Girard Perregaux

Laureato

The Laureato arrived in 1975, an integrated-bracelet steel sports watch with an octagonal bezel on a circular case, and it belongs in the same conversation as its better-known contemporaries. The modern line runs from 34mm to 42mm, in steel, gold and ceramic, as a three-hander and as a Laureato Chronograph. Laureato Absolute is the blacked-out, titanium and carbon-glass version aimed squarely at daily wear, including the Aston Martin F1 and Wired editions.

Bridges and the archive

The Bridges line descends from the 1867 Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges, where the bridges are moved to the dial side and become the design. It is one of the few genuinely original layouts in watchmaking. 1966 is the classical round dress line, and Casquette 2.0 revives the 1976 driver's LED watch in titanium and ceramic.

Sizing and daily wear

Laureato is offered at 34mm, 38mm and 42mm from the same design, which makes it unusually flexible: the 38mm is the sweet spot for most wrists and reads as neither a men's nor a women's watch. Absolute moves to 44mm in lightweight titanium and carbon, so it wears less heavily than the diameter suggests. The 1966 dress references stay at 38mm to 40mm. Send us a wrist measurement if you are buying unseen.

Why it is worth a look

Girard-Perregaux is a manufacture with its own movements and a genuine claim to the integrated sports watch, without the queue attached to its rivals. We inspect every piece in-house, check bracelet stretch and bezel condition, and describe what we find. Box and papers are noted where present, price-on-request pieces are quoted on enquiry, and we buy and take Girard-Perregaux in trade.