Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s… It was Franck Müller who was the first to seize upon the opportunity of a high-potential market for young bankers not knowing what to do with their annual ‘bonuses’, by launching the Master Banker with three time zones.
But now, with its all new ww.tc-Financial, Girard-Perregaux is raising the bar even higher – or rather differently – because its new timepiece offers not only the 24 time zones around the planet (while disregarding the exotic half-hours that occur here and there), but also, as a ‘bonus’, it shows the opening hours of the major stock markets around the world: New York, London, Tokyo and Hong Kong. And, this does not even count the piece’s additional chronographic function.
This new piece is, in fact, an evolution of the brand’s famous line, ww.tc (for World Wide Time Control), launched with an automatic chronograph in 2000, equipped later in 2005 with an additional power reserve, followed in 2006, for the first time in the world, with a Perpetual Calendar.





The principle behind the ww.tc-Financial is ‘simple’, if we can use that word, since it is quite complex from a watchmaking point of view. The opening hours of the world’s stock markets are indicated by a red index, present on a ring of hours that are adjustable using a crown situated at 9 o’clock. When this index is facing one of the four periods of stock market activity, the corresponding market is open. The other ring, synchronized with the hour hand, represents 24 hours.
Driven by an in-house automatic mechanical movement P033C0 (46-hour power reserve), equipped with a gold oscillating weight, this new and original complication is very visible on an elegant dial, with contrasting large numbers, and is available in a silvered or anthracite finish.
The ww.tc-Financial is being offered in a superb 43 mm classic case in pink gold, or, contrary to the brand’s customary practice, is available in a limited series in steel of 500 pieces each according to the different dials.


Source: Europa Star April-May 2007 Magazine Issue