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Pre-Start
GIRARD-PERREGAUX, the second oldest watch brand of uninterrupted history, is rich of traditions.
This includes classic values such as independence, creativity and skills and it might be justified to count the
release of limited edition in order to celebrate memorable events among the more recent traditions.
One might even say Girard-Perregaux is not short of such releases over the past decade and even for the past
10 month of this year, the lineup of special or limited editions is impressive:
- "F-40" Laureato Evo3 Flyback, 500 pieces steel/40 pieces rosé gold
- "250GTO" Richeville Perpetual Calendar, 72 pieces
- "USA-71" Sea Hawk II, 500 pieces
- "Flying Tourbillon - Challenger Of Records" Sea Hawk Pro, 32 pieces
- "Berlin", a Germany regional edition of the WW.TC model, 49 pieces
- market release of the "Vintage TODAY", 4 models and 30-50 pieces each
Nonetheless, if the new release marks the beginning of a new era for the brand, a
close look is more than recommended. And exactly this is "USA-76", the brand new limited edition to commemorate the partnership with BMW ORACLE Racing for the 32nd edition
of the America’s Cup.
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picture by bmworacleracing.com
This partnership, announced during the Louis Vuitton Act2 in Valencia on October 5th of 2004, links Girard-Perregaux to the Challenger of Record for the America’s Cup in 2007.
After a decade of successes with Ferrari, Girard-Perregaux is joining the "F1 of sailing" alongside Larry Ellison, Chris Dickson and their team in one of the most exciting and oldest
sporting competitions in the world; a memorable move and literally the end of an important chapter in the brand´s history, while at the same time the beginning of a new one.
As Girard-Perregaux puts it, "the association with BMW-Oracle Racing in the 32nd America’s Cup has been built on the solid foundation
of shared values: technological mastery and innovation, total commitment, and team spirit."
These are certainly more than enough reasons to celebrate the new partnership with the release of special watch line,
including a completely new tourbillon model and a strictly limited edition for the actual crewmen only.
Sea Hawk II "USA-71" |
"Team Watch" |
Sea Hawk Pro "Flying Tourbillon" |
For more pictures and details, please check our earlier introduction and coverage.
The new cooperation is very visible beyond what´s happening on the water, as a current presentation of BMW ORACLE Racing and Girard-Perregaux
tours the most prestigious Yacht Clubs in the USA, introducing the team, regatta retrospectives as well as future objectives. And of course the watches, which make for a special
treat: the upcoming presentation dinners will be followed by charity sales of the Sea Hawk Team Watch, a model issued only to the
BMW ORACLE Racing team members and not publically available otherwise. The sales of 10 units certainly will become a special highlight!
| Event Schedule |
| New York Yacht Club | October 24 |
| Annapolis Yacht Club | October 27 |
| Golden Gate Yacht Club (San Francisco) | October 28 |
| San Francis Yacht Club (San Francisco) | November 2 |
| Long Beach Yacht Club (Los Angeles) | November 4 |
| Seattle Yacht Club | November 7 |
| San Diego Yacht Club | November 13 |
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picture by bmworacleracing.com
USA-76
Beyond the background, the new release is even more interesting as this watch stems from what is one of the brand´s most unique models, hottest sellers and most sought after variants.
"USA-76" goes back to GP´s wildly popular reference 49800 WW.TC, the unique worldtimer chronograph which became one of the most coveted watches by Girard-Perregaux shortly after being introduced in 2001.
The new limited edition thus bears the DNA of a real winner!
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Introducing the obvious, two details of the USA-76 jump to the eye:
First of all, the new release is a steel cased model. While this might not be a surprise to see for a dedicated sport´s model, one has to keep in mind no regular variant
of the WW.TC ever came in a steel case; the serial production units are crafted in Titanium, solid gold or Platinum only. The more experienced connoisseurs will recall earlier
releases of the WW.TC in steel, but also the very limited production total of only 399 pieces in three limited editions to be in existance.
At the same time, the annual presentations of Girard-Perregaux since 2001 did see the same question each year, which was a request to create another steel variant. In fact the demand
particularly among those enthusiasts who prefer the heft, ruggedness and sportive appearance of the massive steel cases is very much alive, of which numerous inquiries such as on ThePuristS.com dedicated Girard-Perregaux Forum testify.
