the/gp/chronicles

from/my/collection: Girard-Perregaux Chronometer HF, Ref. 8795 Y

For readers of my Blog, the Girard-Perregaux Chronometer HF is nothing new. Starting with the manual Reference 8856, the somewhat special B-2153 for the Observatory Chronometer HF, the oval case Ref. 9000 and the square case 8888 all the way to the most common C-Shape case Chronometer HF of which we have References 8795 and the later 9086. You can search easily for previous posts with the Reference-Number or simply click on the Tag: chronometer/hf.

If you want to read again the history on the Chronometer HF and the famous Caliber 32A, I won’t repeat it here again, just go back to my previous post:

Instead, I would like to put more attention to the case. I will start with a little cliffhanger. This will actually be a double post and what you are reading now is only Part One and being a good cliffhanger, Part Two will be even more rare and exclusive.

So what is special about this Ref. 8795? The riffled bezel should provide a hint as this is an exclusive design for solid 18K gold cases. Solid gold C-Shape Chronometer HFs are for sure rare, but having one in its overall original condition that appears to be pretty much unworn and of course unpolished is like a lottery win.

There are 2 features I particularly like and want to point out. The original plexi with the date loupe is one. Unlike with Rolex where the loupe is a cyclops on the plexi, the GP has the magnification part inside of the plexi. Works exactly the same, but gets away with a clunky look of the cyclops.

the inside cyclops is very cool

The other is the matte brushed polishing of the main case. While that is maybe nothing really outstanding, I find the combination on how the yellow gold is toned down due to the matte finishing with the polished riffled bezel and the dial that has a slight champagne tone very convincing. It is for me just perfect harmony.

In conclusion, a solid 18K Yellow Gold Chronometer HF in like new condition is rare and exclusive, certainly hard to find, but in Part Two, we take that up a notch or two even further.

To be continued…