Front view
Dial, hands and bezel as delivered.
Case-back view
Case-back engraving and, where fitted, the sapphire display.
Movement
Calibre with its finishing and decoration.
On the wrist
Worn shot for proportion and strap drape.
Girard-Perregaux · Vintage 1945
Girard-Perregaux Vintage 1945 37 mm Salmon Stainless
Reference 51976ST.68
Reference at a glance
- Brand
- Girard-Perregaux
- Collection
- Vintage 1945
- Model
- Girard-Perregaux Vintage 1945 37 mm Salmon Stainless
- Reference number
- 51976ST.68
- Year / era
- 1980 · 1980s — quartz-crisis era
- Complication
- GMT / second time zone
- Movement
- In-house automatic, chronometer certified
- Case material
- Stainless steel
- Dial type
- Salmon
- Strap / bracelet
- Integrated steel bracelet
- Water resistance
- 50 m
- Limited-edition status
- Regular production, not a limited edition
Case, dial & bracelet
- Case dimensions
- 37 mm
- Case thickness
- 12.6 mm
- Case material
- Stainless steel
- Bezel
- Fixed brushed titanium
- Crystal
- Sapphire with internal AR treatment
- Dial
- Salmon
- Hands
- Blued steel Breguet-style hands
- Indexes
- Applied Arabic numerals with luminous coating
- Bracelet / strap
- Integrated steel bracelet
- Clasp / buckle
- Pin buckle in matching case metal
- Water resistance
- 50 m
Movement
- Movement / calibre
- Calibre 72A — In-house automatic, chronometer certified
- Movement type
- Automatic with micro-rotor
- Frequency
- 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
- Power reserve
- 55 hours
- Number of jewels
- 40 jewels
- Complications
- GMT / second time zone
- Functions
- Perpetual calendar, leap year
- Watchmaker
- Assembled and regulated by a single watchmaker, who signs off the piece before casing.
Production & market
- Production period
- 1980 – 1989
- Limited-edition quantity
- Not applicable
- Current market information
- Thin secondary-market supply — pricing is set piece by piece at auction.
Designer
Jörg Hysek
Jörg Hysek left Rolex and Seiko's European studios to build a design practice in Geneva, giving houses such as Vacheron Constantin, Breguet, Seiko and TAG Heuer their sculptural, architecture-led cases before founding his own brand, HD3.
Historical significance
Girard-Perregaux Vintage 1945 37 mm Salmon Stainless sits within Girard-Perregaux's Vintage 1945 line, introduced in 1980. It carries the house codes established since 1791 — stainless steel case, salmon dial and in-house automatic, chronometer certified — and is one of the references collectors use to date the evolution of the collection.
Interesting facts
- Early production dials show a slightly different minute track, and collectors pay a premium for them.
- The reference was originally planned as a one-year run and stayed in the catalogue for well over a decade.
- The movement's bridges are decorated even where they will never be seen once the watch is cased.
The House
Girard-Perregaux
Brand facts
- Founding year
- 1791
- Founder
- Jean-François Bautte
- Headquarters
- Switzerland
- Tier
- Luxury
- Major collections
- Laureato, Three Bridges, Free Bridge, Vintage 1945, Casquette
- Signature technologies
- In-house hairspring production · Anti-magnetic silicon escapement · Certified chronometer regulation
- Famous movements
- In-house manual-winding · In-house automatic, Superlative Chronometer · In-house automatic, chronometer certified · In-house automatic chronograph
- Notable watches
- Girard-Perregaux Laureato 39 mm Green Carbon (1964) · Girard-Perregaux Laureato 39 mm Green Stainless (1985) · Girard-Perregaux Laureato 43 mm Mother-of-pearl 18k (1956) · Girard-Perregaux Laureato 37 mm Meteorite Quartz (1987)
Brand history
Girard-Perregaux has spent more than 235 years refining a single idea: a watch should outlive its owner. From the earliest workshop pieces to today's Laureato, the house has balanced technical ambition with a recognisable design language, and its collections remain among the most closely followed by collectors worldwide.
Jean-François Bautte established Girard-Perregaux in 1791, working from Switzerland at a time when precision was measured by hand. The founder's obsession with finishing and accuracy still defines every Girard-Perregaux calibre produced today.
Historical milestones
1791
Jean-François Bautte founds Girard-Perregaux in Switzerland.
1831
Girard-Perregaux earns its first international recognition for precision timekeeping.
1969
The quartz era forces Girard-Perregaux to redefine mechanical watchmaking.
1990
Girard-Perregaux enters the modern collector market with its signature lines.
2024
Girard-Perregaux continues to produce Laureato, Three Bridges, Free Bridge and other icons in limited numbers.
More Vintage 1945
Girard-Perregaux Vintage 1945 37 mm Salmon 18k
Ref. 98785OR.69
Girard-Perregaux Vintage 1945 43 mm Meteorite Quartz
Ref. 79472OR.32
Girard-Perregaux Vintage 1945 37 mm Salmon Carbon
Ref. 19668OR.29
Girard-Perregaux Vintage 1945 36 mm Silvered Grade
Ref. 63223OR.51
Girard-Perregaux Vintage 1945 39 mm Silvered Sapphire
Ref. 36652OR.10