The Swiss watchmaker Girard-Perregaux once again pays homage to the celebrated Swiss-French architect and pioneer of modern architecture – Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, who was better known as Le Corbusier (October 6, 1887 – August 27, 1965).
With this novelty, Girard-Perregaux marks the 50th anniversary of his death. Earlier, the Swiss manufacturer has protected the rights to replicate Le Corbusier designs in exchange for a contribution to the Fondation Le Corbusier to help restore Villa Le Lac in Corseaux, Switzerland. In addition, the watchmaker supports the Association Maison Blanche and its efforts to preserve and maintain the Maison Jeanneret-Perret in La-Chaux-de-Fonds. Both buildings were built from plans drawn up by France’s best-known 20th century architect. Interestingly, Le Corbusier was, the same as Girard-Perregaux watchmaking house, born in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
Girard-Perregaux Vintage 1945 Le Corbusier boasts a concrete for a dial. It is engraved with a new interpretation of “La Cité Radieuse”, the architect’s famous steel and concrete residential building constructed from 1945 – 1952 in Marseille. This is one of the Le Corbusier’s major works, and definitely the most important structure in postwar era.
Each concrete dial requires careful finishing operations by hand. It took three days of painstaking work to create a dial of this kind. Also, it was necessary to conduct a series of operations inducing casting, drying and finishing.
Its dial depicts the Modulor – a stylized human silhouette conceived by Le Corbusier to regulate the structure and sizes of his modern housing units. As the architect describes it, the Modulor is a “range of harmonious measurements to suit the human scale, universally applicable to architecture and to mechanical things”.
The watch is housed in a square case crafted from polished stainless steel. The case measures 36.20mm x 35.25mm and it houses the in-house manufactured caliber GP03300-0078 which offers 46 hours of power reserve.
The movement consists of 199 individual components and it has the beating rate of 28,800 beats per hour (4 Hz). The 26 jewels movement is partially revealed through the case back. The reverse side of the watch also reveals the commemorative inscription: 50ème Anniversaire.
Girard-Perregaux Vintage 1945 Le Corbusier (ref. 25880-11-1536BB6A) is available in the limited series of 50 specimens. The watch is constructed to resist water pressure up to 50 meters (about 165 feet). The latest member of the Vintage 1945 family comes with a black alligator leather strap, ending with a folding clasp.
In 2012, the house of Girard-Perregaux released Le Corbusier Trilogy collection which consists of three limited edition timepieces. Each of them was available in the limited series of five pieces.
