Here we have a pair of watches that are part of a limited production to celebrate the classic Mille Miglia race and the Ferrari 375 race car.
As watch partner to Ferrari in 2008 F1 season Girard-Perregeaux made these very special and complicated hand wound chronograph timepieces.
What is the Mille Miglia?
The Mille Miglia (Thousand Miles) was an open-road endurance race which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before the war, eleven from 1947).
Like the older Targa Florio and later the Carrera Panamericana, the MM made Gran Turismo (Grand Touring) sports cars like Alfa Romeo, BMW, Ferrari, Maserati, Mercedes Benz and Porsche famous. The race brought out an estimated five million spectators.
From 1953 until 1957, the Mille Miglia was also a round of the World Sports Car Championship.
Since 1977, the “Mille Miglia” has been reborn as a regularity race for classic and vintage cars. Participation is limited to cars, produced no later than 1957, which had attended (or were registered) to the original race. The route (Brescia-Rome round trip) is similar to that of the original race, maintaining the point of departure / arrival in Viale Venezia in Brescia.
What makes these two watches so special?
Each watch features a chronograph function but unusually they mono push button which is built into the crown operates the start, stop and reset of the second hand. These is extremely complicated and rare in mechanical watches.
The cases are made in solid 18ct gold, one in white and the other in rose and each are of a size that would suit either a lady or a gentleman.
As you can see from the photographs it is a very elegant watch that combines the polished and satin look. The case has a curved shape which while attractive in design is extremely comfortable on the wrist and matched to a thick alligator strap gives this a real presence. Opening and closing the strap is further enhanced by a gold deployment clasp.
Hand winding a manual watch I feel is quite therapeutic and once done it will hold its charge for 38 hours.
These are certainly rare as the white gold is one of only 125 and the rose gold a few more as one of 250. It is unlikely you will bump into anyone else wearing one as most will be in private collections so we are delighted to be able to share these watches with you and if perhaps you feel like treating yourself or perhaps a loved one with a passion for fine watches, a Ferrari owner or classic motorsport this may be a special watch to invest in.