The new USA-76 thus meets wishes and dreams of collectors and, as we will see later, it does so in a generous way.
Another apparent detail is the new colour scheme.
The new USA-76 is crafted in white and blue, which is a combination rather rarely found in timepieces by Girard-Perregaux.
One reason might be earlier variations to commemorate the Ferrari linkage, whereas the regular models offer either a
decidedly sportive look with black coloured or carbon dials.
Or a more elegant, refined appearance with two-tone or off-white dials which indicate the WW.TC is a very versatile model.
With the maritime background of the USA-76, the new look makes sense: first of all, the combination of blue and white immediately reminds of sea and air, two elements vital for sailing vessels such as the race boats of the BMW ORACLE Racing team.
Furthermore, the colour scheme matches the traditional colours of BMW and the
Golden Gate Yacht Club, which is the home base of the team.
The combination of blue and white is accentuated by the steel case and emphasized by the use of a black dial, which gives a strong contrast to the large white hands with luminous inlays and thus makes for a very legible watch.
The ensemble is complemented by red colour: the tip of the central second hand, the name of "Valencia" being the host for the 32nd America´s Cup on the outer city ring and the "5+5" minute counter including the minute counter hand on the left subdial make for
subtle and welcome visual highlights.
A very nice detail is the shape of the central second hand, which bears a round portion of luminous mass and separates the USA-76 from regular models of the WW.TC, while reminding of GP´s diver´s watches at the same time.
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The "5+5" minute counter in this regard is a nod to the sailing motif; it is a vital function for any skipper on a race yacht and makes the WW.TC a Yacht Timer.
A glimpse on the rules and regulations of the America´s Cup, as provided by the official website,
may explain why "5" and "10" minute intervals are that important:
"The pre-start is the most exciting part of the race and is often the hardest to understand.
The start is obviously the first place that one of the two teams can get into the lead and so winning
the start is of the utmost importance. Who has won the start is also not always immediately obvious.
Crossing the start line ahead may be less important than starting on the favoured side of the line, or having the
ability to tack and control your position immediately after the gun has fired.
A ten-minute warning gun is fired to bring the racing crew to attention and to give them time to get rid of unwanted
sails and equipment and collect the last bits of intelligence from the weather team and coaches
before a communications blackout with the rest of the world begins. When the five-minute gun is fired and
the crews are under the starters’ orders, no outside assistance is allowed."
The case of the USA-76 limited edition is crafted of solid steel in the same dimensions as the regular variants; with 43mm x 13.40mm, it is certainly not a small watch.
The WW.TC features two screw-down crowns; one allows to set the time and date, while the opposite crown allows for adjustment of the world time function.
A sapphire crystal with antireflective coating (on the inner side, where it can not rub off or scratch) and a solid case back complete the housing.
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The case back, which is held by screws, is engraved with the motifs of this edition, including the silhouette of the USA-76 race yacht as well as the reference code and individual edition number.
A slight disappointment is the rather low water resistance, particularly for a watch dedicated to a maritime background such as the America´s Cup yachting.
According to Girard-Perregaux, the USA-76 does not allow for greater depth than 50m, which hardly will allow for swimming.
While the depth rating is still 50% more than regular variants, it remains a surprise if considering the
solid back which should overcome a notoriously weak point in water resistance among watches with transparent backs.
In this regard, less is not more, although the depth rating will allow
for use when sailing, which is the environment suggested by the background of this edition.
Nonetheless, it would have made a particularly interesting dive watch, as the luminous numerals on the dial and broad luminous hands with an arrow-shaped hour hand suggest the USA-76 to be very legible even under water.
The USA-76 is proposed as a limited edition of 750 pieces, which might be perceived controversial.
One might argue a limited edition of this size is slightly less tempting than more limited and thus more exclusive releases.
This might be valid if recalling the total number of WW.TC pieces in steel so far, which is by far surpassed by the number of USA-76 pieces to be issued.
As noted, numerous inquiries for a WW.TC variant housed in a steel case suggests the USA-76 meets a strong demand;
in this regard, "well-informed sources" (which shall remain unnamed) point at an even greater demand in the market than the number of units to be produced.
In addition, comparable editions likely priced timepieces by other brands are not smaller; the USA-76, being based on a successfull model by Girard-Perregaux,
might turn out to be sold out rather soon.
