Second day of T.W.O Shot week and we take out some big guns today. A pair of Girard-Perregaux Chronometer HF, Ref. 8856 with Railtimer dial. These Railtimer watches which were supplied to the Canadian Railway over a number of years and across different models (even a Quartz 9444 existed with Railtimer dial) are quite hard to find.
However, the very first version, Ref 8856 with the High Frequency Chronometer certified movement Caliber 30.7 and the “12”dial is the real deal. Why? The story I was able to dig out, is that the first batch of Railtimers were delivered with the “12” dial, while typically for Railtimer the day starts with “0” and the Railway wanted this to be changed. In fact, GP delivered new dials to change already delivered watches to the “0” dial version, but thankfully not all watches had the dial replaced.
The “12” dial to my eye is much nicer, esp. the font used in comparison with the “0” dial. T.W.O more interesting facts. For the 8856 Railtimer, GP equipped the Caliber 30.7 with a balance stop so time can be accurately set. It was the first watch from GP with that feature and only the Railtimers had it, not the civilian versions of the 8856. Second little fact: the orange second hand is UV-light fluorescent, not luminous, just fluorescent.
Stay tuned for 5 more T.W.O shots this week!
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Second day of T.W.O Shot week and we take out some big guns today. A pair of Girard-Perregaux Chronometer HF, Ref. 8856 with Railtimer dial. These Railtimer watches which were supplied to the Canadian Railway over a number of years and across different models (even a Quartz 9444 existed with Railtimer dial) are quite hard to find.
However, the very first version, Ref 8856 with the High Frequency Chronometer certified movement Caliber 30.7 and the “12”dial is the real deal. Why? The story I was able to dig out, is that the first batch of Railtimers were delivered with the “12” dial, while typically for Railtimer the day starts with “0” and the Railway wanted this to be changed. In fact, GP delivered new dials to change already delivered watches to the “0” dial version, but thankfully not all watches had the dial replaced.
The “12” dial to my eye is much nicer, esp. the font used in comparison with the “0” dial. T.W.O more interesting facts. For the 8856 Railtimer, GP equipped the Caliber 30.7 with a balance stop so time can be accurately set. It was the first watch from GP with that feature and only the Railtimers had it, not the civilian versions of the 8856. Second little fact: the orange second hand is UV-light fluorescent, not luminous, just fluorescent.
Stay tuned for 5 more T.W.O shots this week!
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