Today we take a closer look at one Vintage 1945 from my collection. At first sight, it looks like a box-standard Vintage 45 from the first generation, but that is not quite the case. Reference 2593 is the re-edition of the original Vintage 1945 re-edition.
When in 1995 Girard-Perregaux first released the Vintage 1945 (in fact as a side note it was initially called “Vintage 1995”), Ref 2595 in quite limited production numbers and with manual wind movement, it immediately was recognised as a great design and soon after a follow-up version was brought to the market with the in-house automatic movement, Ref 2594. This one stayed in production for a few years and was particularly successful in Japan.
left: Ref 2595, Right: Ref 2593
While GP launched then the Chronograph (2599), in the year 2000, they also decided to bring back the original time-only, no date version with automatic movement, now Reference 2593. This was a big seller and is still today the foundation of the ongoing success of the Vintage 1945 line. Technically, there are almost no differences between References 2594 and 2593. Only case material mix and dial details had some small evolution.
This 2593 I’m showing is not my first Vintage 1945, 2593. I used to own a steel with black dial as shown on the right. It ended up in a trade as it was kind of a duplicate within my collection considering the black rectangular Richeville 2520 I have. So why did I get another 2593, this time with white/silver dial?
Well, this 2593 is quite special. The vast majority of 2593 came in a steel case, but here we have a full white gold 2593. The dial is actually cream coloured, which matches very well the warmer hue of white gold. I don’t know how many white gold 2593 were produced, but surely not in the thousands as in steel. The fact that mine has serial number OG N° 5 underlines this as well.
When I found the watch, it was in poor condition, quite scratched, helicoptering rotor on manual winding, corroded hands and some blemishes on the dial, so there was no doubt it needed to pay a visit to the La Chaux-de-Fonds Spa. Coming back, of the course the movement was serviced, the dial and hands replaced and the case carefully polished. Now adding a nice tan strap and a white gold GP deployant buckle, we were back in business.
Why do I like this watch so much? It fits me very well, and I do not mean size or comfort. It is precious yet understated; small yet with presence; characteristically looking yet quite rare. And I do like the colour combination very much, the light strap, the white gold and the lovely cream coloured dial. A little gem from my collection.
Today we take a closer look at one Vintage 1945 from my collection. At first sight, it looks like a box-standard Vintage 45 from the first generation, but that is not quite the case. Reference 2593 is the re-edition of the original Vintage 1945 re-edition.
When in 1995 Girard-Perregaux first released the Vintage 1945 (in fact as a side note it was initially called “Vintage 1995”), Ref 2595 in quite limited production numbers and with manual wind movement, it immediately was recognised as a great design and soon after a follow-up version was brought to the market with the in-house automatic movement, Ref 2594. This one stayed in production for a few years and was particularly successful in Japan.
While GP launched then the Chronograph (2599), in the year 2000, they also decided to bring back the original time-only, no date version with automatic movement, now Reference 2593. This was a big seller and is still today the foundation of the ongoing success of the Vintage 1945 line. Technically, there are almost no differences between References 2594 and 2593. Only case material mix and dial details had some small evolution.
Well, this 2593 is quite special. The vast majority of 2593 came in a steel case, but here we have a full white gold 2593. The dial is actually cream coloured, which matches very well the warmer hue of white gold. I don’t know how many white gold 2593 were produced, but surely not in the thousands as in steel. The fact that mine has serial number OG N° 5 underlines this as well.
When I found the watch, it was in poor condition, quite scratched, helicoptering rotor on manual winding, corroded hands and some blemishes on the dial, so there was no doubt it needed to pay a visit to the La Chaux-de-Fonds Spa. Coming back, of the course the movement was serviced, the dial and hands replaced and the case carefully polished. Now adding a nice tan strap and a white gold GP deployant buckle, we were back in business.
Why do I like this watch so much? It fits me very well, and I do not mean size or comfort. It is precious yet understated; small yet with presence; characteristically looking yet quite rare. And I do like the colour combination very much, the light strap, the white gold and the lovely cream coloured dial. A little gem from my collection.
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