Whilst cruising the local pawn shop before the end of the year, I spied an interesting looking gold dress watch and asked to take a look. Upon closer inspection, it had "Observatory Chronometer" printed on the dial.

Now I don't know much, but I do know that the Swiss take their movement classifications very seriously, so after a quick Google search and some haggling, I ended up with a rather unique piece.

There has been some interesting research on the Girard-Perregaux cal. 32A movements that were submitted to the Neufchatel Observatory in 1966-67 - see article on Fratello and a great thread on Watchuseek.

The Cliff Notes version is this...

Prominent European observatories in Neuchatel, Geneve, Kew, and Besancon would accept a limited number of movements from watchmakers for a taxing 45 day timing test with prizes awarded at the end. The tests were a way for local watchmakers and brands to build credibility for accuracy of their movements and market them more effectively.

The movements that were submitted were not production movements, but rather highly tuned one-off pieces that were cased in brass and wood for the tests. Some would be cased for sale, but none were meant for public consumption.

This all changed in 1966-67 when Girard-Perregaux submitted an entire production run (662) of a new caliber, the high frequency 32A, for the Neuchatel Observatory for testing. This is where the data and research gets a little iffy because the records don't delineate which movements received the B.O. (Bureaux officiels de contrôle de la marche des montres) certification which was a less stringent 15 day test for wrist chronometers versus the ones that went through the 45 day trials to become an Observatory Chronometer.

All of the movements and performance are archived in the Observatory Chronometer Database.

There is the number 40 from the Fratello article, but others think the number closer to 100. Either way, it's a relatively small number of watches that display the Observatory Chronometer on the dial.

My watch is Chronometer number 15646 that was timed by P. Nicolet in 1967, receiving an N-Score of 21.45. It is cased in a 34mm 18kt yellow gold case with a brushed yellow gold dial and applied gold stick numerals.

While it's far from the normal sport Rolex that I collect, it does fit a niche in the collection as a piece of horological history.

 

That is super cool! Congrats!

 

Nice find! Congratulations.

I believe that the number produced was significantly higher than 40, but they are very uncommon in any case.

I have owned two, one with an equally hard to find box:

 

I was chatting with Bill Sohne and he said the same thing about the total number of Observatory Chronometer movements.

I was only able to find one other example with the brushed gold dial, retailed by Tiffany, that sold at Antiqurom in 2010.

How many of the Observatory Chronometers would you venture to guess are out there?

 

No doubt that the brushed gold dials, like yours, were a smaller subset of the larger group. I really don't know how many were manufactured, but 40 strikes me as too small a number, given the number that have appeared over the years. That's not to say that there are more than a few that have been seen and/or sold, but rather that I would have expected a much smaller number relative to such a tiny production run.

For some context, the hand-wind Gübelin Jubilee chronometers, of which I have also owned two, were produced in a run of 400, and I think that I have seen around the same number of GP Observatory models over the years. It's not a perfect gauge, of course, as more of the Gübelin probably ended up in "strong hands" as a result of geographic and demographic variables, and they are more esoteric.

 

Thanks for the insight on the Gubelin comparison, makes sense.

 

My even more plebian Steel non-observatory example. A fabulously enjoyable watch imho.

 

You know have a good watch when @Tony C. @gatorcpa and @neilfrancis chime in and have a similar one

 

Great find, especially in the wild. Congratulations

 

I have one of these too, with the 42.1 movement. Does anyone know if these use direct or indirect centre seconds layouts, i.e. is it the centre wheel or the fourth wheel in the centre? I can't find any information or diagrams anywhere and my horological skills aren't up to being able to tell just by looking at the assembled movement...

I'm also curious about how exactly the gyromatic auto wind system works. E.g. Is it uni or bidirectional, and if bidirectional what mechanism?

I always like to know as much as possible about how my watches work.

 

Great watch and story. I've always admired G-P in their prime.