Girard-Perregaux Finally Gives The Laureato What It Needed 

The luxury sports watch market has become a slightly ridiculous place.

Every brand wants its own integrated-bracelet icon. Every launch arrives with some grand speech about heritage, innovation and redefining modern elegance. Then everyone compares it to an Overseas, a Royal Oak or a Nautilus anyway.

 

Girard-Perregaux has a slight advantage here because the Laureato doesn't need to pretend. It has been around since the 1970s, has a genuine identity, and somehow avoids attracting the exhausting internet arguments that follow certain other integrated bracelet watches around like a bad smell.

The latest additions to the Laureato Fifty collection continue that approach. No wild redesigns, no oversized anniversary logos, no marketing department discovering the word "disruptive."

Just four new references in 36mm and 39mm that make the collection considerably stronger.

 

Source: monochrome-watches.com

The Laureato has grown up

Last year's Laureato Fifty anniversary model was a nice watch, but it felt oddly safe.

Grey dial.

Two-tone bracelet.

Limited production.

Perfectly pleasant, but hardly the sort of release that would make collectors cancel lunch plans.

This new group feels more confident.

There are now proper choices depending on what kind of buyer you are. The blue enamel dial gives the collection something with real visual depth, while the rose gold-toned Clous de Paris models lean into the slightly dressier personality the Laureato has always carried.

That's one thing people often forget.

The Laureato was never the aggressive sports watch of the integrated bracelet world. It has always had softer lines than a Royal Oak and less overt muscle than an Overseas. It sits somewhere between sports watch and elegant daily wearer, and that's exactly where it works best.

 

The blue enamel might be the one to buy

If I had to pick one, it would probably be the 36mm blue enamel.

Not because enamel automatically makes everything better. The watch industry already treats that word as if it came down from a mountain carved into stone tablets.

The appeal is that it gives the Laureato some personality.

Blue sports watches are hardly rare these days, but enamel changes the character completely. Light behaves differently across the surface, creating far more depth than a conventional lacquer dial. Combined with the Clous de Paris texture underneath, there's quite a lot happening without the watch becoming busy.

That's a difficult balance to get right.

The rose gold-toned dial deserves some attention as well. In photographs it almost looks understated, but textured metallic dials tend to come alive once natural light gets involved.

Watch photography has improved enormously over the years.

It still struggles to capture dials properly.

Source: monochrome-watches.com

Smaller sizes are not a compromise anymore

A few years ago, releasing a flagship sports watch in 36mm might have been considered niche.

Not anymore.

Collectors have spent the better part of a decade rediscovering proportion. People are slowly realising that having wrists does not automatically qualify them for a 44mm sports watch.

Offering both 36mm and 39mm feels sensible.

The 39mm keeps the classic modern sports watch proportions, while the 36mm opens the collection to people who simply prefer smaller watches rather than treating them as a ladies' option.

Frankly, the industry could use more of that attitude.

The diamond-set version will naturally divide opinion, but at least Girard-Perregaux has avoided turning it into a jewellery catalogue. Sixty-four diamonds around the bezel add some sparkle without fundamentally changing what the watch is.

There are much louder ways to spend twenty-four thousand euros.

The bracelet fixes one of the old complaints

One of the better changes receives almost no attention.

The two-tone bracelet has disappeared in favour of full steel, and every model now gets a 4mm micro-adjustment system.

That may not sound particularly exciting.

Anyone who has spent a summer day wearing an integrated bracelet sports watch knows otherwise.

A few millimetres can be the difference between a watch feeling perfect at breakfast and unbearable by dinner.

Luxury brands have finally realised that comfort matters just as much as finishing.

It took them long enough.

Source: monochrome-watches.com

The movement isn't flashy, and that's perfectly fine

Inside sits the GP4800 automatic calibre.

Sixty hours of power reserve.

4Hz beat rate.

Architecture inspired by the brand's famous Three Bridges designs.

Rose gold balance bridge.

It's a good movement that does exactly what it should do.

There is an odd obsession in modern collecting where every new watch apparently requires a revolutionary calibre. Sometimes reliability and sensible engineering are enough.

The Laureato has never relied on mechanical gimmicks to sell itself. Its appeal comes from proportion, finishing and overall execution.

Collectors looking for a perpetual calendar tourbillon can find one elsewhere.

Most people just want a watch that feels special every time they put it on.

Girard-Perregaux knows exactly where this watch sits

The interesting thing about the Laureato is that it occupies a slightly unusual position in the market.

It doesn't have the impossible waiting lists of certain competitors.

It isn't chasing vintage military aesthetics.

It doesn't depend on celebrity ambassadors flooding social media every second day.

As a result, buyers often arrive because they genuinely like the watch rather than because somebody on the internet told them they should.

That's not a bad place to be.

The integrated bracelet category has become crowded, but it has also become more mature. Serious buyers usually know the obvious choices already. Many start looking for something with a bit more individuality.

The Laureato benefits from that shift.

The market is changing

There was a time when collectors wanted the loudest sports watch they could find.

Huge cases.

Bright colours.

Complicated bezels.

The trend now seems to be moving towards refinement. Watches that can work with a T-shirt or a suit without looking like they belong exclusively in either environment.

The updated Laureato collection fits that mood rather well.

It remains recognisably a Laureato, but the softer execution, slimmer profile and stronger dial options make it easier to wear every day.

At 9.8mm thick, it also avoids the chunky proportions that still plague parts of the luxury sports watch market.

Your wrist will appreciate that, even if Instagram doesn't notice.

Final thoughts

These releases probably won't dominate headlines.

There isn't a world-first complication.

No record-breaking case material.

Instead, Girard-Perregaux has done something much simpler.

It looked at its flagship model, worked out what buyers actually wanted, and made it better.

More sizes. Better dials. A stronger bracelet. Cleaner execution. Sometimes that is exactly the right move.

The watch industry has a habit of believing every new collection needs to reinvent the wheel.

The Laureato was already a good wheel.

Girard-Perregaux has simply made it roll a bit more smoothly.