The Stainless Steel 4940 came in four face colors: White, Black, Salmon, and uncommonly: Green
Green Face
The GP 4940 is a two time zone Automatic travel watch in a Stainless Steel 38mm case.
The Tonneau case, rounded lugs, and round bezel are polished/brushed. The polished SS Case Back is attached with 6 screws and Engraved with the Girard-Perregaux name and "Time Zone - Alarm Automatic", the Reference Number and the Serial Number of the individual watch. Has domed scratch resistant Anti-Glare Sapphire crystal.
There are Two Pull-Out Crowns, one near the 2 hour and one near the 4 hour position. The upper crown is 3 position and is used to set/adjust the Local (Home) Time, the GMT or Second Time Zone, and the Date display. This crown is also used for Manual Winding when needed.
The lower crown sets, arms, and winds the Alarm function. The alarm setting is shown on an inner circle of Black Arabic numerals with black dots for each quarter. The 12 alarm marker is replaced by the GMT window. The alarm must be wound with the lower crown to begin its function. The alarm will sound (a soft buzz) and vibrate for about 8 seconds if the lower crown is pulled out when the set time is reached. The alarm is shut off and will not operate if the lower crown is pushed in.
The Salmon 4940 face has Yellow Gold tone Breguet style applied Arabic hour markers. The Hour and Minute hands are Steel Dauphine style with luminous centers. Also has a thin Cobalt Blue concentric near-sweep Seconds hand. The concentric Alarm hand ends with a red luminous triangle.
A generously sized Date Aperture replaces the 6 hour marker and shows the date in Black Arabic numerals on white. The GMT or Second Zone time is shown in a window beneath the 12 hour marker. This window displays the previous hour, current hour, and next hour on a White background. Even hours are in Black Arabic numerals while the Odd Hours are indicated by Five Pointed Red Stars.
An outer ring marks the hours (or 5 minute intervals) with luminous white dots. Intervening Minute/Seconds time is shown by black tick marks.
On the face is "Manufacture GERARD-PERREGAUX". Some have commented that as the GP movement was based on the Adolph Schild AS5008, GP did not design the original source movement and "Manufacture" (implying movement design and fabrication) may be misleading. Others accept this designation as substantial changes were made to the AS caliber. "Swiss Made" appears in black in very small letters below the luminous 6 dot.
The SS case is 14mm thick and water resistant to 30 meters, 100 feet. The case, face, back, and movement are all signed.The weight of the watch with a generic leather tang buckle strap is 2.8 ounces (79.4 grams).
The Black Face version has luminous White short point Syringe style Hour and Minute hands; an Outer Railroad Track; a White Seconds hand, a White Alarm hand terminating with a luminous red triangle. The hours are shown with White Arabic applied luminous markers. The GMT and Date windows show white Arabic numerals on a black background. The Second Time odd hours are shown with Red Stars. A variation of the Black Face can be seen with White Dauphin hands and thicker wavy Arabic Breguet style hour numerals.
The White face version is similar to the Salmon version except that the Hour and Minute hands are luminous filled Gold tone Dauphine style and the outer ring luminous hour markers are rectangular in shape.
Precise Time Setting
The GP 4940 Caliber 2290 has a Hacking function. The Seconds Hand will stop when the Crown is pulled out to the thrid Setting position. The Hack function allows the watch to be set to a precise accurate source such as time.gov
Set the watch to a few minutes in the future. Keep the setting crown pulled out so the Seconds Hand does not move. Now look at the source time. When the Source Time reaches the exact setting of the watch including the Seconds Hand position, immediately push the crown in to start the Seconds Hand moving at the exact time shown on the Source.
The original G-P instruction manaual describes a slightly different method. "Turn the crown until the hands go beyond the exact time, then slowly turn back the minute hand to the desired minute. It will then be synchronized. On the time signal, press the crown back against the case. The watch will immediately start running again."
The accuracy of the watch can be determined by comparing the watch time and the Source Time say a month later. This is effective only if the Automatic Mechanism has not stopped during the month.