In this regard, time will tell and personally, i´m tempted to suspect this model will find a lot of fans and owners.
Nonetheless, it might be interesting to look back at recent limited and special editions of the WW.TC.
Solely based on the outer appearance, the USA-76 certainly stands out:
Side bar - limited and special editions of the ref. 49800 WW.TC
- "Titievsky", Mexico dealer edition, steel/bracelet and strap (50 pieces)
- "GP Club", Italy regional edition, steel/bracelet and strap (100 pieces)
- "Cortina 30th anniversary", Singapore dealer edition, titanium (30 pieces)
click here
- "Westime", 2002, USA dealer edition, white gold/blue dial (10 pieces)
click here
- "Lavender", 2003, french dealer edition, titanium (unknown quantity)
click here
- "F2003-GA", 2003, world-wide edition, titanium/steel/gold (249 steel, 99 titanium)
click here
- "USA", 2004, USA regional edition, titanium (100 pieces)
click here
- "F1 - 053", 2004, world-wide, titanium/aluminium mixté case (250 pieces)
click here
- "Berlin", 2005, Germany regional edition, titanium (49 pieces)
click here
- "USA-76", October 2005, world-wide edition, steel (750 pieces)
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USA-76
Data sheet:
Case: steel
Diameter: 43 mm
Height: 13,40mm
Crowns: screw-in, water resistant
Crystal: anti-reflective coated sapphire crystal
Case back: fastened with 6 screws
Water resistance: 50 meters
Movement: GP 033C0, automatic GP 3300 manufacture movement with propietory world time module
Caliber: 11.5 ligne and module 13ligne
Frequency: 28’800 vibrations/hour (4 Hz.)
Jewels: 63
Power reserve: minimum of 46 hours
Functions: hour, minute, date, chronograph with 5’+5’ indication, world time with day/night indication
Strap: Rubber, Gold ‘rub off’ vintage alligator leather available
Buckle: steel folding deployant
Limited edition of 750 pieces
References:
USA-76 on rubber strap: 49800-11-657-FK6A
Rubber strap only: BC.2218-FK60-4MJ-E
USA-76 on Leather strap: 99800-11-657-BDCA
Leather strap only: BC2219-BDCA-4BF-F
Estimated provisional retail price: region of 13’500 CHF
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GP 033C0 movement, dial view
A note on the movement:
Like with every WW.TC model, the USA-76 bears an automatic chronograph movement with world time indication based on
GP´s own caliber GP3300. The world time cadrature is another propietory development by GP and the chronograph added
makes for an exclusive and unique functionality not found in any other model in the markets.
"The making of"
Finally, an exclusive peek at the final assembly of the very first units being built at Girard-Perregaux.
Like with any timepiece by Girard-Perregaux, manual labour still rules and adds a special charme:
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Preliminary conclusion:
The USA-76 certainly stands out; odds are not bad this will become a "hot" and sought after model.
Personally i´m a fan of the WW.TC, because it is a most unique creation. Watches with world time indication are still rare today and GP´s solution simply makes sense; it´s a very legible watch, easy to use, accurate and robust.
The chronograph adds some fun and complication to it, while the case caters the demand for larger watches in a very special way. Although the WW.TC is a large watch by all means, for me it is one of the most comfortable pieces of these dimensions on the wrist.
These aspects and the unique design, which makes every WW.TC easy to recognize as a creation by Girard-Perregaux, probably account for the tremendous success: the WW.TC today is GP´s best selling individual model.
The new "USA-76" thus builds on solid ground and over all, my preliminary impression is such that only few aspects may be debatable:
- depth rating, which might leave some room for improvement although it´s increased over regular variants,
- edition total, which is not as exclusive as other editions before
- a worldtime chronograph not being a natural choice for a limited edition with a maritime background.
On the other hand, the USA-76 brings a new colour scheme to the range of WW.TC models and sets it much apart, while preserving the elements that cause each WW.TC to stand out as they do.
It´s certainly a special variant and the modifications (case material, case back, dial design) surpass "just another" dial colour.
First-hand impressions are naturally to be shared not before encountering this model in nature and exactly this is what i´m much looking forward to happen!
Greetings from germany,
Peter
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