Girard-Perregaux Laureato Chronograph Aston Martin Edition

Girard-Perregaux Laureato Chronograph Aston Martin Edition Watch Review

The Girard-Perregaux Laureato Chronograph Aston Martin Edition is another octane-rich performance from the Swiss Manufacture and the quintessentially British car marque. Dressed in Aston Martin Green, this model encompasses numerous AM-inspired stylistic influences. Mark McArthur-Christie, a man who is equally passionate about both cars and watches, shares his thoughts on this creation from La Chaux-de-Fonds.

Girard-Perregaux watch review

Despite car people invariably being watch people too, getting a watch and car company collaboration perfect proves very difficult. Just look at some of the historic efforts to see just how wrong it can go; logo-plastered dials, dodgy attempts to look like speedometers or tachometers, racing driver signatures everywhere. One gets the impression that these are the results of two marketing departments, each staffed with clashing egos, sulking into their lattes, culminating in unhappy and flawed compromise. It’s a joy then to look at Girard Perregaux’s new Laureato Chronograph Aston Martin Edition, a cohesive design that proves very easy on the eye.

This is the watchmaker’s second collaboration with the Gaydon-based carmaker. The first was the Grade 5 titanium skeleton Tourbillon with Three Flying Bridges; a wonderfully nuts watch in the best possible way. Rather than attempting an uncomfortable middle ground compromise, the Laureato sits at the other, more restrained end of the design spectrum. It manages to say both ‘GP’ and ‘Aston Martin’ equally without yelling or losing either identity in the process.

Girard-Perregaux Laureato design

The Laureato range has been around for a while – since the early 1970s.  You’d be forgiven for thinking it was a Gerald Genta design – the cues all seem to be there; the bezel, the pushers, that integrated bracelet… but it’s actually the work of one of GP’s own designers. Originally intended to house a new Japan-beating quartz movement that GP helped pioneer, it looked remarkably understated and modern. Over time, the octagonal bezel has become more pronounced and the case has been home to everything from skeleton three-handers to full-on chronographs like Girard Perregaux’s new Laureato Chronograph Aston Martin Edition. Likewise, GP has used everything from white ceramic (the Laureato Ghost, developed with London-based Bamford Watch Department) to carbon glass in the Absolute Rock.

Girard-Perregaux Laureato Chronograph Aston Martin Edition case

This time around, the Laureato uses a 904L stainless steel case (42 mm) and bracelet. This grade of steel offers better corrosion resistance than good old 316L, the industry staple steel, as well as being harder to scratch. It’s the same stuff Rolex has been using for a while and you can certainly tell the difference from 316L in use. Despite being 42mm in diameter, the case is just a hair over 12mm in depth, so you shouldn’t have too much bother getting it under a cuff.  

Stainless steel might sound a little less exciting than ceramic or titanium, but the finish lifts the Laureato well clear of the everyday. The bezel face is circular-brushed, standing out against the lateral brushed finish of the case’s horizontal flats that continues onto the bracelet outer links. The bezel edges get a visual contrast by being polished. Even more visual weight gets lifted away with the horizontal grain of the case sides. The finish also allows the polished pushers and crown to stand out. The crown and pushers are the screw-down variety with the pushers repeating the octagonal bezel design. The caseback stays in place thanks to six screws, contributing to the model’s 100m water resistance.

Girard-Perregaux GP03300-0141 movement

Talking of casebacks, this is the first time an Aston Martin logo has adorned the sapphire crystal display back. Indeed, the crystal back is a first for the Laureato, which is thoroughly good news – the GP03300-0141 movement is far too pretty to be hidden. It’s a manufacture movement and GP has managed to bevel the bridges and plate, engrave them and then add snailing as well as Côtes de Genève. Someone will have been busy – there are 419 parts to the engine, with a boggling 63 jewelled bearings. Practically, it runs at a relatively standard 4Hz/28,800 Vph and will happily tick for just over two days without intervention before you need to wind the crown. On the dial side, the movement’s hard work delivers the hours, minutes and date along with the headline act, a chronograph.

Girard-Perregaux Laureato Chronograph Aston Martin Edition dial

And that dial is probably the stand-out for the Laureato. It’s been a good couple of years for green dials – Patek, Moser, Cartier… but this one can claim some serious heritage, thanks to its Aston links. In 1959, an Aston Martin DBR1 rinsed the opposition to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Its racing colour? Green. And Aston Martin has stayed faithful to the hue ever since, even painting its modern F1 car in a metallic shade of green. Here, seven layers of green paint light up the Laureato’s dial, so it has some proper depth to it. Again, you have to know your Aston Martin heritage to pick up on the other reference. The diamond cross-hatching to the dial surface mirrors the carmaker’s original crossed AM logo and, at a stretch, you could say it also follows the leather quilting used on Aston’s seats. Get the angle right and the indexes and GP logo almost seem to float above the dial.

The chrono subdials pick up the same colour but use circular graining and black circular-brushed edging for contrast.  

Black hands are used for time and silver-toned items are employed for the chrono functions. All hands are open worked as befits a ‘racing’ watch, even though the weight-saving won’t even get you an extra 0.1 sec off your laptimes. Green lume illuminates the hands and indexes in restricted light.

Understatement is cool and this is one of those watches where, if you know, you know. And it’s all the better for it.