You may not realize that the Girard-Perregaux Laureato has been around since 1975. Fourty-eight years is a long run for any product, and of course watches need to adapt and adjust with the times. This also means that a long-lived model gets to play around with different materials. That’s precisely what’s going on with the Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Chronograph 8Tech.
New materials, you say?
That’s right, friend. For the case of the Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Chronograph 8Tech, they ended up creating a cabon fiber and titanium composite material. Individually, those are both light and strong. In this design, it takes that somewhat familiar forged carbon look of a case, and takes it more in the direction of what we might consider to be a damascus steel pattern. In other words, it’s quite unique, and puts a lovely artistic twist to a very materials engineering-driven sort of an exercise.
What does that fancy Laureato Absolute Chronograph 8Tech case house?
A case that tough, that means the Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Chronograph 8Tech is ready to protect a pretty special movement, right? Inside, you’ve got a automatic chronograph movement that ticks away at 4 Hz, and is visible through a smoked sapphire crystal on the rear of the case.
How do you match a dial to that case?
Well, with carbon fiber and titanium, you’re leaning into a monochromatic palette, and that continues on with the dial. You’ve got a gradient (from the pinion out to the chapter ring) grey, with a lighter grey used for the subdials. At the outer edges, and on the broad handset, you’ve got a bright white used, helping you to quickly tell the time, even against an overall darker watch.
Want to get one?
As you might imagine, when you combine this sort of materials mastery with the work that Girard-Perregaux produces, the Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Chronograph 8Tech is not what the majority of us would consider an impulse buy. However, if you’ve been doing well with your stock purchases, or just hit a solid bonus mark at work, then perhaps the $26,700 price tag is within your comfort zone. If that’s the case, you’ll want to get yours right over at girard-perregaux.com
Tech Specs from Girard-Perregaux
- Reference: 81060-41-3222-1CX
- Suggested retail price: 23,600 GBP / 26,500 CHF / 27,800 USD / 29,300 EUR
- Case
- Material: Carbon/titanium composite
- Diameter: 44.00 mm
- Height: 15.15 mm
- Crystal: anti-reflective sapphire
- Case-back: sapphire crystal
- Dial: gradient grey, titanium counters and indexes
- Hands: ’baton’ type with grey PVD treatment and luminescent material
- (white emission)
- Water resistance: 100 meters (10 ATM)
- Movement
- Reference: GP03300-1058
- Self-winding mechanical movement
- Diameter: 25,95 mm (111/2’’’)
- Height: 6.50 mm
- Frequency: 28,800 Vib/h – (4 Hz)
- Number of components: 419
- Number of jewels: 63
- Power reserve: min. 46 hours
- Functions: Chronograph, hours, minutes, small seconds, date
- Strap
- Material: black rubber strap with fabric effect and grey stitches
- Buckle: folding with micro adjustment system, titanium with PVD
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Author Expertise / About the Author
Patrick Kansa
A big data developer and leader with a penchant for gadgets, books, watches and beverages. You can find my work on WristWatchReview. If you’re on Twitter and/or Instagram, you’ll find me there as @PatrickWatches.
