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The Blackest Glaze
Girard-Perregaux Laureato Ceramic

Each high end watch brand should have a signature sports watch collection. Some good examples are Nautilus from Patek Philippe, Royal Oak from Audemars Piguet, Overseas from Vacheron Constantin, Polo from Piaget and Fifty Fathoms from Blancpain. These sports collections usually have an entry level watch that features a non-precious metal case. The watch should also be water-resistant for complementing the active lifestyle of modern wearers.

Girard-Perregaux first launched the Laureato collection in 1975 when high-end stainless steel sports watches were in demand. Meaning “graduate” in Italian, the name Laureato was a reference to the 1967 film starring Dustin Hoffman. On the other hand, it hinted the watch could be afforded by young graduates, like the Alfa Romeo Spider of the watch industry.

In the 1970s, Laureato was created with the then-trending quartz movement and relatively small case. Nowadays preferences have changed, therefore when Girard-Perregaux relaunched the collection last year, it did not stress on staying 100% true to the original. Keeping the barrel case, octagonal bezel and guilloche dial, the diameter of the stainless steel case was increased from 38 mm to 42 mm, while the original movement was replaced by the in-house Cal. 3000 self-winding movement with 46 hours of power reserve. Everything on the new Laureato was very much in line with the modern expectations on high-end sports watches and the pricing was accessible too. It was almost certain that Girard-Perregaux would create more watches based on the standard version.

The watchmaker has just announced special pieces for SIHH next year. The most eye-catching watches from the batch are undoubtedly the two Laureato models featuring black ceramic case and bracelet. Black ceramic is much lighter than stainless steel and has a better scratch and corrosion resistance. The two models feature the same self-winding mechanical movement and similar specifications, but the skeleton movement example is just more elegant and outstanding, like a convertible among sports cars, while its oscillating weight is made of more precious pink gold. Although the skeleton model is more expensive and slightly less rigid than the regular version, these attributes would not cause any concern for those who appreciate excellent craftsmanship.