Girard-Perregaux Launches Limited-Edition Sea Hawk Pro for World Oceans Day

The event, held in celebration of World Oceans Day, was emceed by Italian actress Jo Champa, who also moderated a Q&A session with the Rockefellers after the screening of the 15-minute film, which explored the issues of ocean acidification, overfishing and pollution through the eyes of a fictional mermaid character. Susan Rockefeller revealed that much of the project, which she made to support the work of Oceana, a global nonprofit group dedicated to ocean protection, was pieced together from existing footage, including YouTube videos, in an effort to reduce the “carbon footprint” of her filming process.

Also following the screening, Michele Sofisti, CEO of the Sowind Group (which owns Girard-Perregaux and JeanRichard) presented both Susan and David Rockefeller with the new limited-edition “Big Blue” timepiece, technical details of which are below. The guests, among them celebrities including TV host Gayle King and musician Nile Rodgers, then filed into a new mood-lit environment that featured projections of artist Ricardo Cisneros’s ocean-inspired works, where glamorous “mermaids” passed out steel drinking straws — designed by Susan Rockefeller and intended to discourage the use of disposable plastic straws — in keeping with the evening’s environmentalist theme.

“People like Susan and David work as our guardian angels, always reminding us of the importance of protecting our planet,” said Sofisti. “We are honored to be working with them and hope that together we will shed more light on the issue of ocean health and its protection.”

The Sea Hawk Pro 1000m “Big Blue” edition contains an automatic manufacture movement with a power-reserve indication, represented on the deep blue dial by a subdial above the 6 o’clock position. In this model, the power-reserve subdial features a map of the world to symbolize the oceans. Small seconds are located on another subdial at 11 o’clock, and the date is in a window at 1 o’clock. The watch has a unidirectional bezel for setting dive times and a helium release valve to aid in decompression after deep dives. The steel case, also developed and manufactured in house, has a screw-down crown and caseback.

The caseback is engraved with the motto, “Protect What is Precious,” the evening’s theme, which refers to the Rockefellers’ ocean conservation efforts as well as to Girard-Perregaux’s dedication to preserving classical watchmaking. As the model name implies, it is water-resistant to 1,000 meters. The movement, GP033RO, has 27 jewels, a frequency of 28,800 vph, and a power reserve of 46 hours. The rubber strap, in the same blue color as the dial, has a steel safety folding clasp. Only 15 pieces will be made, each priced at $10,900. Part of the proceeds from sales of the watch will go toward the Rockefellers’ conservation efforts.