FeatureThe Girard-Perregaux Cat’s Eye Collection: A Treasure For Nine Lives

For eons, lithe and fearsome felines have been equated with female elegance and feminine grace. In fact, the relationship between cats and women was made part of religion after cats were domesticated in Egypt all the way back in 1500 BCE. During the heydays of the Egyptian civilisation, the daughter of the Sun god, Ra, was a ferocious goddess called Bastet or Bast—worshipped in the form of a woman with the head of a black cat. In fact, when one thinks about the pronoun used for cats, it’s almost always ‘she/her’.

A luxury watchmaker decided to take the cat, a symbol of femininity, and give it a life of its own—creating a women’s watch that has won the hearts of ladies around the world ever since its inception. Girard-Perregaux let the cat out of the bag by unveiling the Cat’s Eye collection over a decade ago, and these diamond watches are still catching eyes.

The Case Of The Curious Cat

One of the most extraordinary features of felines, apart from their graceful movements, are their eyes. Glinting in even the littlest bit of light, a cat’s eyes are some of the most unique sets of eyes in the world—with an oval-shaped outline and a vertical pupil at the centre, which appears like a slit and expands in dark settings to allow them to take in more light and see better. The brand has taken this distinctive feature and created a unique case that’s a delight to don.

You can spot a Cat’s Eye timepiece from a mile away—so distinctive is the case shape. Set vertically as well as horizontally, the case shape allows the watchmaker to experiment with design in a hitherto unseen manner. Not only that, but the cat’s eye case shape is also wondrously comfortable to wear, as it fits on petite wrists seamlessly thanks to its balanced profile.

Feminine Yet Marvellously Functional

It’s not all about the looks. Though the feminine appeal of the watch is heightened thanks to the case shape and the use of luxurious materials in terms of the design schemata, Girard-Perregaux hasn’t forgotten about functionality. The modern woman on the go has a lot on the line. She juggles the demands of her workplace, the chores at her home and, at the same time, makes time for her social circle. She needs a watch strapped to her wrist that can keep up with her. The Girard-Perregaux Cat’s Eye collection can do all this and more.

This version of the Cat’s Eye Small Seconds is a more luxurious take on the design and comes in a pink-gold case featuring a mother-of-pearl dial

With a subtler, small seconds sub-dial near nine o’clock, the Cat’s Eye Small Seconds adds a dose of functionality to luxe design

Girard-Perregaux Cat's Eye

₹33,70,000

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To keep track of every second of her busy day, the collection provides watches with a simple small seconds function. Modest yet effortlessly elegant, the Cat’s Eye Small Seconds comes in two equally impressive variants—one encased in stainless steel and the other in pink gold. Both cases exemplify the astonishing adeptness of Girard-Perregaux’s gem-setting technique, as the bezel is encrusted with 62 brilliant-cut diamonds, totalling 0.85 carats. In the variant with the black strap, the silver opaline dial boasts nine diamonds serving as hour markers, while Arabic numerals are applied at the 12 and six o’clock positions. The other variant houses a mother-of-pearl dial with eight brilliant-cut diamonds and Arabic numerals at the 12, six and none o’clock positions. A neat cat’s eye-shaped date window marks the three o’clock position, while the small seconds sub-dial is near nine o’clock in both.

With a great variety in terms of materials, the Cat's Eye Power Reserve ensures every lady finds something to suit her fancy to keep up with busy schedules

Ever the classic, this watch has a stainless-steel case and is presented on a black alligator leather strap, which enhances its overall elegance

Girard-Perregaux Cat's Eye Shop the Collection

Available in a multitude of editions, the Cat’s Eye Power Reserve is the kind of watch that will suit every lady’s fancy. Along with the small seconds function at nine o’clock and a date window at three, these watches present a uniquely designed power reserve function above the space between three and six o’clock on the dials. A small hand traces an arc through an array of stars to tell you how much power remains, so that you know when it’s time to wind the watch. All the Power Reserve editions are powered by the GP03300-0070 calibre, vibrating at a frequency of 28,800vph and providing a minimum reserve of 46 hours.

Girard-Perregaux Cat's Eye

₹41,40,000

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Though the day/night indication is not a practically useful complication, its interpretation by Girard-Perregaux in this rendition is ethereal and graceful. The pink gold case boasts a diamond-paved bezel. Housed inside is a dial made from aventurine glass, the perfect setting for this indication. The day/night indicator is set inside the pink gold small seconds sub-dial and stands out because of the etchings of the sun and moon on its polished, matte surface. As if that weren’t enough, Girard-Perregaux also released a different version of the Cat’s Eye Day and Night, in the form of the Cat’s Eye Day and Night High Jewellery—a perfect combination of haute horlogerie and joaillerie. Here, the watch’s white gold bezel flaunts 52 brilliant-cut diamonds, totalling 2.31 carats; its dial has an additional 149 diamonds, totalling 0.52 carats; and even the buckle boasts 31 diamonds. The silver-hued day/night indicator instantaneously catches the eye.

