Bejewelled replica watches don’t often make an appearance at Horologium, so today’s post will be of particular interest to those who like a a precious stone or two on their replica watches. Or in this case, 807 diamonds, to be precise.
Meet Girard-Perragux’s 1966 Jewellery, released in 2012 and containing almost more diamonds than you can count. It forms part of the 1966 collection, which is known for classically thin cases and importance placed on movements.
In this instance, the movement is the time-only Calibre GP-3300-0066. It measures 25.60mm, is 3.20mm thick, has a frequency of 28,800 vibrations (4Hz) and a power reserve of 46 hours.
The 1966 Jewellery replica watch is 38mm and comes in white or pink gold. The sizing means that it’s arguably unisex, for all those with the chutzpah to wear a diamond covered replica watch. In the case of this particular piece, the owner is a woman who requested that the strap on which it originally came with be changed to a red one. The alligator-skin strap that comes with the replica watch has a gem-set ardillon buckle.
The diamond-set bezel and slightly curved dial are entirely covered with ‘brilliant’ cut stones painstakingly arranged concentrically. The ‘leaf’ style hour and minute hands and four applied hour markers are slim and very much secondary to the diamond-pavé dial. What is really interesting is that if you look carefully, you will see that the Girard-Perregaux name is printed on the inside of the convex sapphire crystal.
Whether sparkling replica watches are your particular weakness or not, there’s something really quite mesmerising about the dial of the 1966 Jewellery quite apart from the dazzling number of stones – it’s just so wonderfully neat and precise…