Christian Prouteau... the watch of the founder of the GIGN

It is on the forty-fifth anniversary of the creation of the GIGN that Christian Prouteau, the first commander of the elite unit of the national gendarmerie will work on an exceptional watch. Amateur and passionate about watchmaking, Christian Prouteau will design this watch with the attention to detail that has accompanied him throughout his career. It is at the start, as during the creation of the GIGN, a blank page: Which watch will best symbolize the restitution of the initial impulse which led to the creation of the first "group" of 17 men on November 3, 1973?

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As usual, Christian goes into detail and, like his career, will take up the fundamental elements of the problem to design a more relevant alternative. Observing, Action,
Rare collection watch with tourbillon movement made by lip from the vintage De Gaulle model in 2018 and designed by Christian Prouteau the founder of the GIGN for the forty-fifth anniversary of the creation of the elite and intervention unit of the National Gendarmerie. A 150-piece limited edition watch for the exclusive attention of GIGN members and alumni.
The GIGN is an elite unit of the national gendarmerie created in November 1973 following the Clairvaux mutiny and the Munich attack. It was originally directed under the command of Christian Prouteau in response to the deterioration of the global security situation and the rise in mass hostage-taking in the early 1970s. from the French state to the "hostage taking" threat will be the intervention of 9 snipers from the group in the Djibouti school bus operation in 1976 with the implementation of the "simultaneous shooting" technique.

This watch called 357 Magnum refers to the emblematic weapon used by the GIGN, the MR73 357 Magnum 4 inches. Weapon developed by Christian Prouteau with Manurhin in a special version called "Gendarmerie" from the competition model. From the beginning of the group, in 1974, it equipped the men according to their level in precision shooting at 25m in 3' or 5'1/4 for the best. The objective is to have handgun snipers in situations without sufficient recoil for the long gun, for neutralization shots on the shoulder or by hand to disarm a criminal. This type of exceptional shooting has been carried out successfully several times and allowed arrests in the most difficult situations with hostages...

It has a surface treatment reminiscent of the MR73 and is driven by a tourbillon movement, a nod to the Lip T 18, the brand's historic model, the first Lip to have integrated a tourbillon movement and an associated design. to the Lip "General de Gaulle" model.
For the movement, it is also the 357 magnum which perhaps unconsciously led Christian Prouteau to select a tourbillon. Indeed, the tourbillon window at the bottom of the watch recalls the circular movement of the barrel of the weapon in action. This movement, considered a major horological complication, was created by Abraham-Louis Breguet to counter the effect of gravity by placing the assembly consisting of the balance wheel, balance spring and escapement in a cage rotating on itself to obtain a mixing of vertical positions which mutually compensate for deviations in rate regardless of the position of the watch. A technique that is like the beating of the heart, another nod to the motto of the GIGN which is "Commit for life".

The desire to associate these icons for the forty-fifth anniversaries of the GIGN is, according to Christian Prouteau, the manifestation of the quest for precision, professionalism, and excellence of the intervention group of the national gendarmerie. With the combined use of a tourbillon movement, symbol of the quintessence of the watchmaking art, an emblematic model of LIP which symbolizes France (with the De Gaulle model) and a finish which recalls the fetish weapon used by the members from the GIGN: the MR73.

It has a surface treatment reminiscent of the MR73 and is driven by a tourbillon movement, a nod to the Lip T 18, the brand's historic model, the first Lip to have integrated a tourbillon movement and an associated design. to the Lip "General de Gaulle" model.
For the movement, it is also the 357 magnum which perhaps unconsciously led Christian Prouteau to select a tourbillon. Indeed, the tourbillon window at the bottom of the watch recalls the circular movement of the barrel of the weapon in action. This movement, considered a major horological complication, was created by Abraham-Louis Breguet to counter the effect of gravity by placing the assembly consisting of the balance wheel, balance spring and escapement in a cage rotating on itself to obtain a mixing of vertical positions which mutually compensate for deviations in rate regardless of the position of the watch. A technique that is similar to the beating of the heart, another nod to the motto of the GIGN which is "Commit for life".

The desire to associate these icons for the forty-fifth anniversaries of the GIGN is, according to Christian Prouteau, the manifestation of the quest for precision, professionalism, and excellence of the intervention group of the national gendarmerie. With the combined use of a tourbillon movement, symbol of the quintessence of the watchmaking art, an emblematic model of LIP which symbolizes France (with the De Gaulle model) and a finish which recalls the fetish weapon used by the members from the GIGN: the MR73.

This 2018 watch is driven by the reference 3A00 lip tourbillon movement, a thirty-three jewel small seconds movement, the tourbillon cage operates one revolution in sixty seconds with an alternation speed of twenty-eight thousand eight hundred vibrations per hour. Its power reserve after a complete winding is forty hours. The forty millimeter case with a screwed back is made of 316L steel and is decorated with the GIGN logo on the back with the mention of a limited series of one hundred and fifty copies, mention of the forty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the National Gendarmerie intervention group, the number of the watch in the series and the name of Christian Prouteau, the first commander of the unit.

The dial protected by a sapphire crystal is in a finish similar to the case and its bracelet. The dates are indicated there: 1973, for the creation of the GIGN and 2018 for the 45th anniversary, date of creation of this watch. At the top of the dial instead of the Lip brand is the GIGN sign with the name of the model below: Magnum 357. The Lip brand is engraved on the winding crown. The bracelet with adjustable pins is equipped with a discreet folding clasp with an invisible clasp and a box bearing the GIGN arms makes up the full set of this exceptional watch.