Established in 1791, Girard-Perregaux is one of the world’s oldest watch brands. In 2016, to celebrate its 225th anniversary, Girard-Perregaux gave its Laureato collection a thorough refresh, beginning with the Laureato of 2016, a stainless steel sports watch with an integrated bracelet meant to go up against the likes of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and Patek Philippe Nautilus. It was a bold move but it paid off. In the time following, Girard-Perregaux expanded the collection with numerous models including skeletonized versions, tourbillons, and chronographs. Now, they are adding a new model with the very useful perpetual calendar complication. Meet the new Girard-Perregaux Laureato Perpetual Calendar, which will be officially unveiled at SIHH 2019 next month.
The new Laureato Perpetual Calendar only comes in one version for now and that’s in stainless steel with a 42mm case and a blue dial. The case features the strong lines that the new Laureato collection has become known for, with the familiar polished octagonal bezel and integrated bracelet with polished and satin-finished surfaces. Impressively, the case is just 11.84mm thick – remarkable for a sports watch with a perpetual calendar complication. Just as admirable is the fact that the watch is water resistant to 100 meters, making it a watch that you can truly and confidently take to the water.
The dial is a deep, luscious shade of blue with the distinctive Clous de Paris hobnail decoration that has come to be a defining feature of the Laureato collection. The Laureato Perpetual Calendar has a rather unusual depiction of the perpetual calendar indicators. At 9 o’clock, you have a subdial that shows the day of the week. Opposite, at around 2 o’clock, you have an oversized subdial for the date. Finally, the months are shown using an unusually large window with an off-center pointer at 5 o’clock. Above the month indicator is a small subdial for the leap year indication. The applied markers are made out of blued steel and lume-filled, as are the hands.
Enabling this somewhat quirky representation of the perpetual calendar indicators is the in-house GP01800-0033 caliber. It is an adaptation of the simpler time-and-date automatic movement found in the Girard-Perregaux Laureato Steel 42mm watch we reviewed here, beating at a modern 4Hz with a power reserve of at least 54 hours. It is visible through a sapphire display case back and it is smartly finished with perlage on the base plate and Côtes de Genève on the bridges. Corrections to the perpetual calendar indications can be performed using the crown, which operates in two directions, while the day indicator is adjusted using a pusher by the side of the case at 8 o’clock.
The Perpetual Calendar is a positive addition to the Laureato collection. The unconventional layout of its perpetual calendar indicators matches the somewhat quirky nature of the watch – those afflicted with pareidolic tendencies might not be able to stop seeing a smily face… The unusual dial layout aside, this is also a notable watch from a technical perspective: it’s thin, features a complicated movement, and yet is still water resistant to 100 meters. Taken as a whole, the Girard-Perregaux Laureato Perpetual Calendar lives up to its billing of a sports watch. The Girard-Perregaux Laureato Perpetual Calendar will be officially introduced at SIHH 2019 and is priced at $34,400. Learn more at girard-perregaux.com