Girard-Perregaux Laureato 42 mm Pink Gold & Onyx Watch Review
The Girard-Perregaux Laureato 42 mm Pink & Gold Onyx is a new model pairing the eponymous noble metal with a rich, tar-black dial. However, as Mark McArthur-Christie explains, it still retains the essence and stylistic prowess of the inaugural Laureato, released back in 1975.
Ferrari 308 GTB
In 1975, Ferrari launched the 308 GTB. Intended to replace the Dino 246, it had a proper DOHC 2.9 litre V8 fed by four no-messing-about Weber 40DCNF carburettors. Its 255bhp, no matter how paltry that sounds in today’s world of ugly super-bling motors, would roar the car up to nearly 160mph and see 60 on the dial in just over 6 seconds. And it was styled by the design genius, Sergio Pininfarina.
Now imagine being the carrozzeria with the brief to design an updated, modern version of the 308. It wouldn’t actually be possible, would it? Worse, imagine that vital V8 being replaced with a box full of Duracells. Look at almost every other ‘revival’ or ‘update’ of a classic and it’s seldom even a pale imitation.
Girard-Perregaux Laureato – enduring design
It’s all the more remarkable then that Girard-Perregaux has taken the original in-house design of 1975 and kept it up to date. It’s been a sports watch, a dress watch, had a strap instead of a bracelet, been cased in stainless steel and various flavours of gold and had more dial colours than a paintbox, but it’s still recognisably and unmistakably a Laureato. The current Laureato is actually the fifth generation since its 1975 launch.
And now there’s another new version keeping the Laureato current – the Laureato in 42mm pink gold and onyx. It may not be a significant revamp or revolutionary change but that’s far from a bad thing.
When the Laureato emerged back in 1975, it was bang up to the minute. This was still the era of ‘new is good, old is bad’ rolling on from the 1960s, sweeping away the fust of post-war austerity and tradition. People were throwing out their wood and brass antiques and replacing them with melamine and chrome. If you didn’t have a smoked glass coffee table and a paisley shirt you weren’t anybody, man. Appropriately enough, with its modern quartz movement – who wanted those old wiggly-spring watches, sooo last year – GP’s new watch was called simply the Quartz Chronometer. After all, they had been in the vanguard of the Swiss quartz attack, eschewing participation in the Beta 21 project and going it alone. Well, nearly – they did have Motorola’s help. Their calibre 705 was one of the earliest quartz movements and one of the very earliest to be COSC certified. The best home for it? GP’s newest watch, Quartz Chronometer.
Girard-Perregaux Laureato 42 mm Pink Gold & Onyx – Calibre GP01800
But by 1995 it was becoming clear that although quartz was accurate and reliable, it wasn’t quite what some top-drawer watch buyers were after anymore. As with all revolutions, the quartz revolution was turning full circle and mechanical movements were back in. As a result, GP released a new Laureato, the 8010, with its own in-house mechanical movement. This latest Laureato reference carries on the tradition with the in-house cal. GP01800 self-winder. At just 30 mm across and a robin’s eyelash under 4 mm high, it contains 191 components, including 28 low-friction jewelled bearings. Running at 28,800 vph or 4 Hz it’ll keep doing so for 54 hours should you take it off and leave it in the watchbox.
So much for the tech. Don’t bother nipping into your nearest atelier in Geneva and asking if they have any stripes – GP has snaffled the lot. The GP01800 has Geneva stripes everywhere – and where it doesn’t there’s perlage, satin finish, sunray finish and anglage. If you like movement decoration, you’ll enjoy the Laureato very much. And it manages to be a Haute-Horlogerie-fest without being in the slightest bling about it. That’s not a trick every watchmaker can pull off.
Keeping everything in time is a temperature and magnetism-resistant Glucydur balance and a Nivarox hairspring. The balance is protected by the good old Incabloc shock absorption system and there is an eccentric screw for fine adjustment. The detail is such that even the winding stem release has a tiny gold-filled arrow indication to let your watchmaker know where to push.
Girard-Perregaux Laureato 42 mm Pink Gold & Onyx – case
The case of the new Laureato is, as you’ll have spotted, pink gold. Now, before you raise the cry of ‘heresy!’ – after all, Laureati have usually been stainless steel – doesn’t it give the watch a rather different look that extends beyond just a change of case material? Perhaps it’s psychological, but it feels as though the new model has a bit more heft to it.
Then there’s the dial. Black pigments, as good as modern ones are, simply can’t out-black onyx. An oxide of silicon, the stone doesn’t have a grain. That makes it chip-resistant and relatively easy to work with. That said, producing an onyx dial takes 15 different processes including cutting, shaping and polishing. The baton hour markers are hand-applied, polished pink-gold with the GP logo at 12 in the same material. But what about the hobnails that are such a Laureato feature? Nope, not this time. Instead, GP’s dialmakers have mirror-polished the surface and there’s enough depth to swim in. Talking of which…
Despite being a fully-fledged luxury watch, the Laureato is still everyday-wearable with 50 m of water resistance. Unless you’re making a habit of wreck diving, that should be just fine although it’s less than the 100 m offered by its stainless stablemates.
Girard-Perregaux Laureato 42 mm Pink Gold & Onyx – a glorious collection of shapes and finishes
It’s worth taking a fresh look original design, because it really shouldn’t work. At the base is a brushed tonneau case with an integrated bracelet. So far, so good. But on top of that, he placed a polished circular metal ring, then an octagonal metal ring with a brushed face and polished edges. Too much design, too busy surely? But the combination of brushed and polished surfaces doesn’t just work, it adds dimension to the design and brings the whole plot together.
Girard-Perregaux Laureato 42 mm Pink Gold & Onyx – closing thoughts
The Watchworld is an odd place. The Laureato is a nailed-on design classic from one of the best makers out there. It has one of the most beautiful non-complicated movements too. Yet you won’t struggle too hard to snag yourself one – even one like this in pink gold and onyx. Mind you, although it’s not a limited edition, I can’t see Girard-Perregaux making multitudes. It’s hard to describe a watch costing £42,000 as a bargain, yet I have a feeling that in a few years it may well turn out to have been just that.
Further reading
Technical specification
- Model: Girard-Perregaux Laureato 42mm Pink Gold & Onyx
- Reference: 81010-5203118-1CM (pink gold bracelet version)
- Case: pink gold; diameter 42 mm; height 10.68 mm; water resistance 5 ATM (50 metres); sapphire crystal to front; exhibition case back.
- Functions: Hours; minutes; central seconds; date
- Movement: GP01800-1404; self-winding movement; frequency 28,800 vph (4 Hz); 191 components.
- Strap: pink gold, polished and satin-finished
- Price: £46,200 (RRP as of 4.10.2023)