Most Underrated High-End Brand - Girard Perregaux?

CaptainWinsor · Dec 14, 2018

I was just in a retailer here in St Thomas USVI ,on a cruise, and they had a nice GP 1966 for $10k since they won’t be carrying anymore. MSRP was 29,900. Great people and a great deal for someone. Wish it was me

Taddyangle · Dec 14, 2018

many
For me resale value is an important consideration...

It took me a long time to figure out what I liked, and consequently I did a lot of flipping to figure it out. Had I bought new, or had no concern about resale value my collection would look very different than it does today. After close to 7 years I am pretty happy with my collection, but still find that I have many watches I no longer wear (who needs 5 black dial speedmasters?). So the goal in 2019 is to sell 6-8 watches I never wear and enjoy the watches I love to wear.

Archer · Dec 14, 2018

Taddyangle
It took me a long time to figure out what I liked, and consequently I did a lot of flipping to figure it out. Had I bought new, or had no concern about resale value my collection would look very different than it does today. After close to 7 years I am pretty happy with my collection, but still find that I have many watches I no longer wear (who needs 5 black dial speedmasters?). So the goal in 2019 is to sell 6-8 watches I never wear and enjoy the watches I love to wear.

My tastes are constantly changing, so if I look at the watches I wanted 20 years ago, they are watches I have little interest in now. There was a time 10 years ago that the thought of me owning a Speedmaster was completely out of the question as I had "zero" interest in one, but it's the watch I wear the most now. I don't think changing tastes necessarily makes you a flipper, but maybe buying too quickly does. I tend to put a lot of thought and consideration into what I buy, and as a result, I've only ever sold a couple of watches (not counting a few real cheap watches I've flipped, or watches I've given away).

I guess we all have a different process to get where we are going.

I think the thing with resale is that it used to be pretty much assumed that you would lose money flipping watches, and I'm not sure if it's newer people getting into the hobby who are watching too many YouTube videos that emphasize resale so much, or if it's because recently "everything" is going up in value so people don't know anything different, but there's a much bigger concern broadly on resale value than there used to be from what I see.

For me I've always seen a watch that drops off in value from new, but stays relatively stable after that as a way of owning something I might not be able to own if it stayed at a price that was at or above retail...

Cheers, Al

DirtyDozen12 · Dec 14, 2018

Not a comment regarding contemporary or even mid-20th century GP, they certainly made some well-finished, observatory chronometers in the 19th century that could be described as high-end.

Fusion · Dec 27, 2018

They make a good watch now. I had this guy:

https://omegaforums.net/threads/girard-perregaux-evo-3-laureato-moonphase.45146/

And really enjoyed it. Ultimately traded it, the market is ice cold and they take a killing blow on the secondary market. I reached out to MANY of the forum sellers and most of them did not want to touch it. Some of the big AD's who do a TON of pre-owned offered me pennies for it, a laughable amount. It's certainly not like Rolex/Omega where you can "buy a plane ticket" with your watch in the span of the afternoon.. Oh no.. Maybe an afternoon snack?

Anyway my ownership experience was generally positive but I do think part of owning a "luxury" item is the curb appeal. I have some watch loving friends and all of them had to ask - "what is that?" Not that this is a bad thing.. But for many people, spending $$$ on a swiss time piece, part of the fun is having something recognizable, something to be proud of and to have "those who know, know". For the GP's, noooot a lot of people are "in the know".
I am a white gold over yellow gold, smaller case over bigger case, personal watch enjoyment kind of guy - but even so, the GP was so far under the radar that it did get to me a little bit. I think it's part of human nature.

Bottom line is, if you like it, buy it, it's a buyer's market on (most of) these GP's. Cheers and happy holidays!

Archer · Dec 28, 2018

Fusion
They make a good watch now. I had this guy:

https://omegaforums.net/threads/girard-perregaux-evo-3-laureato-moonphase.45146/

And really enjoyed it. Ultimately traded it, the market is ice cold and they take a killing blow on the secondary market. I reached out to MANY of the forum sellers and most of them did not want to touch it. Some of the big AD's who do a TON of pre-owned offered me pennies for it, a laughable amount. It's certainly not like Rolex/Omega where you can "buy a plane ticket" with your watch in the span of the afternoon.. Oh no.. Maybe an afternoon snack?

Anyway my ownership experience was generally positive but I do think part of owning a "luxury" item is the curb appeal. I have some watch loving friends and all of them had to ask - "what is that?" Not that this is a bad thing.. But for many people, spending $$$ on a swiss time piece, part of the fun is having something recognizable, something to be proud of and to have "those who know, know". For the GP's, noooot a lot of people are "in the know".
I am a white gold over yellow gold, smaller case over bigger case, personal watch enjoyment kind of guy - but even so, the GP was so far under the radar that it did get to me a little bit. I think it's part of human nature.

