Claims its a Girard Perragaux LED - I think not. And you?

[retroleds]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gents-1970s-Girard-Perregaux-LED-Watch_W0QQitemZ250377742101QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Jewelery_Watches_Watches_MensWatches_GL?hash=item250377742101&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A4%7C65%3A10%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

[bucko170]

He states the case is stamped GP?
The instructions look to have 2009 as an example for the date

[retroleds]

I think that's the digital camera imprint...late here too. Time for night-night

[rewolf]

This is about the 3rd GP of this type to appear winthin the last year (plus those I have missed). I start thinking it could be real and GP made other LED watches besides the Casquette (or sold cheap Hongkong stuff under their name...).
The instructions should make it quite clear if they match the watch and are marked "GP".

[retroleds]

So plain, and the common, ugly band. I find it hard to believe...

[fronzelneekburm]

It's a GP. Unfortunately, yeah they made this fugly watch. It's actually the only other LED model they made besides the casquette ones. Probably the most disappointing watch GP ever made.

[rewolf]

I doubt they even actually "made" this thing - rather they got it for 10$ from HK, stamped "GP" on it, and sold it for 285$...

[retroleds]

This exact style watch was discussed before and the consensus at the time was it is a fake. Fronzel(nice to see you again) - do you have anything, picture of old ad, GP brochure,etc? If it is real it would be nice to figure that out, if a fake(or batch of fakes) it would be nice to figure that out. If memory serves me, Led-Land sold one of those about a year ago.

Here is the link to the LAST time that style piece was discussed. http://www.dwf.nu/viewtopic.php?t=2331

[fronzelneekburm]

I doubt they even actually "made" this thing - rather they got it for 10$ from HK, stamped "GP" on it, and sold it for 285$...

Something like that i assume... I can't even tell what module is inside, but afaik some generic crap like the rest of the watch. I'm no GP museum ward or so, but even if i was i think i would not know more... I got nothing to base my claims on - no brochures, newpaper articles or so. But i think this was GP's only try to sell a "branded" watch and it terribly failed... I think the problem was not even the low quality of these, it was that GP came too late for it (~ 1976 I'd say) and this particular Design was unfortunately already overused by other cheap makes... For 285 it was probably the cheapest ever made GP and let's be honest - people dont want to buy a GP because they are poor...


imho a panic reaction to Omegas decision of buying "cheap" Pulsars and branding them into a bulky case then marketing them as Omega with quite some success. they were probably like "we can do what Omega does"...

They released their own design (the well known casquette) a little later and although it costed a fortune to develop these from scratch and they probably sold better than the "fakes", but still not that well that they continued development on these. I don't know any figures, but i think they lost a lot of money in both of these experiments.

I don't think brochures or picture postcards of any of the GP "fake" (lol i like calling them this... For a GP they somehow ARE a bit fake even if the fake comes directly from GP) LEDs exist, at least i have never seen one. What you see in the ebay auction is all i know of that exists. Maybe write the seller a really really nice mail and he will send you a pic or scan of the settings instructions (be like "OMG if these look real i will bid 1000 USD, im sure he'll help you...). Besides these i think there is no "better" proof.

[fronzelneekburm]

Here is another one, just take a look at the back plate.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rare-Girard-Perrega ... 240%3A1318

[bruce wegmann]

Notice the early P2/3 type dot-segment display; also used on the Omega 1600/1/2 models. Whatever else they did wrong, at least they got the display right...

[retroleds]

The display: Fairchild, Frontier and a host of others did that style display, to say nothing of the pre-Texas Instrument "Wells" which IMO have a display that rivals or exceeds the Pulsars. Odd, a three contact module with the setter up at the 1 oclock position. I've asked the seller if they would give us a picture of the battery ports without the batteries in and/or the front of the module. I also asked if it displays from pressing the 3 oclock button or does it display off the recessed one at 1 oclock. People have sold weirder things - like the Catena copies ModernWatch was selling, with a protruding button for the setting and recessed for the time to date display change.

EDIT: this watch and the previous one that initiated this thread both come out of the northwest Ohio and northeast Illinois area, virtually the same area geographically speaking...... All the etching/engraving could be be performed in minutes with a small desktop laser etcher and a PC. Almost indistinguishable with the right settings. That case back looks cheap as hell with those spot welded clips. I remain unconvinced but it sure is interesting.

[rewolf]

.... All the etching/engraving could be be performed in minutes with a small desktop laser etcher and a PC. ....

Especially the front engraving looks like self-made....

I'd still like to see the paperwork and instructions. If they picture the watch I'd be convinced.
The pictured booklet reads "Your Guide to ... Single Button ... Solid State Timepiece" - which appears to describe this very watch. It's not a Casquette manual. So if this manul is genuine AND is for this watch, the whole watch is genuine too.

