Post pics of your watches ***Please NO QUOTING PHOTOS***

The continuing saga of a strap for my Quartz Girard Perregaux...

First fitted it on a Nato that matched the dial. Looked well funky and new, though not classic.

Then sourced a lizard in brown, added on the original GP buckle and while it looked elegant it kinda looked old and dated or something. Hard to explain.

Thought about a stainless steel bracelet, but didn't want to put a generic on it and what original GP ones came up were always 20mm, not the 18mm I need and they were always mad money. Well to me anyway at double what I paid for the watch...

Then found an original one still attached to the watch as it was sold, though the movement wasn't working. It had sat on the Bay for months not sold. I suspect because the seller misspelled the name. So I sent in the cheekiest offer evah. I was morto clicking send. He accepted! Quick fiddle with springbars and sizing(I have a stupidly tiny wrist) and...



Changes the vibe of the watch entirely. Keeps it funky without being dated. Doesn't pinch my hairy wrists either.

As a side order I also got the same model though with a pale vellum dial and dead movement, made in the same month. Here on the brown strap.



Very diff vibe to it.

I stripped the movement down. The mechanical works are tip top(the date changer is an issue on these I gather). When I put it back together every so often the second hand would move, one or two seconds, sometimes more. This would suggest the quartz is OK(that's usually what goes), so either the control chip or the stepping motor. Probably the chip as the stepping motor in these is a work of art and solidity.

Thanks M. Yea the broken one is in good condition otherwise. Even the movement is in great condition. Even has the little rubber battery isolators that are usually lost and its original rubber seals too. Fixing it? I dunno M, I've tried the usual breakdown and clean and no joy, so I reckon I need a parts donor. The quartz crystal seems OK as now it does run for a few seconds. It's usually this that goes apparently so if I see a non working one going cheap it might be worth a punt to nick the other parts.

I have to say compared to other early 70's quartz' that in my amateur way I've fiddled with the GP's come apart and go back together very easily and are nicely modular. The Omega's are a right pain in the bottom with more delicate and more fiddly parts and backlash nonsense on the seconds hand. Finishing is better though. The Lips are worse again, a bloody nightmare TBH. Very loose internals. Extracting the crown can easily have the keyless works drop into the bowels of the thing(teeny bit of blutac can help here) and what backlash control there is is minimal. Even setting the time on one will have the seconds hand jumping around like it's got St Vitus dance.

In these early days GP got it very right. They set the standard for all analogue quartz that followed in layout and crystal frequency and IMHO their quality, particularly of the stepper motor was well ahead of most if not all and still is in many ways. Never mind the teflon bearings that never need oiling. Mad to think they had all that in prototype form in 1970 and in production in 1971. Barely a year after Seiko brought the first quartz watch to production and market and the Seiko cost the same as a family car of the time and was made in tiny numbers. The Swiss rivals of the time were all overcomplicated and very pricey and delicate with it.


TL;DR? If you get into the early quartz stuff, source spares as well. Preferably working and stick em in an antistatic bag sans battery in a safe place for future reference.



PS what's weird about these is some like my examples have tritium lume, but they don't have any markers to say that like a small T that was legally mandated at the time.

Marcusm wrote: »

Absolutely lovely, particularly the cream dial/brown lizard (?) combo.

Yep lizard alright. TBH it looks too elegant or something on me M, it looks like I've nicked it. Actually it looks quite "feminine" compared to the blue dial and I reckon would look good on a woman's wrist. Though it's bigger than it looks. Close to 40mm across.

I put up photos a few weeks ago of a GP ww.tc I'd bought at auction

And only bloody gorge it was too M. *jealous*

It had an ill fitting strap and I've found it impossible to get an extra long strap in 22/16 size.

Extra long? You live in opposite land to me. Well a six inch wrist makes my life as a WIS difficult, though it does have the advantage that the smaller vintage stuff looks normal on me. Bargains! New stuff not so much. I put on a Suunto once, leaned heavily to the left and needed physiotherapy afterwards. A Panerai would land me in traction.

Ultimately I've had to commission a new one from a shop (Jean Rousseau) near me in London. It's an interesting experience sorting through the actual animal skins and picking the particular section of material for the actual watch. Bit takes a few weeks for it to be made but I'll post a few photos when I get it.

Oh yea that sounds very interesting. Ive been tempted to get a custom strap before. I got one once, a custom NATO made by Jurgens of Germany from old Bund leather pilots jackets. Was V nice I have to say. Will be cool to see the results of your process.

Marcusm wrote: »

I can attach the photo but not sure how to make it appear other than as a URL. Usual apologies for the poor photo quality.

Sorry if I got all previous here M, but I grabbed and tweaked your pic, so the passersby can have an instant peek...

Very nice collection Sir.

Marcusm wrote: »

Thank you for embedding the photo but I think it's all flattery on your part - there are only two watches there that you would could actually wear without looking ridiculous!!!

Fixed your post for you.










gold type right, silver top left, maybe gold bottom right, but I'd look like I'd stolen it.

I'm lovin the yellow myself. Gorgeous watch.