This latest addition to the Laureato family extends the appeal of the octagonal-bezel collection as Girard-Perregaux reaches out to collectors who enjoy their mechanical movements skeletonized and fully decorated.
You may recall that last year Girard-Perregaux celebrated its 225th anniversary in part by re-introducing its Laureato, the brand’s groundbreaking 1970s steel watch, with an updated steel-cased design featuring a 41mm round case with Laureato’s familiar octagonal bezel, hobnail dial and integrated bracelet. The firm then expanded the collection this past January with a selection of smaller sizes for women, automatic examples in several sizes and even a tourbillon model.
Now Girard-Perregaux releases this new skeletonized Laureato in a 42mm steel or pink gold, with each case metal matching the bracelet. While the bracelet is interesting in itself, with alternating matte and polished links, the focus of any skeleton watch is the movement.
Girard-Perregaux starts with its own GP-1800 automatic caliber, which you may recall the company released within the 1966 Skeleton last year (see here). This Laureato Skeleton also features the lacy open work seen on that model, but now that it’s couched inside a more angular frame (the eight-sided Laureato bezel) which makes the visual effect bit more architectural. The Laureato’s brushed bezel above a rounded ring foundation also heightens the multi-level appearance, in contrast to the single polished bezel of the 1966 skeleton.
Within the caliber itself, light plays with the satin-finished surfaces and their polished chamfered edges when viewed from the front. The wider Laureato hands negate concerns of readability that often arise with skeletonized watches. On the back a sapphire caseback reveals an openwork rotor.
Specifications:Girard-Perregaux Laureato Skeleton
CASE: 42mm stainless steel or 18-karat pink gold
THICKNESS: 10.88 mm, sapphire caseback,
MOVEMENT: GP01800-0006, skeletonised, automatic via a skeletonized 18-karat gold rotor, frequency 28,800 vph (4 Hz), power reserve is 54 hours
DIAL: Peripheral ring with suspended luminescent hour-markers, baton-type hands topped with luminescent material
FUNCTIONS: hours, minutes, small seconds at 10 o’clock
WATER RESISTANCE: 100 meters for the stainless steel version, 50 meters for the pink gold version
BRACELETS: In stainless steel or 18-karat pink gold with alternating polished and satin-brushed surfaces. Triple-blade folding clasp, in stainless steel or 18-karat pink gold
REFERENCES:
Steel model : 81015-11-001-11A
Pink gold: 81015-52-002-52A
PRICES: $60,700 for pink gold and $32,000 in steel.