Editor’s Note: Watches & Wonders (formerly SIHH) and Baselworld 2020 are canceled but that hasn’t stopped watch brands large and small from debuting their new wares. To stay on top of this year’s best new watch releases, visit our tag page.
When you see a watch with a deep blue dial that seems to sparkle like the night sky full of stars, it’s likely made from a mineral called aventurine. (Fun fact: gemologists refer to the mineral’s effect as — are you ready? —aventurescence, though we layman would probably call it something like a subtle glitter.) Girard-Perregaux has just introduced three new models with dials made of this interesting mineral, each in a different case finish that takes on a unique character as it pairs with the dial material.
Aventurine comes in various colors, but you’ll mostly see it in dark blue on watch dials. That’s the color used for two of the models here, one with a steel case and one with a pink gold case, but the third model has a black DLC-treated steel case and a sparkling black aventurine dial.
Part of the brand’s 1966 collection, the three new models are called the Orion Trilogy and feature 40mm-wide-by-9.4mm thick cases as well as the GP03300-0132 in-house automatic movement, with three-hand time-telling, a date complication and a 46-hour power reserve. The Girard Perregaux 1966 Orion has a price of $8,700 it steel, $9,400 with a black DLC coating, and $17,800 in gold.
