By commemorating the tercentenary of the Longitude Act, Girard-Perregaux pays tribute to John Harrison, that combative and methodical man who through his untiring efforts demonstrated that it would become possible, and in the end even easy, to measure longitude by means of accurate timepieces. This clockmakers invention has not only saved the lives of countless sailors over the centuries, but also enabled seafarers to diverge from traditional sea-routes, infested with pirates, to forge more adventurous passages across the ocean waves. Thanks to the daily calculation of latitude and longitude, they were henceforth able to determine their position with precision and thus set out to explore and conquer hitherto unknown territories. This was precisely what Captain James Cook did when he explored the Pacific from 1772 to 1774, carrying on board his vessel a replica of Harrisons H4 Sea Watch made by the English clockmaker Larcum Kendall. To pay tribute to the visionary genius of John Harrison, an inventor who symbolizes all the huge progress made in clockmaking during the Age of Enlightenment, the Girard-Perregaux Manufacture proposes for this tercentenary year of the the Traveller Large Date, Moon Phase & GMT Tribute to John Harrison watch, in a limited-series edition restricted to 50 pieces in 18K pink gold. This 44 mm-diameter watch worn on an alligator-skin strap, equipped with functions of great utility to travelers, is dedicated to the father of modern timekeeping and the inventor of the method of calculating longitude at sea. To differentiate this rare timepiece from large-scale production models, Girard-Perregaux, whose travelers watches have long been a house specialty, has decided to create a special dial for the occasion and a case-back carrying the words Tribute to John Harrison.
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 19:50:56 +0000
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