BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
Girard-Perregaux’s Laureato is a quintessential member of their lineup as it straddles the gap between dressy watches and activity watches, a category I like to refer to as the “smart/casual sports watch”. This means it can be easily worn as a dress piece to a dinner with a suit jacket but also take a dunk in the pool at the afterparty. However, it is perhaps more important because it’s also Girard-Perregaux’s integrated bracelet sports watch entry, and this sector has been dominating the new and pre-owned watch markets for some years. Whether it’s Chopard, Bell & Ross or any of the “holy trinity” brands, the biggest impact watches are the ones with integrated bracelets and subdued dials, although the Nautilus is of course the one we all think of.
One might look at Girard-Perregaux’s Laureato and feel a slight emotional “dip” when compared to those other brands; I think that’s because Laureato doesn’t have such a recognisable name behind it. Girard-Perregaux is definitely a brand for people who know a little bit about watches, and that means they aren’t cluttered by the riff-raff all lining up in droves to wait years for a single watch. If you want a Laureato, you can go and buy one, and there are many reasons why you might want to do that.
The new Laureato Chronograph Ti49 is the first instance of the brand using grade 5 titanium for this classic watch collection. That surprised me when I read the press pack for it, I’d just thought they’d done titanium quietly in the past. The case measures 42mm x 12mm and is water resistant to 100m meaning swimming is no issue here, although the chronograph is not operable while the watch is submerged.
The dial is a deep grey to match the colour of that grade 5 titanium case, which has a darker hue that can sometimes seem yellowish in the proper lighting. The monochromatic dial is accentuated by some Clous de Paris guilloché, meanwhile, the subdials have concentric circles engraved into them. The hands and applied markers have been PVD-coated, so they have a darker look to them, but they also have some white lume applied for nighttime usage. I always appreciate when a brand colour-matches its date window to the rest of the dial, so I’m glad Girard-Perregaux did it here.
Inside this new piece is the self-winding calibre GP03300-0141. It has a 4Hz beat rate and a power reserve of at least 46 hours, but that could be affected by using the chronograph. It’s also got a lot of components, 435 in total. If you’re wondering about the movement’s provenance, no, this isn’t one of those that, if you dig enough, you’ll find it’s a movement from another brand, one that starts with a ‘J’ perhaps.
The calibre GP03300-0141 is based on the in-house made GP03300, which in the past has been skeletonised, had calendars added, a big date function and has even been modified to sit in an MB&F, so it’s got a pedigree. I just wish we could see it through the caseback.
This new Laureato Chronograph Ti49 has a very strong background behind it, one that should hopefully persuade watch-loving buyers to get in on it. Hopefully, we’ll also see people who aren’t watchaholics getting involved in this. The price is certainly reasonable at $19,400 / €20,500 / £16,500.