Bottom line is, if you like it, buy it, it's a buyer's market on (most of) these GP's. Cheers and happy holidays!

That's the model I really like, but wondered if it would be a bit of a scratch magnet. IMO $3500 was a really good price given the quality of the watch.

S.H. · Dec 28, 2018

CaptainWinsor
I was just in a retailer here in St Thomas USVI ,on a cruise, and they had a nice GP 1966 for $10k since they won’t be carrying anymore. MSRP was 29,900. Great people and a great deal for someone. Wish it was me

Well, at 30k MSRP you'd think they knew that a tachymeter scale is unitless, no such thing as a tachy in mph or kph, it is in units per hours, whatever the unit is. Also, the date wheel is askew?

hungdangnguyen23 · Jan 25, 2019

There are worthier, under the radar companies I'd rather spend my money on than GP.

Comparably, I'd rather go with Carl F. Bucherer for example.

Evitzee · Jan 25, 2019

GP is one of those brands that just don't get respect. Part of it is marketing and part of it is a mish mash of styles and complications, there is always something different from them, call it lack of focus. Blancpain is a similar brand, good watches but mostly overlooked by collectors. Parmigiani is another one. With all of these buy if the price is right but look for a long hard slog to liquidate it.

BlueOtter · Feb 10, 2019

I own 2 modern (?) GPs from the late 90s.
Terrible resale value and their designs are rather bland and confusing as well.
I do think they have been trying to step up their game in recent years though but at that price range, you have many other options.

marco · Mar 4, 2019

GP is not top tier but they certainly know how to make a dial and case in house. The 4945 and 4946 (pictured) are just so retro classy at 38mm & quite rare in this reiteration, 500 of each colour dial.
The 3370 in house movement used in the 4946 is very well finished for this price bracket and makes an classy affordable beater. The 4945 uses the bullet proof ETA 2892-A2
Their depreciation makes them a good buy when buying used, these pieces are now 20+ years old and the styling harks back to yesteryear.
Both of these models use the Dubois Depraz chrono module, with a total of 63 jewels ! ( almost bling in the tech department.)

I find the curved spring bars attractive, straps are expensive but can be custom made by the right supplier, (pm for info.)
The earlier 4930 is very attractive but only in 36mm and only in precious metals which makes it costly for what really is the same watch.

gatorcpa · Mar 4, 2019

The HF wasn't the first successful attempt at a wrist chronometer by GP.

Ref 8444A, cal 31-19.
gatorcpa

georgepalmer · Jul 27, 2019

Hi guys
I bought this on a whim the other day, then got it serviced and cleaned up. I tried to find another similar online and just couldn’t...I love it and not looking to sell or anything but if anyone could point me to a good source of info that would be much appreciated. It says 9377GA on the case but that doesn’t seem to give many results either! The movement says 440-000.

Thanks

George

seekingseaquest · Dec 17, 2019

This is the closest I could find to a GP thread.. please share if there’s another.

My recent 32A Gyromatic Chronometer acquisition. Love the dial texture and the original case brushing 🥰

Dr. Green · Dec 22, 2019

Congrats to this beauty

pongster · Dec 23, 2019

My foudroyante says hi

Joe_A · Dec 23, 2019

I won't comment on the high-end, mid-tier aspect of G-P watches . . .

But I do like the vintage G-Ps that are built around the Excelsior Park 4 and 40 movements such as the 8846.

I'll take one of these if anyone has an extra!

Carry on . . . 😉

~ Joe

Grillome · Feb 7, 2020

guaranteed.rohu
Wondering if there are any Girard Perregaux owners out there.

Investigating more into the brand, it is essentially of the same pedigree as Vacheron or AP (maybe even more so because GP made movements in house that were used by many other brands over the years, similar to JLC in this respect),

These days they make some ridiculous high end grand complications, that win many prizes and push the boundaries of watchmaking...

Yet they are significantly undervalued. Maybe arguably the movement finishing is a little bit below Vacheron/Lange/Patek nowadays, but the overall product is very very compelling.

Some examples below of the 1966 line which I love the aesthetics of. The enamel dial small seconds in the white gold is stunning!

Any GP owners, or people considering buying a GP , with thoughts on this?

I have this vintage GP Alarm limited to 350 pieces. Rare and cool.

DTMwatch · Feb 9, 2020

GP seems unappreciated to me. I like most of their designs and the movement in the watches I’ve owned kept excellent time.

I currently own this Vintage 1945 and love its classic looks.

Keith88lx · Feb 9, 2020

I really enjoy wearing mine. I look at my wrist a lot when I wear this one.