While much of the Swiss watch industry retreated as Japanese-made quartz watches overwhelmed their less accurate mechanical timekeepers, Girard-Perregaux decided to ride the wave and start its own quartz revolution.
Rather than merely replacing mechanical movements with quartz in its popular collections, GP embraced it and another hot trend, LED-based watches, with their glowing digital numbers displaying the time and date.
The result was the 1976 watch that came to be called the Casquette, which combined a case with a loose resemblance to an American sedan of the era with its LED screen looking like its taillights.
A total of 8,200 were made over the course of two years, according to GP.
That watch has become something of a hit with today’s more open minded collectors, leading to the creation of a unique Casquette for last year’s Only Watch charity auction with Bamford Watch Department collaborating on the design.
The unique piece sold for CHF 80,000.
With collectors suggesting there is strong demand for such a quirky timepiece, Girard-Perregaux has created a limited edition version Casquette 2.0 with a production run of 820.
The new titanium version is visually related to the original, but the gadget has been upgraded so that it now displays time and date like the original, but in addition it shows the month, year, a second time zone and has a stopwatch function.
It will keep working for two years before its battery needs replacing.
Its bracelet has been improved as well to a ceramic version with rubber interior.
“Since production of the original Casquette ceased in 1978, the interest in this watch has never diminished. We regularly receive enquiries and have witnessed these models fetching 10 times their original sales price on the pre-owned market. We are delighted to welcome the Casquette back — a stylish watch that promises a lasting allure,” says Girard-Perregaux CEO Patrick Pruniaux.
Mr Pruniaux will be hoping for positive headlines and maximum online engagement for such a striking launch.
He may want to listen to the retailer community for advice on how to revive the ailing brand.
Frustratingly for GP authorized dealers, the brands is only selling the new Casquette through its own ecommerce site for an exclusive period from today, February 22 to March 7.
If any of the 820 are left unsold, the watch will be made available to select GP retailers around the world.
This is a practice that has drawn criticism from retailers, which have in many cases supported brands like GP for decades.
“I wish the brands would take a closer look at what the multi-brand retailers are doing for them on the local levels and in terms of market share. How sad is it that they continue to make ‘boutique only’ editions that take the business away from the multi-brand retailers,” Roberto Chiapelloni, owner of Manfredi Jewels in Greenwich, CT, tells WATCHPRO.
Steven Holtzman, vice-chairman of Boston-based multibrand jeweller C.D. Peacock concurs.
“Brands launch new products that we may not see in the market for six months. This is most predominant with brands that have their own retail stores. By the time the product reaches the family-owned stores, the buzz has diminished, and the salespeople are exhausted from telling the clients that the product is not in stock yet,” he describes.
The Casquette 2.0 is on sale now for £3,600.