Hands On With The Girard-Perregaux Laureato Fifty
An integrated bracelet steel watch for individualists.
The Girard-Perregaux Laureato was one of the first generation of integrated bracelet sports watches, but it has followed a unique path in its evolution down to today. Unlike its more famous contemporaries – the Royal Oak and the Nautilus – the Laureato, which came out in 1975, was produced during an era when the conventional wisdom in Switzerland was that mechanical movements would, sooner or later (and sooner, rather than later) largely give way to quartz movements. Thus, the Laureato at launch was powered by a quartz movement rather than a mechanical. Girard-Perregaux had been an industry leader in producing practical, thin, versatile quartz movements, and in 1971 the company had introduced the first quartz movement to run at the now-standard 32,768Hz, which was the GP caliber 350 (the first commercial series produced Swiss quartz movement, the Beta 21, ran at 8,192Hz. The first Laureato used what was then a very sophisticated quartz movement, GP caliber 705, which was a certified chronometer – in fact, the first Laureato didn’t say Laureato on the dial; it said “Quartz Chronometer” instead.
The first mechanical Laureato didn’t appear until the post-Quartz Crisis mechanical revival was already well underway – it launched in 1995 and used the GP extra-thin caliber 3100, which was 25.60mm x 2.98mm, with a 46 hour power reserve. Since then, the basic Laureato design has appeared in a very wide range of models, from time-and-date daily drivers, all the way up to tourbillons under three bridges, and other complications.
The automatic Laureato as it exists today is therefore, not a revival or a continuation of a legacy mechanical luxury watch, but rather, a mechanical version of what was at launch a technically sophisticated quartz chronometer. The design of the Laureato retains most of the features of the original, including the hobnail (Clous de Paris) patterned dial, eight sided bezel, and integrated bracelet. The intermediate links seen in modern Laureato watches were used for the first time in 1984.
While some folks think the design is derivative of the Royal Oak, I think a look at the original model shows that the design lineage of the Laureato doesn’t have very much to do with the Royal Oak, then or now, at all, except inasmuch as the general trend in the 1970s was for premium-priced luxury steel sports watches, and the market still valued and preferred extra-thin movements and cases when possible.
The Laureato Fifty was launched late last year, for the fiftieth anniversary, in a two-tone limited edition of 200 pieces, and was priced at $28,200. Early last month, GP launched four new models, in 39mm and 36mm cases. Two of the four were a 39mm blue enamel dial model, and a 36mm diamond set model, and the other two were 36mm and 39mm models in steel, with rose gold hobnail dials. The 36mm and 39mm models are the same price: $23,100.
The 39mm model feels very much a modern watch and as you can see right away, it’s considerably more substantial than the original quartz chronometer Laureato which was just 30mm in diameter; the first mechanical Laureato, the reference 8010, was 36mm in diameter. The general feel you get from the new Fifty 39mm model is of something very substantial, but which still has some of the old-school mid-1970s jet-setter elegance of the original. I don’t think the Fifty gives up anything to any other modern steel luxury sports watch in terms of build quality – not that it should, at twenty three thousand dollars, but nonetheless the combination of solidity and graceful look and feel is worth noting.
The Fifty is also quite a bit more eye-catching than the original model (well, it would be, at 39mm vs. 30mm) and moreso also than the 8010, one of which was briefly part of my personal collection around fifteen or sixteen hears ago; it’s a thicker watch with a thicker movement – the Girard-Perregaux caliber 4800 –,but also a longer power reserve, at 60 hours, and generally more robust construction, including a balance bridge (and freesprung balance. The escape wheel and lever are silicon but, for now, not the balance spring, although I suspect that will be coming in the not-too-distant-future.
As with the limited 50th Anniversary edition, the bracelet and case seem very well integrated – more organically than in the original model, which gave up pretty much any sense of three-dimensionality for the sake of keeping everything as flat as possible. The bezel and interlinks of the Fifty echo each other’s rounded contours, and the interlinks manage to give some depth to the bracelet while at the same time, lying basically flat next to the larger main links.
The dial is exceptionally beautiful.
The geometry of the Clous de Paris pattern is flawless, crisp and clear, and the outer flange with the minute track has a very subtle circumferential brushing; the date wheel and date window are color-matched to the dial, and the plate with the Girard Perregaux logo has circular brushing which mirrors that on the minute track. The shapes of the hands, dial markers, and even the counterweight on the tail of the minute hand all match each other as well and there is a bit of an echo of the feet of Girard-Perregaux’s Golden Bridge movement designs
The Golden Bridges design shout outs in the Laureato Fifty are subtle but definitely present, and I think very well integrated; that sort of thing easily becomes too obvious for its own good, which is a potential gotcha GP did very good job of avoiding.
I think it’s probably a good idea if you are interested in the new Fifty, to try on both the 39 and the 36; I have not had a chance to handle a 36 in person, but I was a huge fan of the reference 8010 and I suspect I’d have a hard time choosing one over the other with the Fifty.
The Laureato until recently also came in a 38mm x 10mm model, with the GP caliber 3300, but if you like me think that the Laureato design is at its best in general as a fairly thin watch, the Fifty is still well worth considering, since at 39mm x 9.80mm it’s actually thinner than the outgoing 38mm references – by 0nly 0.20mm, sure, but watch enthusiasts if nothing else are detail oriented enough to notice the difference (or at least we think we can see or feel the distance). The Laureato is I think, something best appreciated on its own merits – it can be compared, if you want to, to other integrated bracelet steel sports luxury watches born in the 1970s but its conception and evolution are distinct from the others to a great enough degree that it can stand on its own merits. The Laureato Fifty isn’t a watch to buy as an alternative to those watches – it’s a watch you buy because you want a Laureato.
The Girard-Perregaux Fifty Self-Winding 39mm: case, steel, 39mm x 9.80mm; sapphire crystals front and back; dial, solid 18k rose gold with Clous de Paris pattern; hands, blue emission Super-Lumi-Nova; water resistance 150 meters. Movement, GP caliber GP4800, with pink gold oscillating weight and balance bridge; unidirectional winding with 60 hour power reserve; 25.60mm x 4.28mm, running in 19 jewels at 28,800 vph. Steel bracelet with 4mm increment fine adjustment triple folding clasp. Price, $23,100. For more info, including availability and current pricing, visit Girard-Perregaux.com.