Girard-Perregaux Stainless Steel Dress Watch, circa 1960s
A clean, well-proportioned mid-century Girard-Perregaux in stainless steel, measuring 34.5mm. It has the restrained, architectural look that made the brand’s 1960s dress watches so appealing. The factory original silver sunburst dial plays elegantly with the light. Faceted applied baton markers with black inlay frame it, with wider markers at the quarters. Luminous plots flank the 3, 6, 9 and 12 positions, and they have aged to an even warm cream that matches the lume in the black-filled hands. A thin center seconds hand and a finely printed minute track finish the dial, with a simple “Girard-Perregaux” signature below 12.
The long, sharply faceted lugs have a clean angular profile and keep their crisp edges, and the stepped case flank adds depth when you see the watch in profile. A domed acrylic crystal gives the dial the soft, warped edge that only period crystals have.
The screw down caseback is engraved “Hormidas Dutremble, M.I.L., 1941–1970.” It’s a small, personal piece of history that makes this watch one of a kind. Inside, the caseback carries Girard-Perregaux’s “1791 Swiss” emblem and a “Stainless Steel” stamp.
The watch runs on a Girard-Perregaux manual-wind 17-jewel movement, signed and serial-numbered, with shock protection. The movement has clean, even finishing on its bridges, and the jewels are bright and unworn.
A Brief History of Girard-Perregaux
Girard-Perregaux is one of the oldest continuously operating fine watchmakers in Switzerland. The “1791” on this watch’s caseback points to the house’s earliest roots with Jean-François Bautte, a Geneva watchmaker and jeweler whose firm the company later acquired. The modern name dates to 1856. That year, watchmaker Constant Girard and his wife, Marie Perregaux, joined their names and founded the business in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the heart of Swiss watchmaking.
Constant Girard made his name with one of the most celebrated designs in horology: the Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges. The three parallel arrow-shaped bridges turned the movement’s architecture into its decoration. The design won a gold medal at the 1889 Paris Universal Exhibition, and it remains the brand’s signature to this day. Around 1880 Girard-Perregaux also made one of the earliest wristwatches produced in series, a run of watches for officers of the Imperial German Navy. That was decades before the wristwatch replaced the pocket watch.
In the 20th century the firm built a strong record in chronometry and earned many honors at the Neuchâtel Observatory trials. In 1957 it introduced the Gyromatic automatic movement. In 1966 the Gyromatic HF became one of the first series-produced high-frequency mechanical movements, beating at 36,000 vibrations per hour for better precision. As the quartz era arrived, Girard-Perregaux helped shape it: the 32,768 Hz oscillator frequency it used in its early quartz movements became the standard still used in quartz watches around the world. In 1975 the brand launched the Laureato, its integrated-bracelet sports watch that is still in the collection today.
Watches like this one come from Girard-Perregaux’s mid-century peak, when the firm made elegant, serious, understated timepieces for people who valued quality over flash. This example has an honest story engraved on its back, and it’s ready for its next chapter.
Specifications
- Brand: Girard-Perregaux
- Era: Circa 1960s (presentation engraving dated 1970)
- Case: Stainless steel with faceted lugs and snap-on caseback
- Diameter: 34.5mm (excluding crown)
- Lug width: 18mm
- Dial: Silver sunburst with black-inlaid applied baton markers and luminous plots
- Hands: Black-filled baton hands with luminous inserts; center seconds
- Crystal: Domed acrylic
- Movement: Girard-Perregaux manual-wind, 17 jewels, with shock protection
- Caseback: Screw Down; interior signed Girard-Perregaux 1791 Swiss
- Strap: Tan suede, 18mm
