Girard Perregaux Sport Classique Watches

Small seconds are in this year for Girard-Perregaux. New for 2011 will be this “Petite Seconde” model in the brand’s 1966 watch collection. Though I must admit the dial, with its classic feel and Breguet style numbers looks like something from well before 1966. The case on the other hand still feels about right with the purported era. As a formal watch does with a simple dial and Arabic numerals, this watch is hard to beat. Love the blued steel hands and the very tiny touch of red for the number “60″ in the subsidiary seconds dial. You used to see watches like this from a long time ago with a red colored “12.” People used to guess why it was red, but I am thinking that it was just for style. As such, the dial has white, black, blue, and red making for a good sophisticated look. Oh, and the dial is gonna look extra good because it is done in enamel. Fancy! But really not “1966.”The case is still 40mm wide in 18k white or rose gold, and has a sapphire crystal over the front and back. Inside the relatively thin case is an in-house made Girard-Perregaux GP03300-50 automatic movement. The movement is finely decorated and has a gold rotor. Look for this timepiece sometime next year.

The Group has announced its reorganisation: Monica Mailander Macaluso has been appointed Chairman of the Board of the Sowind Group holding company, while the directorship and operational management have been entrusted to Stefano and Massimo Macaluso, Chairman and CEO of Sowind SA respectively. A 'Strategic Management Committee' has been set up. The new Chairman highlighted 'the choice of family continuity, and the new dynamic given to the Group'. Fran?ois-Henri Pinault, Chief Executive Officer of PPR and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sowind Group, has renewed 'his trust in the family project and his support for the group project.' The Board of Directors of the Sowind Group holding company, which operates in the Haute Horlogerie sector and encompasses the brands Girard-Perregaux and Jeanrichard, has announced its reorganisation following the sudden death of its Chairman Luigi Macaluso. Monica Mailander Macaluso, an entrepreneur and current Chairman of Sowind Italia, has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Sowind Group holding company. The rest of the Board of Directors has remained unchanged. Alongside Stefano and Massimo Macaluso it comprises, as Vice-Chairman, Francois-Henri Pinault, the Chief Executive Officer of PPR, which, following the signature of a strategic partnership agreement in 2008, holds a 23% stake in Sowind Group. The other members are Robert Polet (Chief Executive Officer of Gucci Group) and Henry Peter. The operational management of the Group has been entrusted to Stefano and Massimo Macaluso, Chairman and CEO of Sowind SA, respectively. Stefano Macaluso, previously Vice-Chairman of the company, had assisted his father for nearly 10 years in strategy definition, product creation and development, in industrial management and in the Sales Department. Massimo Macaluso, who has been part of the Group for 10 years and is the current Vice-Chairman, had also been actively involved alongside Luigi Macaluso in defining the Group strategy, and was responsible as Managing Director for the international development of the brand Jeanrichard. The Board of Directors has also approved the creation of a Strategic Management Committee in order to define the areas for development, and will meet periodically for the purpose of operational management monitoring. Monica Mailander Macaluso declared: 'The definition of this new organisation highlights firstly the desire for continuity and the determined commitment of the family to support the technological innovation projects and the group's commercial development. Furthermore, the newly-established management structure will guarantee the skills and resources essential with a view to international development.' Francois-Henri Pinault, Chief Executive Officer of PPR, declared: 'Since we bought into Sowind's capital, we have shared a common vision of the long-term prospects of the Haute Horlogerie sector. We have complete confidence in the company's new management and new organisation, and we are renewing our support to Sowind Group as a strategic partner for the development of the company.' Stefano Macaluso, Chairman of Sowind SA, declared: 'The decisions taken in the last few days have just been an acceleration of the established process, with increasing empowerment of the Group's managerial team, and with a clear business project in terms of industrial policy, product creation and reinforcing the distribution of our brands internationally.' Massimo Macaluso, CEO of Sowind SA, also declared: 'We are a multinational company with subsidiaries in 8 countries, and represented in 60 countries. Our objective is to continue the existing development plan, relying on two particularly important assets. Firstly, our unique dimension in the world of Haute Horlogerie, based on our priceless heritage and on our magnificent technical and production culture. Secondly, our managerial structure, with a team of skilled managers who have been with us for many years, and which is ready to make a success of a business project aiming for ever greater proximity to our customers and the market, and to promote our brands.' Both highlighted that: 'This is the logical consequence of an established project, the fruit of a work already in progress. It means perpetuating the entrepreneurial spirit, vision and creativity of Luigi Macaluso, who was able to make Sowind and Girard-Perregaux, which will celebrate its 220th anniversary next year, an essential international benchmark for the watchmaking world.'