History of Girard-Perregaux Gyromatic
A Girard-Perregaux Gyromatic High Frequency Chronometer / Credit: Analog/Shift
Girard-Perreguax, renowned as a traditional watchmaking house, has also had a flare for innovation in the past. Throughout the 1950s the watch industry saw a growing wave of consumers request self-winding wristwatches. As a response to this demand, Girard-Perregaux released its first ‘automatic’ wristwatch; the Girard-Perregaux Gyromatic.
The first movement in the Girard-Perregaux Gyromatic family was introduced in 1957 and coined the '21' series. The release of this movement was dually significant: first, in the context of the Girard-Perregaux brand itself, and second, in the context of technological innovation. For Girard-Perregaux as a brand, this led to the development of the 32 series and the legendary high frequency chronometer released in 1966, the Caliber 32A – heritage they still use for branding to this day (e.g. the name of their current '1966' collection). From the perspective of technology, the high frequency chronometer was one of the most prominent automatic wristwatches of its time. Emblematic of its success is the fact that in 1967, 70% of chronometer certificates issued by the Neuchâlet Observatory were awarded to Girard-Perregaux high frequency chronometers.
More recently at Baselworld 2016, Girard-Perregaux released a homage to the 1957 original called the Girard-Perregaux 1957 “Tribute to the Gyromatic”, following many other brands in capitalizing on the recent surge in the vintage watch market.