An Ode To The Moon

Few complications marry functionality and aesthetic appeal like moon phase indicators do. For centuries, there has been a close relationship between women and Earth’s only natural satellite. Phases of the moon were said to affect women’s behaviour, thought patterns and desires. This has obviously been debunked, yet a connection between our lunar companion and feminine energies and principles still remains. So it seems almost natural that moon phase displays grace the wrists of ladies who are always looking onwards and upwards. In this vein, Girard-Perregaux presents the Cat’s Eye Celestial—a true wonder within the collection.

Girard-Perregaux Cat's Eye Celestial Shop the Collection

Of particular note is the edition that features an aventurine glass dial, perfect for women who’d like a piece of the night sky on their wrists. Housed inside a delicate pink gold case whose bezel is set with 62 brilliant-cut diamonds, the aventurine dial serves as the perfect backdrop for the large moon phase indicator, which covers the upper half of the dial. The dial itself is bedecked with 33 brilliant-cut diamonds, making up the hour markers and the line between the moon phase indicator and the rest of the dial. The iridescent moon has been created out of white mother of pearl.

The other edition of the Cat’s Eye Celestial is no less impressive—featuring a dial made out of shimmering mother of pearl, with a lovely guilloche decoration on the periphery, and sprinkled with 33 brilliant-cut diamonds. Like the other watch, the upper half has the moon phase indicator, where the moon is dressed in mother-of-pearl marquetry on an aventurine backdrop. The same pink gold case, with 62 brilliant-cut diamonds, totalling 0.8 carats, and a blue alligator leather strap can be seen here as well.

Blossoming Beyond The Average

Femininity and flowers have had an inextricable link since time immemorial. These horticultural wonders have long been symbols of beauty, grace and hope. Though the flower erstwhile represented the fragility of the so-called fairer sex, they are, in actuality, a reminder of feminine resilience and effortless fortitude, wherein beauty emerges from adversity—like the image of a wildflower poking through concrete, or the lotus flower blossoming in a dirty pond. Girard-Perregaux has created an artful masterpiece, dedicated to the sensuality and grace of a woman—in the form of the Cat’s Eye Lotus and the Cat’s Eye Arabian Jasmine.

Girard-Perregaux Cat's Eye

₹51,20,000

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Your eye will immediately be drawn to the centre of the mother-of-pearl dial of the Cat’s Eye Lotus, where a delicate pink-coloured lotus blooms in all its glory. This flower also serves as a day/night indicator—an absolute stellar design format—where it rotates to reveal a luminous moon representing night time. The Cat’s Eye Arabian Jasmine has a similar aesthetic structure, only here in a more opulent form. Encased in pink gold, the dial is crafted from aventurine glass, while its perimeter is bedazzled with a whopping 365 diamonds. The Arabian Jasmine flower is known to bloom at night and so, when it rotates into hiding, the sun is revealed. This clever day/night complication does not require individual adjustment, as it is synchronised with the hour and minute hands and adjusted through the single flower-shaped crown. Both watches have bezels adorned with 62 diamonds each.

Girard-Perregaux Cat's Eye

₹33,70,000

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The saga of the flower symbolism continues with another beautiful creation from the manufacture. The Cat’s Eye Plum Blossom has three visually stunning variations, with one romantic complication joining them together—a diminutive and delicate plum blossom serving as the small seconds hand. Encased in either 18-karat pink gold, white gold or stainless steel, what truly sets the three editions apart are their dials. Presenting an aventurine glass, mother-of-pearl, or a diamond-paved dial (361 diamonds; 2.5 carats), the bezels of each are decorated with brilliant-cut diamonds. The bezel of the diamond-paved variant has larger diamonds, numbering at 52 instead of 62, but weighing in at 2.31 carats. Even the lugs and buckle of this iteration are encrusted with diamonds.

Girard-Perregaux’s Cat’s Eye collection, thus, gives us expressions that are vast and varied, and we are free to pick any flavour that we’d like—whether it’s minimalistic, modest or lavishly opulent. Exhibiting grace, sophistication and beauty that is exemplified by felines, flowers and the modern femme fatale alike, Cat’s Eye watches are sure to inspire and beguile any woman who lays eyes on them.