Return of the King: Girard-Perregaux’s bid to reclaim its seat at watchmaking’s top table
This year, Girard-Perregaux has returned to the SIHH and re-launched the sports-luxe Laureato collection. Is it on the brink of rejoining watchmaking’s elite"
By James Gurney
There used to be a phrase in watch circles, les grandes maisons, to describe the handful of elite fine-watchmaking manufactures that both set the standards and, more than anyone else, maintained the patrimony. The exclusive list included Audemars Piguet, Breguet, Girard-Perregaux, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin. Of these, the name that you?ll almost certainly be least familiar with is Girard-Perregaux. It?s hard to pinpoint exactly what happened to cause Girard-Perregaux to slip so far behind its peers (and, indeed, many less august names), but while the others were investing, Girard-Perregaux was, in hindsight, standing still at best.
Even the brand’s acquisition by Kering did little to change matters, though having the likes of Boucheron as a ready outlet for its movements should have helped. At long last that?s a picture that seems to be definitively changing as the company celebrated its 225th anniversary in 2016, but there?s still a long way to go before Girard-Perregaux has caught up with its peers ? at an estimated 15,000 watches a year, the brand is a long way behind the other grandes maisons. News of what the brand is doing to turn around its future in a moment, but first, why you should care at all.
Girard-Perregaux wasn?t part of the grandes maiso...
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