An automatic movement can be expected to be accurate to about 5 seconds per day or less. This is about 2 to 3 minutes a month. A watch not meeting this standard by a significant amount, may need adjustment or servicing.
The watch original came packaged in a wood box with paper sleeve, and a mounting cushion. The usual papers included instructions, product line information, warranty description, a world wide warranty card.
The GP website does not have information or support for watches no longer in the product line. A search can be made for helpful information and discussion by searching various watch group websites some of which have Forums or groups relating to GP. Because of the similarity of the two references, the search might include Ref 4940 and Ref 4935. In a search using the name Traveller, note that "Traveller" is spelled with two "l's. The GP Museum might be another source of information.
A few Comments by an Owner of this Reference
About the Second Time Zone Window
The GMT window shows only three hours and one or two of these are Red Stars. Not quite as easy to read as a dedicated Time Zone hand on a full circle of hours as in many two zone watches but after getting used to the smaller display, it's easy to use if a few precautions are taken.
Reading the 24 Hour Military Time takes a bit of practice but is not a difficult challenge for most. My method is to subtract two from the right digit. So if the window shows 19 (for 1900 hours) take two from 9 leaves 7 so it's 7 p.m. Works for me.
Know that when the local time hour hand reaches 12, the GMT hour does not tick over instantly but takes 5 minutes until it is fully set in the GMT window. A quick glance made at say 3 minutes after 12 will show the previous hour which has not changed yet. Caution is needed until 5 minutes after 12 when the correct hour displays.
Care is needed when reading or reporting the Second Zone time. If the minute hand is at the 9 o'clock position and 6 is showing in the GMT window, out of habit, one might say or think, "Oh, it's a quarter to 6" (the hour showing in the GMT window)...but that is not correct. It is not "To" that hour, it is "After" or past that hour. So when the minute hand is at the 9 position, the Second Zone Time time would be "45 minutes after" 6. Not "45 minutes to" 6. Can be a little confusing until you get used to this.
About the Crown Winders
There are two stem winders. One at 2, the other at 4. The one at 2 (the upper winder) has three positions. All the way in is used to manually wind the watch if it needs it. The watch cannot be overwound. The Power Reserve is about 44 hours when fully wound but there is no Reserve indicator. Either wear the watch most of the day, keep it in a watch winder, or manually wind it from time to time.
The upper stem in the full out position is used to set the watch time.
The upper stem in the middle position is used to set the Date when turned FORWARD and to set the GMT or Second Zone Time when the stem is turned BACKWARD. The instructions caution against setting the Date or Time Zone between 11:30 p.m. and Midnight.
The lower stem (at the 4 position) is for the Alarm. When the stem is fully in against the case, it is used to wind the Alarm mechanism. The instructions say the alarm is "automatically replaced by wearing the watch." No details are given. The safest course is to manually wind the alarm after every use. Takes 30 to 40 winds to fully power the alarm. To set the Alarm time, pull the lower stem out then turn Backward to the desired setting. The Alarm will be active and will sound and vibrate at the set time if the lower stem is in the pulled out position. The Alarm is off (or will stop sounding) if the stem is pushed in.
To state the obvious: as the alarm dial shows 12 hours not 24. The alarm can be set to go off not more than 12 hours in the future. So if it's 5 pm now and you want to set the alarm to ring at 7 a.m. tomorrow morning, you must wait until the local time is past 7 p.m. before you can activate the alarm else it will ring at 7 p.m. tonight.
Service and Maintenance
The only authorized GP service center in the USA as of 2018 is Tradema located in Boca Raton FL
About this website
This website is not related or connected to Girard-Perregeaux. GP not endorsed or reviewed any of the content on this website. Any copyrighted material or images are shown here for educational and informational non-commercial purposes only. The opinions and comments here are those of the website owner and are for information only. Nothing on this website should be relied upon for any purpose.
© Richard Madison 2019