Inspired by antique rectangular watches, Girard-Perregaux’s iconic Vintage 1945 collection is now complemented by a limited edition Japan. The use of light gray to enhance the vividness of the hands is enhanced, and although it bears the name “vintage”, it is sprinkled with elements of a modern watch at every end.
Katsunori Kishida: Photographs by Katsunori Kishida
Tsubasa Nojima: Text by Tsubasa Nojima
Article published on December 5, 2022
Girard-Perregaux “Vintage 1945 Gray Japan Limited Edition”
Limited edition model Japan combines a silver dial with gray Roman indexes. The expansive typeface index and the date window at half past one give the dial a sense of dynamism. Automatic (Cal.GP03300). 28,800 vibrations per hour. Power reserve about 46 hours. SS (length 33.3mm× width 32.46mm, thickness 9.66mm). Water resistant to 30m. Limited edition of 200 Japan. 1,639,000 yen (tax included).
What is vintage 1945?
Swiss watches are extremely popular in modern Japan. The first person to bring this to Japan was Girard Pergot. Japan In 1860, the last year of the Tokugawa shogunate, François Perregaux, the brother-in-law of Constant Girard, who founded the Girard company (the predecessor of Girard-Pergot), visited the Japan with a pocket watch.
In the following 64 years, he established a company in Yokohama and began importing Swiss watches in earnest. Eventually, Swiss-made and accurate watches became one of the key items in the rapid modernization of the Japan, starting with the abolition of the irregular time law in ’73.
Girard-Perregaux, which has a deep relationship with such Japan, has announced a Japan limited edition model of its representative collection “Vintage 1945”. Combined with the ever-heating “Ragspo” boom, the company is currently attracting the most attention from “Laureato”. However, the company’s appeal is not limited to that. I would like to take this opportunity to turn my attention to another icon: the vintage 1945.
A vintage 1945 rectangular watch from the 1940s. The so-called “square gold watches” were produced by many brands operating in the United States at that time, but after 50 years, they became one of Girard’s representative collections.
Vintage 1945 was born in 1995. As the name suggests, the collection is inspired by the model released by the company in 1945. As the rectangular case based on straight lines indicates, its roots date back to the 20~30s, when Art Deco was popular.
From the early 30s, the company began to focus on the American market, producing rectangular watches in various variants in local factories. One of them caught the eye of Luigi Macaluso, the company’s CEO at the time, in ’95 and saw the light of day again.
As well as being a management professional, Macaluso was also an excellent designer and product manager. The vintage 1945 created by his hands has grown into the company’s representative collection through numerous updates and derivative models. This universal appeal, which never fades, is evident in his latest work.
