With the doors of SIHH just closed, let’s take a closer look at this year’s novelties from Girard-Perregaux and start with the Laureato Chronograph.

All live shots of the new Laureato credit to Blomman.

For the press release announcement you can go back here:

www.watchprosite.com

The new Laureato Chronograph has been made available in two different sizes, 38mm and 42mm. Both share the same dial designs, bracelet/strap options and the same movement.

So really they provide a choice to choose which size fits your wrist better.

Before we look closer at the new Laureatos, let’s go back in history.

Heritage and History:

If we only focus on the Chronograph function in the Laureato line, we need to go back all the way to 1996.

In 1996, GP added a three-register Chronograph with date at 4:30h to its Laureato line. It was one of the first that came with the inhouse caliber 3170.

As 1996 was an Olympic year (Atlanta), the Laureato Chronograph was released as a Limited Edition of 999 pieces as the Laureato Olimpico, Reference 8017.

The new Laureato of 2018 really picks up on the design elements of the 8017 while modernizing its lines and its dial.

Three register dial, date at 4:30h, crown guards and pushers with octagonal screws (will get back to the pushers further down).

Best way to demonstrate how the heritage of the 8017 has been moved into the modern Laureato while bringing a fresh look would be a side-by-side shot.

Clous-de-Paris dial pattern and hands design is very similar, but the subdials have been given a more modern look. The date is now aligned with the dial colour, which particularly on darker dials makes it blend in better.

However, there was also in the mid 2000s the Laureato Evo3 Chronograph that is also part of the heritage.

While the dial layout is different on the Evo3 and the case is more round, the Evo3 had screw-in pushers, which are coming back with the new Laureato. This in particular helps with Water Resistance, which is 100m for the steel models and 50m for the gold models.

Laureato Chronograph 38mm

Let’s start with a closer look at the 38mm Chronograph.

These live shots of the 38mm Laureato Chronograph with blue dial and with white Panda dial show the variety that is available with the new Chronograph. Let’s stay with the Steel models for now as they will likely be the most popular.

The blue dial is a personal favourite of mine. Of course, blue is the colour of love as we established already, so having a blue Clous-de-Paris dial pattern has got to be a winner.

At 3 we have the running seconds while at 9 the 30min Chrono counter and at 6 the Chrono hour counter. The Hour and Minute hands are blued with white luminova.

I was initially a bit uncertain about the choice of blued hands and also blued indexes but with the white luminova and seeing the live shots, I think the choice is logical as it provides the best contrast.

The indexes seem to float over the Clous-de-Paris dial, a very nice little detail.

Also credit to GP for keeping the text on the dial to a minimum. Not even “Laureato” can be found on the dial (it is engraved on the case back) and thankfully no “Chronograph” or “automatic”. It is almost as if they have listened to our community.

And it goes even further. We have a solid case back! Very nice engraving with “Laureato / Chronograph” and it avoids the display of a smallish movement in a large case, especially on the 42mm models. I can only applaud GP for that choice.

One word on the strap choices. Besides the known bracelet, which is very well made and flexible and comfortable, we also have two choices of straps.

A crocodile strap as seen here and a rubber strap option. The new rubber straps for the Chronograph are a bit thinner, softer and more comfortable.

In general, I think the strap transforms the look of the watch completely and I personally have a preference for the strap on the Chronograph, while I prefer the bracelet for the time-only Laureato.

Laureato Chronograph 42mm

The 42mm Chronograph is very similar to the 38mm, but of course with a larger diameter. The extra 4mm provide the dial more room to breathe.

The distance between the subdials is a little larger and overall provides more space on the dial. The only downside is that the date moves a little further inwards but not an issue for me.

The proportions provide for more heft, so for a larger wrist, this will be a natural choice. At the moment, I cannot decide which I would prefer, it would likely take time to “test-drive” both versions to make up my mind.

I think it will also be important to see both size versions with either strap or bracelet option as it really transforms the look on the wrist.

So as you can see, even if we only narrow down the selection to the Steel Laureato Chronographs, we have a lot of options and choices and on the one hand it will not be easy to make a decision, on the other hand, there should be a version for every taste and size.

Here is a collage of all Laureato Chronographs currently available, top row 38mm and bottom row 42mm.

Conclusions:

The new Laureato Chronograph release is a clear evolution of the Laureato Olimpico 8017 and GP once again demonstrated that it has a rich heritage it can draw upon and provide us with modern interpretations of classic designs.

Based on what I have seen thus far, my clear personal winner is the all blue dial Chronograph in 42mm.

I think it would make a great addition between my blue dial 8010 Laureato and my white dial 8017 Chronograph. Ok Santa, is it already this time of the year again?

Thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments and I look also forward reading Blomman’s views on the new Chronograph.

Best,

CC