[retroleds]

Latest from the seller.....
"Dear Ed:

Hello, the display actually lights when the button at 3 is pushed in,further,if the button is held for a couple of seconds the seconds actually display as well, and finally if the button is pushed twice in consecutive sequence the month and date appear, just as the original Girard setting manual says it should.I have provided a photo of the movement in the listing.I am not going to tinker with the guts of the watch or take the batteries out to photograph this further. The watch looks, runs and sets , exactly as the authentic original manual says it should. Unless someone has found a creative way to duplicate the watch , the instructions, case, manual et... The watch is authentic. Best wishes,Nicole"

[retroleds]

Hate to beat a dead horse, but...
One of the things that bothers me about this watch, is how the GP name is plastered everywhere. The module for a Casquette isn't marked GP, it is marked with the full name(recessed printing) AND "Swiss", "unadjusted", and a three digit module number - wow, they jumped too 5 digits and tacky painted printing . The inside of the case wouldn't be marked GP generally, since the outside is already marked with full name(which I suspect came from a quartz piece). And generally when Girard Perragauex has their full name anywhere on a watch or its paperwork, it has a border/line around it in form of a slightly round sided rectangle, not an oval - sort of like a P2 screen that is squished almost square for "GP", stretched long for the full name. Even the "GP" on the top of a Casquette has that border. As the article below points out(not talking about digitals per se), most Swiss manufacturers have their parts made independently(by law) - one company makes the case, another the band, another the movement, a fourth the crystal....

And the price has fallen $100...

http://www.cool-watches.com/girard_history.html

"The devil is in the details."

[fronzelneekburm]

Well as i said i cant supply any hard fact documents like brochures or adverts, if you dont believe then its fine, its not like i get money for it... However if it was a fake it would probably not have been a good deal for the faker if you regard the wood box, expensive printing/coloring and so on - that for the selling price of 285 USD it would probably be a really small revenue for a watch faker. And he must have made loads of these...

[retroleds]

There is the possibility the first sale and the second are the same piece(I'm thinking that would actually be very good). I'll admit it is a weird way to make money, then again, for someone with a number of GP boxes and some watches to mark up, it might have been worth making 5,10+. Well, it would be cool if someone bought it who could give us some missing details on the inside, the module, etc. :But 35-ish years, a cheaply made GP, and not a single one ever surfaced until the last year.

For any newbie collectors, don't let this kind of discussion scare you....take heart that there are people so intimate with the fine details of many of these pieces that these types of discussions occur. It would really suck if they didn't.

[fronzelneekburm]

I think i have seen the first of these like when i started collecting, so maybe like 10 years ago. But yeah, within the last five years they seemed to have nearly died out (only seen like 4 or so) and heavily revived since last year. I would have said some old stock discovered, but at least the one from the last auction had an outer cardboard box in terrible state. About the markings: I think if you have a "branding" and they offer a "full branding" you just agree, why have less for the same price? XD

I think back at the days it was the only stylish way to get ab GP that did not even have the case made in Swiss. XD Well i think most GP customers that could afford more than 285 USD were like when they saw the watch, especially regarding this was like the most popular design at the time, already overused by far east manufacturers. I really believe it sold like lead. Of the casquette they at least sold like 10,000 pieces, this one is probably much rarer imho, but undoubtedly even as a complete set not really an attractive GP in neither point of view.

[retroleds]

[Majestyk]

I'm not sure why there is so much skepticism about this watch. It looks very consistant with the early LED watches...That is non Pulsar ones that came out between '73 to early '75.
A lot of watch companies, high end ones included, were racing to get their digital watches on the market and many used the same pre-developed watches, and had their names stamped on
them. Then in mid to later '75, they began designing and/or developing their own designs.

Rado is an example here. They used Unisonic (Compuchron) cases for their 1st series of watches...Right down to the same boxes, but all marked Rado of course.

Same goes with the early DS and Field Effect LCD's...They all used the same Optel PS-2 model watch.

GP is no exception.

Jeff

[retroleds]

I'm not sure why there is so much skepticism about this watch. It looks very consistant with the early LED watches...That is non Pulsar ones that came out between '73 to early '75.
A lot of watch companies, high end ones included, were racing to get their digital watches on the market and many used the same pre-developed watches, and had their names stamped on
them. Then in mid to later '75, they began designing and/or developing their own designs.

Jeff, I have to disagree that it looks like an early LED - it obviously has a 29mm module, which looks to be of mid to late LED era construction(middle of '74 forward). Not including the Pulsar, the truly early LEDs all had larger modules - the Wells and early Benrus' with the Texas Instrument's modules, the big early Saturn/Quasars. Short of one of us buying it and more thoroughly dissecting it, we will probably never know. It just looks too cheap, too poorly marked, oddly numbered module,etc. for me to take it seriously as legit. But that's just me.

[bucko170]

I see it has now been sold with a 'buy it now' for $475.
I wonder if the buyer is a member?
I was tempted to make an offer myself - if only to have a closer look at it!