Solid Gold GyroMatic: HiBeat-Pioneer
Girard Perregaux GyroMatic: Solid Gold HiBeat-Pioneer
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EmailWHY WE LOVE IT: It is the horological limes against the electronic-, ie. quartz-revolution; result of an important competition that was won by the Swiss industry against the upcoming rivals from Japan.
GP GyroMatic with the highly jewelled caliber 32A, the first mechanical beating at the HiBeat-rate of 36'000 bph -- a milestone in automatic caliber technology and "a Victory of Swiss Watchmaking" as GP puts it in their 1966-advertisement.
This is without doubt an important watch and it was made in 1966 according to our research and books. Classic C-shaped case (made by Serva SA, as the hallmark "Hammer:352" indicates) and a beautiful dark-green leather strap connecting the 18K-case and the original GP-buckle.
The GyroMatic cal32A is in fantastic condition after our service and swings at the rate of 36'000 beats per hour -- hi-beat.
From our Blog: "A Horological Milestone: Advertising from 1966, when GP tried to counter tuningfork-accuracy with their mechanical 39-Jewels Hi-Beat-Gyromatic Caliber.
**Ad 2023-07-04:** Some asked why this is a horological milestone. Now, while the electric watches since the mid `50s beat no higher and not more accurate than the mechanicals but basically just replaced the manual- or automatic-winding mechanism the upcoming electronic-revolution sparked by the 1961 Bulova Tuningfork-Movements was a completely different story and beat the balance-wheel timed-movements significantly in accuracy.
The reaction of the industry was the race towards higher-beating mechanical movements and this race was won in 1966 by Girard Perregaux with the GyroMatic 32A-movement beating at 36'000A/h. Now, why is this interesting in particular? Because Seiko was close presenting the 5740C movement beating at a similar rate just some months later. And GP proudly announced this victory in a full-page ad in 1966 "Victory of Swiss Watchmaking". A milestone. And especially interesting as it was the precedessor of the next race towards a horological innovation in 1969 / 1970."
The original 1966 full-page advertisement is included to this important and relevant watch.
