Girard-Perregaux Laureato watches

The Girard-Perregaux Laureato is the brand's integrated-bracelet sports watch, first presented in 1975 with a polished octagonal bezel. It belongs to the 1970s generation of steel sports watches with integrated bracelets that includes the Patek Philippe Nautilus and the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. Unlike those two, it was developed in-house rather than drawn by Gérald Genta, and it ran on a quartz movement Girard-Perregaux made itself.

The Laureato went mechanical in 1995, when the 20th-anniversary model took the automatic GP3100 with three hands and a date. A sportier generation, the Evo3, followed in the 2000s. For the brand's 225th anniversary in 2016, Girard-Perregaux brought the watch back as close as possible to the 1975 design: a 41 mm steel model limited to 225 pieces. In 2017 it became a full collection in 34, 38, 42 and 44 mm, with cases in steel, pink gold, titanium and ceramic and hobnail Clous de Paris dials.

The 42 mm three-hander is the core of the range. In steel it runs on the self-winding GP01800, with at least 54 hours of power reserve, and is water resistant to 100 m. The 38 mm is the same watch scaled down, and both sizes also come as chronographs, including a silver Panda version. The 34 mm Laureato is a quartz watch, with or without a diamond-set bezel. Above the three-handers sit the openworked 42 mm Skeleton, the Flying Tourbillon Skeleton in pink or white gold, a 45 mm Tourbillon in titanium with pink or white gold, and a steel Perpetual Calendar.

The Laureato Absolute, from 2019, is the sportier branch, which first appeared in 44 mm titanium with a black PVD coating. The Absolute Chronograph is self-winding and water resistant to 300 m, and the Absolute Light brings sapphire into the case. Limited editions include the Bamford Ghost, an Aston Martin chronograph and the Rock and Crystal Rock versions of the Absolute.