives, the
British Government set up the Board of Longitude, an organism intended
to judge the feasibility of methods proposed to measure a ship's
longitude at sea.
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The inventor of the most effective solution, which
would guarantee that a sailing ship could reach its destination after a
six weeks' voyage to the West Indies (an expression used at the time to
refer to both the Americas and the Caribbean) with an accuracy of at
least 30 nautical miles, was to be awarded a prize of twenty thousand
pounds sterling – a considerable sum for the day.
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Over a number of
years the Board, presided over by eminent scientists and figures of the
period, passed judgment on a range of proposals, many of which were so
eccentric or outrageous that the members of the institution ended up by
doubting whether it would ever be possible to measure longitude at sea
other than by the astronomical methods being developed at the time.
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This, however, was to reckon without
John Harrison, an English carpenter
and self-taught clockmaker born on March 24,
1693 at Foulby in
Yorkshire. In
1735 – fully 21 years after the passing of the Longitude
Act – this brilliant visionary presented the first instrument that was
truly worthy of interest and had a real chance of providing a solution
to the thorny problem of the calculation of a ship's longitude.
Harrison was to become known as the most brilliant clockmaker of his
day. When, however, he presented his first marine clock (known by the
designation H-1), he could not suspect that his invention would not only
prove that longitude could indeed be calculated by the use at sea of
marine clocks, marine chronometers and subsequently by specially devised
watches, but that his discovery would also spur on the clockmaking
profession and encourage his contemporaries and competitors to throw
themselves into the race to achieve truly accurate timekeeping. Thus,
despite his disappointment at not winning the £20,000 prize for his
first model, he presented a second version (H-2) in
1739, to be followed
by H-3 nearly twenty years later. Finally, in October
1759, he
unveiled his H-4, a hyper-accurate pocket watch. The Board, meanwhile,
had imposed new conditions, including the requirement that all samples
of his invention should be tested.
John Harrison then proceeded to work
on a fifth great timepiece, H-5, which produced outstanding results. In
his old age Harrison was finally accorded a monetary reward of
£8,750
by Parliament, in
1773.
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By commemorating the tercentenary of the
Longitude Act, the
Girard-Perregaux Manufacture, and with it the whole
of the contemporary watch industry, pays tribute to
John Harrison, that
combative and methodical man who through his untiring efforts
demonstrated that it would become possible, and in the end even easy, to
measure longitude by means of accurate timepieces. This clockmaker's
invention has not only saved the lives of countless sailors over the
centuries, but also enabled seafarers to diverge from traditional
sea-routes, infested with pirates, to forge more adventurous passages
across the ocean waves. Thanks to the daily calculation of latitude and
longitude, they were henceforth able to determine their position with
precision and thus set out to explore and conquer hitherto unknown
territories. This was precisely what Captain James Cook did when he
explored the Pacific from
1772 to
1774, carrying on board his vessel a
replica of Harrison's H4 Sea Watch made by the English clockmaker
Larcum
Kendall.
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To pay tribute to the visionary genius of
John Harrison, an
inventor who symbolizes all the huge progress made in clockmaking
during the Age of Enlightenment, the
Girard-Perregaux Manufacture
proposes for this tercentenary year of the the
Traveller Large Date,
Moon Phase & GMT Tribute to
John Harrison watch, in a limited-series
edition restricted to 50 pieces in 18K pink gold.
This 44
mm-diameter watch worn on an alligator-skin strap, equipped with
functions of great utility to travelers, is dedicated to the father of
modern timekeeping and the inventor of the method of calculating
longitude at sea. To differentiate this rare timepiece from large-scale
production models,
Girard-Perregaux, whose travelers' watches have long
been a house specialty, has decided to create a special dial for the
occasion and a case-back carrying the words "
Tribute to John Harrison".
