One of my favourite things to do when it comes to watch collecting, is to explore watches off-the-beaten-path. Neo-vintage GPs have surged a lot in interest in recent years and that is also reflected in demand and prices and maybe I’m a little bit to blame for that too, yet there are still some to find that fly very low under the radar.
A lot of that also had to do with the hype around the Laureato, putting the neo-vintage reference 8010 and 8017 from the 90s into the spotlight. It also catapulted some of the 90s Richeville’s on the map of collectors. So it is getting harder finding models from the 90s that are yet undiscovered. But not impossible.
The 7000 series goes back to the 1980s and it’s primary collection consisted of the Sea Hawk 1, the 7000 Chronograph and the Traveller GMT. Search my blog for older posts on those. At the very end of the production cycle, GP released Reference 7030 Chronographs at the turn of the Millennium. The 7030 is a modernized version of the classic 7000 Chronograph, now with the subdials arranged at 3,6,9 and the date moved to 4:30h.
What I really like is the dial design. Very sporty with the white print on black dial, very legible and with plenty of lume. It just feels right on the wirst, modern, yet classic, but overall a great Sports Chronograph. This model had a very short production run and you cannot find many of them. There was a white dial version too, but actually the black is the one to have.
Inside remains the trusty ETA-based caliber with the Dubois-Depraz Chronograph module. Pusher feel on GP Chronographs has never been a revelation but on this particular model it is surprisingly smooth with the right feel and sound. If there is one complaint I have, then the smooth crown. Visually this may look good, but winding it by hand is not practical as it is very slippy. Being an automatic winding, this is a small issue only.
One of my favourite things to do when it comes to watch collecting, is to explore watches off-the-beaten-path. Neo-vintage GPs have surged a lot in interest in recent years and that is also reflected in demand and prices and maybe I’m a little bit to blame for that too, yet there are still some to find that fly very low under the radar.
A lot of that also had to do with the hype around the Laureato, putting the neo-vintage reference 8010 and 8017 from the 90s into the spotlight. It also catapulted some of the 90s Richeville’s on the map of collectors. So it is getting harder finding models from the 90s that are yet undiscovered. But not impossible.
The 7000 series goes back to the 1980s and it’s primary collection consisted of the Sea Hawk 1, the 7000 Chronograph and the Traveller GMT. Search my blog for older posts on those. At the very end of the production cycle, GP released Reference 7030 Chronographs at the turn of the Millennium. The 7030 is a modernized version of the classic 7000 Chronograph, now with the subdials arranged at 3,6,9 and the date moved to 4:30h.
What I really like is the dial design. Very sporty with the white print on black dial, very legible and with plenty of lume. It just feels right on the wirst, modern, yet classic, but overall a great Sports Chronograph. This model had a very short production run and you cannot find many of them. There was a white dial version too, but actually the black is the one to have.
Inside remains the trusty ETA-based caliber with the Dubois-Depraz Chronograph module. Pusher feel on GP Chronographs has never been a revelation but on this particular model it is surprisingly smooth with the right feel and sound. If there is one complaint I have, then the smooth crown. Visually this may look good, but winding it by hand is not practical as it is very slippy. Being an automatic winding, this is a small issue only.
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