Girard-Perregaux Sea Hawk and Chrono Hawk – Basel 2013

05/12/2012 | By Max E. Reddick | 4 min read |

An active lifestyle creates the need for a sport watch, but a certain refinement demands a rugged timepiece that can effortlessly move from outdoor activities to a champagne dinner, causing you to look good each step of the way.

Girard-Perregaux, long a purveyor of style, has offered the Sea Hawk in its repertoire, but now creates an entirely new line of Hawk watches, which includes a new Sea Hawk version and introduces the all-new Chrono Hawk. Meet the Chrono Hawk!

The family resemblance to the Sea Hawk is immediately apparent: the same interplay of steel and rubber, the overall color scheme, and the new angular, rubber-ringed octagonal case (reminiscent of the Laureato collection), but with a different layout for the chronograph.

With the Chrono Hawk, the crown returns to its traditional place, and instead of the Sea Hawk’s all rubber crown, the Chrono Hawk has a steel crown with a rubber head. The elongated, sloping pushers follow the contours of the case, providing an ergonomic fit.

Alongside simple batons, the chapter ring displays large batons, angled downward, which descend to the dial. White or black Arabic numerals adorn the top of each large baton, positioned at five second/minute intervals. Enhancing the 3-D effect initiated by the markers are sunken rings in the sub-dials and a date window against a textured black or grey/silver dial.

The Chrono Hawk has a choice of rubber strap or a hybrid leather/rubber strap, and with the white stitching on the leather, I prefer the latter. The same visibility-enhancing, orange/black/white color scheme as the Sea Hawk predominates, but the Chrono Hawk limits the orange to the tip of the chronograph’s sweeping-seconds hand and the continuous small-seconds hand.

Both the Hawk Chrono and the new Sea Hawk use the in-house GP 3300 movement, giving the watches a 46-hour power reserve. The Chrono Hawk has an (also) in-house chronograph module, for the chronograph functions, on top of the base movement. Also, the Hawk Chrono has a sapphire crystal case back, which offers a sweet view on the nicely finished movement.

The Chrono Hawk may be a new model, but it fits into the family like a long lost relative.

The new Sea Hawk

The Sea Hawk is an iconic watch for the brand, undergoing multiple reinventions, and here Girard Perregaux did a complete overhaul while maintaining a recognizable Sea Hawk appearance: rubber strap, crown at the 4 o’clock position and a distinctive orange plongeur minute hand paired with a white broad-arrow hour hand.

The octagonal case is the most dramatic redesign with its sharp angles and rubber ring. The layout of the new Sea Hawk is familiar and will be recognizable from our review of the Sea Hawk Pro 1000m. This watch has a more integrated combination of steel and rubber, conducive to diving, with a choice of black or grey/silver dial, like its Hawk Chrono sibling.

The color scheme of orange/black/white aids visibility with the florescent orange, a must for the watery depths. The textured motif pattern, inspired by the famous Girard-Perregaux Bridge, gives the dial an oceanic feel, and the raised minute/hour markers appear to float on the surface. Sub-dials include a small seconds hand and a new sweeping power reserve indicator.

With a depth rating of 1000m, the helium release valve is standard as is a uni-directional coin edged bezel. The watch continues a long-standing tradition, originating with the first Sea Hawk in the 1940s, and now anchors the new Hawk Sport Collection.