Girard-Perregaux Launches 50th Anniversary Laureato, With New Caliber 4800
The new movement is a modern workhorse caliber, cased in a classic design from the 1970s.
In 1975, Girard-Perregaux introduced a watch that was part of the first generation of luxury stainless steel, integrated bracelet sports watches – but with a couple of significant differences. The first was that the launch model wasn’t straight stainless steel – it had a two tone bracelet, and gold bezel. The second was that it wasn’t powered by an automatic mechanical movement, like its contemporaries, the Royal Oak and the Patek Nautilus (launched in 1972 and 1976, respectively; both of those watches used their respective brand’s versions of the Jaeger-LeCoultre caliber 920). Instead, it used a technology in which Girard-Perregaux had become an early industry leader: quartz, with the quartz chronometer caliber 705. (Girard-Perregaux has been an industry leader more recently as well, having introduced one of the very few true constant force escapements in modern watchmaking). That watch of course was the Laureato – unlike the Royal Oak and the Nautilus, both the watch design and movement were produced in-house – and since then, it has been produced with a number of different complications and in an enormous number of stylistic variants as well.
For the 50th anniversary of the Laureato, Girard-Perregaux is introducing a limited edition model which stylistically hearkens back to the original from 1975, but which is also the launch platform for a new automatic movement, the caliber 4800 – one of the biggest major updates to GP’s movement repertoire in many years.
The original Laureato was a smaller watch, at 36mm in diameter; the Anniversary model is a more contemporary 39mm in diameter, which still brings the watch in at more classical proportions. Aside from the size difference, there are some minor variations in design – the Anniversary model uses the newer Girard-Perregaux wordmark and Golden Bridge logo, and swaps out the GP at 12:00 of the 1975 model for a double index, which gives a cleaner look and which is a better balance for the larger modern GP logo. The bracelet is slightly different as well, with the trapezoidal gold inserts in the original swapped out for full center links. Other than those details, the Anniversary model is as close as any fan of the original design could wish – including the Clous de Paris pattern on the dial – and with its slim, 9.8mm case, it feels very much like a direct descendant of the original as well.
While a 50th Anniversary Laureato that has such overall fidelity to the spirit of the original is great news, for the longer term I think the bigger news might actually be the new movement. One of the least known but most important stories in GP’s history is that of its importance as a movement supplier. The company’s 3000 series of extra flat automatic calibers was introduced in 1994, and while they weren’t record setters per se, they were right up there – or down there, if you like – in terms of slim profiles; the caliber 3200 (with date) is 10 1/2 lignes in diameter (a little over 23mm) and 3.28mm thick; for comparison, the ETA 2892-A2 (also with date) is 25.6mm x 3.6mm; the caliber 3200 compares well even with the AP caliber 2121 (again, with date) which is 3.05mm thick.
The caliber 3000 family of movements have been Girard-Perregaux’s mainstay in terms of versatile in-house automatic movements for many years but they have been used, with different decorations and configurations, by brands as varied as Cartier, Vacheron Constantin, and MB&F.
Having been around since the 1990s, the 3000 series of movements were deemed overdue for an upgrade, and the result is the GP caliber 4800.
The new movement is thicker and presumably more robust than the 3000 series, coming in at 25.6mm x 4.28mm – still relatively thin, although to be classified as extra flat, movements generally need to be less than 4mm thick (there’s no universally accepted hard and fast rule, though, and the Berner horological dictionary, which is the closest thing we have to an authoritative resource on watch terminology, just says that an extra thin watch is “one which is extremely thin.”)
Even at first glance, it’s clear that this is a contemporary movement. One of the most notable updates in movement architecture is the use of a full balance bridge rather than a balance cock, which has become something of a signature feature in modern calibers designed for robustness. A balance bridge is all other things being equal, more stable than a balance cock (and generally, they make it easier to make small adjustments to the end shake, or vertical play, of the balance pivots in their jewels). The movement also makes use of a freesprung, adjustable mass balance, which is to say that there’s no longer a regulator sweep (as there is in the 3000 series) and the balance is brought to time through the use of adjustable timing weights on the balance rim. As a rule, freesprung balances can show longer term rate stability, as regulator sweeps are usually friction fit in place (though in some cases they’re more firmly fixed in position by swan’s neck type springs) so with a freesprung balance there’s nothing to jar loose.
A less visible enhancement but just as important, is the use of silicon for the lever and escape wheel. The benefits of silicon are partly to the manufacturer and partly to the owner – for manufacturers, silicon is a material solution which provides exact consistency from part to part; no matter how many thousands are made each part will be identical. Silicon on silicon friction is low, thanks to the smoothness of the surfaces possible with silicon fabrication, and it has lower mass than traditional materials like steel, which makes transmission of power to the balance more efficient. The upshot is longer term rate stability, as well as longer service intervals and the only disadvantage is that replacement parts must be provided by the manufacturer (this is more a theoretical than practical issue, though, as watchmakers have relied on manufacturers for replacement components for as long as industrial watchmaking has existed)
The balance bridge and rotor are subtly but visibly connected to the three golden bridges that were originally developed by Constant Girard for observatory tourbillon pocket watches, beginning in 1867. Visually, caliber 4800 is pleasing in appearance, partly thanks to its obviously sturdy engineering and partly thanks to well designed finishing, which includes Geneva stripes, polished bevels on plates and bridges, sunray brushing (on, for instance the center of the rotor) polished countersinks, and polished screw heads; a radial pattern has also been engraved on the perimeter of the rotor, which is skeletonized in order to provide a better view of the movement. The variety and quality of the finishing of the caliber 4800 is very much in line with that seen in other basic calibers from luxury brands like Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe.
The only slightly strange element in the new movement is the use of a conventional Nivarox-type balance spring; a silicon balance spring would presumably have offered even better resistance to magnetism, albeit with a trade off in terms of fragility. The absence of a silicon balance spring may have something to do with the longer term supply chain effects of the original patent on such springs, which expired back in 2022, although the expiration doesn’t seem to have produced widespread adoption of silicon springs outside the consortium which collaborated with CSEM on the project. That consortium consisted of Patek, Rolex, Swatch Group, and Ulysse Nardin; the latter is now owned by Sowind Group, which also owns GP, so perhaps there may be some cross pollination of technology further down the road.
The Laureato is sometimes criticized for a perceived resemblance to the Royal Oak, and to the Nautilus and there are of course elements of both watches which can be found in the Laureato as well. These include the use of an octagonal bezel, and the use of a bracelet with rounded center links. The geometry of the bracelet links is noticeably different in the Laureato, however, and while it’s true that the Laureato has an octagonal bezel, its circular base and rounded surfaces are quite different from the angular assertiveness of the Royal Oak’s sharply beveled bezel, and angular bezel screws. The new movement is a welcome update as well and a reassuring development from a company which has distinguished itself for much of its recent history, as a maker of in-house movements and a supplier to even the highest echelons of watchmaking. The 50th Anniversary Laureato is both a continuation of a distinguished past, and a promise for the future as well.
The Girard-Perregaux Laureato 50th Anniversary, ref. 81008-63-3412-1CM: case 39mm x 9.80mm, 3N yellow gold and steel; water resistance 150 meters; sunray grey dial with Clous de Paris (hobnail) pattern; gold plated hands and indexes with white emission lume. Movement, caliber GP4800, automatic with 3N yellow gold rotor; 25.60mm x 4.28mm, running at 28,800 vph in 19 jewels; power reserve, 55 hours. Limited edition of 200 pieces; price, $28,320. See more at Girard-Perregaux.com.