This
dial has been elaborated so as to recall
John Harrison's contribution
to the science. One of the meridians engraved onto the dial is
highlighted thanks to an added applied graduation. This representation
is designed to illustrate the original prime meridian, corresponding to
that of Greenwich in England. It was this meridian that was used by
Harrison to define a standard reference time and this time that the
clocks and watches he invented would be required to record as accurately
as possible. In addition to this, and to highlight even further the
geographical dimension of the model,
Girard-Perregaux has decided to
insert in the second time-zone counter a map of Western Europe, in black
on an anthracite-gray background. Vivid red is used to mark out Great
Britain,
John Harrison's mother country, which, thanks to this
clockmaker's invention and to the might of its Empire, imposed the
Greenwich Meridian as the standard time reference for the entire world.
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As
an oblique side-reference it will nevertheless be noted that the
original meridian here passes through the moon phase window, the
realistic representation of which has been achieved by the delicate
process of metal-plating a diminutive disk. Its presence here is surely
no accident, since a footnote to history relates that
John Harrison was
engaged in a dispute with the Astronomer Royal, Nevil Maskelyne. The
latter, as a member of the Board of Longitude, was for his part keen to
promote the calculation of longitude by astronomical techniques, and in
particular by the "Method of Lunar Distances", also called at the time
the method of the "Lunars".
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Technical Specifications
Reference: 49655-52-133-BBBA Pink Gold Brown alligator Strap 50-piece limited edition.
Case:
in pink gold
Dimensions:
Diameter : 44.00 mm
Crystal: anti-reflective sapphire
Dial:
off-white
Case-back: Sapphire crystal, secured by 6 screws
Water resistance: 100 meters (10 ATM)
Calibre:
Girard-Perregaux movement GP03300-0093
Mechanical, self-winding movement
Caliber: 13 ’’’
Diameter: 30.40 mm (13 ½’’’)
Frequency: 28,800 vib/h - (4 hz)
Power reserve: min. 46 hours
Jewels: 35
Functions:
hour, minute, small second, large date, moon phase
indicator, 24-hour 2nd time zone
Strap:
Brown alligator strap
Folding buckle
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Following the trail of history
Clockmakers
and watchmakers have always been keen to produce timepieces that are
useful for any occasion. Jean-François Bautte, the founder of the
watchmaking firm that was to be absorbed into
Girard-Perregaux in the
early 20th century (in
1906, to be precise), was a precursor in the
field of timekeeping for travelers. By as early as
1820 he was proposing
a pocket watch equipped with a caliber that could display two
different, independently set times on its enamel dial. Later, in
1860,
with the industrial revolution at its height and keen to respond to the
desire of the new captains of industry to embrace the world,
Girard-Perregaux developed a pocket watch displaying the local time in
five major world cities: San Francisco, Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, New
York and Paris.
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However it was only with the onset of the first
transcontinental railroads that industrialists and scientists started to
favor the idea of dividing up the globe into uniform time zones so as
to be able to coordinate the timetables of the world's railroad
networks. It was the Canadian Sir Sandford Fleming who proposed in 1876
that the world should be divided into 24 time zones each of 15º. While
an interesting idea, this proposal was only partially adopted after the
Washington Conference of 1884, which defined a universal 24-hour time
system starting at midnight at the meridian the most widely used at the
time: Greenwich. Nevertheless, this division was only really accepted
throughout the world from the early 20th century onward. By this time,
watches equipped with the capacity to display two or more times on their
dials were enjoying enormous success as a result of the speeding up of
methods of transport and the rapid spread of the telephone. Influenced
by this universalizing trend, Geneva watchmaker Louis Cottier developed
an ingenious mechanism for displaying the time in the 24 main time zones
in relation to the time in the original country or time zone selected.
However, it was only from the mid-1950s onward (as a result of the
generalization of air travel and of international communications) that
the general public truly became acquainted with a coherent system for
the 24-hour displaying of a second time zone, known under the acronym of
GMT (for Greenwich Mean Time). Since then this indication has formed
part of the habits most appreciated by travelers the world over.
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