Girard Perregaux

[Lightwater]

This was mum Mum's watch which my sister now has. We need to get on the tools and do a bit of tidying up. I'm not sure exactly when it was bought, but I think around 1990. The bracelet is 14k gold. It needs new acrylic glazing. Would be nice if it was sapphire crystal, but it is curved, so probably an impossible task.

 

[MrRoundel]

Welcome to the NAWCC forum.
I'm a Perregaux fan. That's a nice ladies watch you have there. The gold band looks like it his very nice craftsmanship in evidence in the tight links. The crystal looks round to me, with the bezel being slightly oval, so you might have an easier time than you think finding a new crystal/glass. Whether or not you can get a sapphire crystal may be dependent upon the necessary hand clearance.

Personally, and after learning from experience about unusually shaped crystals, I'd check into having the crystal polished. Doing so will improve the appearance, readability, and save you from years of searching. So if it really isn't perfectly round, tread carefully on knocking it out before you find the replacement. Good luck.

 

[Lightwater]

My Mum wore it every day for about 15 years. My Sister is not so keen on it. Maybe it will get passed down the family, eventually someone will like it. The milanese has 15 strands which are very tight but very flexible. It was well made. But being gold it has stretched a touch in one or two places from wear and tear, but not too noticeable.

I had popped the acrylic window off, it is round. Apart from scratches and chips it has stress cracking so it really needs a new one. I did find one to match but never got around to replace it.

I have looked at some new watches which I quite like, but my pockets are unfortunately lacking depth!

 

[MrRoundel]

Yeah, no reason to put a lot of money into it if nobody's going to wear it.

Modern society and styles have moved away from formal dress, and this watch is pretty dressy. Most of today's watches worn with an eye on style are much more sporty. So I can kind of see why your sister might not be too "keen" on the watch, aside from the fact that it was your mother's watch. It's a nice heirloom for someone to pass down to someone. Good luck.

 

[Dave Haynes]

I have probably a thousand lady's watch crystals both GS and the very best Rocket lucite crystals. I will never use any of them, send me the specification for size and I'l send you something that should work. On Women's watches, the name of the GP model helps immensely.

 

[Lightwater]

Thank you for the offer. It's a bit awkward to get my hands on it to measure.

 

[Bernhard J.]

If Dave so kindly offers a finger, I would try to take his arm .

Means to send him the watch, asking him to look for a suitable glass/crystal and to fit it. In particular in case of a crystal, the size will be rather critical. I recently fitted a new crystal to one of my pocket watches. Despite believing to have measured really well, I ordered 1/10 mm larger and 1/10 mm smaller in addition. One of the three snapped in nicely and firmly, without any need of glue, the other two crystals went into my basket for crystals.

Aside this, if the watch shall be worn more or less often, I would rather look for an acrylic glass, since this will be a better protection against water, because it is put into the bezel with tension and as a soft material adapts better than a crystal glass. This does not intend to suggest that using an acrylic glass will make the watch waterproof.

I like this elegant and stylish kind of watches. It is for a lady and not for a girlie

Cheers, Bernhard

 

[Dave Haynes]

The only glass crystals I have are from one of those Swiss assortment sales done in the 50's. The new watchmaker orders the assortment, uses up the sizes that will fit Walthams, Hamiltons and a few more and the hundreds of other glasses sit there for posterity.
For this GP, I would recommend using some Kristal Kleer and a buffing wheel. If you have neither Measure the crystal with a mm rule and take a photo of the watch. I'll see if I can match it or get something close. It is free because I like to help people who want to work on watches and the hundreds of woman's watch crystals will NEVER be used by me.
I bought a rectangular mans watch on Ebay a while ago.. It has a nice 9 3/4L Pesoux movement and flawless case, marked "West Pointer" it was made early. I didn't have a Rocket Lucite crystal for it so I went to the old GS assortment from the 40's. 1st one I picked out turned out to be an exact fit which never happens to me. I usually have to try a half dozen before I find the perfect one if there is a perfect one.