An overview of the Girard Perregaux Casquette watch, from the first generation in 1976 to this year’s edition.
In the modern world, mechanical watches are still the preferred choice when comparing quartz vs. automatic watches. Watchmakers specializing in mechanical timepieces are continually pushing the horological boundaries. Their boundless beauty seems to satisfy us beyond any limit. The alluring complexity of a mechanical watch enables us to delve into the process and story of that watch. But quartz does have advantages to offer the collector, too. This is especially true for those quartz watches capturing a certain vintage charm.
No other watch style echoes the sci-fi-loving era of the 1970s like digital quartz. The Girard Perregaux Casquette watch is a fine example. If you have always wanted to own this watch, you can still do so. More options are available today. The brand released a second generation in 2022 and the latest version in 2024
In this article, we’ll cover the original watch and the latest versions. We’ll also examine this digital quartz watch and what it brings to the table.
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The Evolution of the Girard Perregaux Casquette Watch
If you know anything about Seiko movements, you’ll know that the brand first made the quartz watch. But people don’t realize another brand was making headway with the movement. Even more surprising is that the brand was Swiss.
The Casquette watch by Girard Perregaux is a tubular-shaped LED display watch that largely contributed to the Quartz Crises during the 1970s. It arrived in 1976 with a quartz battery operating at 32,768 Hz, which soon became the standard for all quartz watches.
Quartz technology wiped the floor with traditional Swiss watchmakers during this era. However, the Swiss were working on manufacturing an analog quartz watch long before anyone realized it. Several, however, didn’t come to fruition in time before Seiko launched the Astron.
Girard Perregaux launched the Casquette in 1976. It was the first digital LED watch to reach the market and is now a popular collectible. There were two key issues with that first Casquette watch. One was that you had to activate a pusher to see the time. Doing so would display the legible red lit-up numbers. This first problem only existed because of the second problem, which was the watch’s short battery life. The “light-up” button was a power-preserving solution but wasn’t the handiest.
Pressing that button would display the time, followed by the day, the date, and the running seconds. Although outdated, this watch is still appealing as a retro 1970s collectible today. Fans simply love it. The watch is a slice of science-fiction-inspired lab-like wonderfulness. So, what did Girard Perregaux do? It released a newer version, of course!
The Casquette 2.0 Watch
You can see how the original Casquette watch would have looked back in the day. Imagine it paired with an open-neck paisley shirt, medallions, and bell-button pants! The new Casquette generation is a digital watch with a built-in chronograph—a rarity even today. Back in the 1970s, they were even sparser. TAG Heuer, Breitling, and Sicura are just a few examples of brands competing in this space.
The new Casquette 2.0 watch even gives you a second-time zone to use when traveling on business or for pleasure. Instead of the steel, gold-plated, and polycarbonate options of the 1970s, the new Casquette 2.0 featured ceramic and titanium.
Features of the Girard Perregaux Casquette. 2.0 Watch
The original 1970s Casquette watch had a striking silhouette, recalling the profile of a 1970s muscle car. The LED screen recalled the vehicle’s taillights.
The brand was also one of the first to incorporate bracelets into cases. The shape of the digital LED watch shows how the integrated bracelet took shape. Remember, the Casquette arrived amid the steel sports era!
Dubbed the Casquette 2.0, the younger generation of the Casquette features a sleek black outfit. A black-coated titanium case back and black ceramic bodywork bring a more contemporary spin to the watch. These materials are hypoallergenic and lightweight. Ceramic is also utilized in the watch industry for its scratch-resistant properties.
Impressively, this watch weighs 107g! Its titanium pushers and the GP badge above the watch screen are unadorned. This watch features the Calibre GP03980, which GP produced in collaboration with Bamford Watch Company in 2021. As mentioned, the movement offers minutes, seconds, hours, months, years, secret dates, a chronograph, and a second-time zone.
Completing its futuristic look is a black ceramic bracelet with a rubber interior for extra comfort.
The Third-Gen Casquette Watch
Girard Perregaux made history again in 2024 with a third generation of the Casquette. The watch resulted from a partnership with French fashion house Saint Laurent.
The newest iteration of the Casquette measures 42.4 x 33.6mm and features the same multi-functional quartz movement. It includes the chronograph, second-time zone function, and secret date setter for anniversary reminders.
While the Casquette 2.0 boasts a stealthier all-black look, the third version is quite the opposite. The ceramic and titanium architecture showcases silvery grey tones. It’s nice that Girard Perregaux keeps the same ceramic and rubber bracelet design for this limited-to-200-piece watch. Would-be quartz historians are sure to snap this collectible up right away!
The Takeaway
If you lived life to the fullest in the 1970s, you’d have owned something similar to the Girard Perregaux Casquette watch. Looking back at its design today, it captured the horological zeitgeist of this era, pushing the boundaries in digital technology.
Few people realized that Swiss watchmaker Girard Perregaux was at the forefront of quartz timekeeping during this period. Instead, manufacturers like Seiko, Casio, and Citizen receive accolades. Yet, while these Japanese watch brands deserve recognition for their technological developments during this time, so do the Swiss.
Today, you can enjoy the retro qualities of the Casquette in the second and third generations of the watch. This throwback quartz watch is a niche, especially since GP is known for contributing to the mechanical field. Still, those who love early quartz watches would agree that the Casquette reserves a special place in their heart.
It shows the brand can turn its hand to anything and recalls a special point in history.
What do you think of the Casquette watch? Let us know in the comments below! Want to read more articles like this? Stay ahead of all the latest watch industry news, and sign up for the newsletter at The Slender Wrist today!
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