JEANRICHARD

Back in September of 2012, we interviewed Michele Sofisti, the recently appointed CEO of the Sowind Group and discussed the future of the group’s two major brands - Girard Perregaux and JeanRichard. Mr. Sofisti assured us that great things were on the horizon for both brands, the latter of which is undergoing major changes from logo to design to brand positioning. Indeed, exciting things are on the horizon at BaselWorld, but we don’t have to wait until then to introduce a great piece currently available. The JEANRICHARD Terrascope is that piece, and we recently had the opportunity to strap one on for a week in New York City and see what its all about.

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Sofisti holding the new GP DLC Titanium Bi-Axial Tourbillon at Timecrafters. Photo courtesy of Roberta Naas of Atimelyperspective.

(This interview was originally run September 17, 2012 - the image and caption above have been added.)

Michele Sofisti took over as CEO of the Sowind Group last year, after French luxury group PPR took a majority share (50.1%) of Sowind (which consists of Swiss watchmakers Girard-Perregaux and JeanRichard). Since becoming CEO, Sofisti, a watch industry veteran, has publicly indicated that he has plans to further develop Girard-Perregaux and to reposition JeanRichard.

1 - What does being under the financial umbrella of the Gucci group mean to Girard-Perregaux and JeanRichard going forward?

A very, very important move. Most important because it gives a total security of the future, total security for our partners on the industrial side, they know it will be long lasting. Also for our partners in distribution and our retailers. A company that has a bright future in front of it, this is the most important. The second important thing, we entered into a group that is run with a lot of respect from brand history, quality and heritage. This is really very important for a brand like Girard-Perregaux with 210 years of history.

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For JeanRichard's final showing at SIHH (they will be exhibiting at Baselworld beginning in 2013), the La-Chaux-de-Fonds watchmaking house introduced two new collections, the Highlands which was discussed here, and the Diverscope LPR.

The Diverscope LPR is a diver's watch with a linear power reserve indicator; but unlike most power reserve indicators which display the remaining power reserve on subdial, this one displays it inside the 12 o'clock Arabic numeral. Like a typical fuel gauge, it displays full to empty, vertically.

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JEANRICHARD debuted the 1990s inspired Highlands collection at SIHH last month. The collection consists of three pieces, two standard editions and one limited edition.

The Highlands collection comes in a 44.5 x 40 mm barrel shaped case with a round bezel and a bi-directional notched aluminum bezel which can display a second time zone. The movement is the JR1000, a self-winding in-house caliber. It features 27 jewels, a frequency of 28,800 vph (4Hz) and a power reserve of 48-hours. Functions include hours, minutes, central seconds and date. Each piece comes with a fabric and leather strap. Anti-reflective sapphire crystal. Water-resistance is 100 meters.

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Jean Richard has just unveiled a new diver's watch, the Aquascope. Like all of the timepieces made by Jean Richard, this watch is powered by the JR1000 (an in-house movement). This model was created to pay homage to the unique dive watches that were created by Jean Richard in the 1960s. The Aquascope stainless steel case is polished and satin-finished. The case features the brand's signature tonneau shape and is (44.50 x 40 x 11.85mm). The crystal is convex with a colorless anti-reflective treatment. To calculate dive time, the external bezel features a 60-minute scale, with 120 teeth (for half-minute settings). Surprisingly, the bezel is bidirectional, most dive watches feature unidirectional bezels, but in this case the bezel cannot be accidentally adjusted without first unscrewing the crown at 9 o'clock. Water-resistance is 300 meters.

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Jean Richard has created a new version of their Diverscope watch, the JR1000 Goldwaters. The case is 43 x 43mm and 13.5mm tall. It is made of stainless steel that has been coated in vulcanized rubber. The crown-shields and caseback are made of PVD coated titanium. The dual screw-down crowns are 18k pink gold. The sapphire is convex and with an anti-reflective treatment. The caseback is secured with 4 screws. Water-resistance is 300 meters.

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Earlier this year, at SIHH 2009, Jean Richard unveiled a new version of the Diverscope, powered by their in-house movement - the JR 1000. This automatic movement is the same one used to power their Chronoscope, as well as numerous other watches in their collection. It is designed to accommodate several complications, and can be supplemented by various modules providing virtually unlimited functions.

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