Category Archives: Girard-Perregaux

girard perregaux cat eye plum blossom closeup

CAT’S EYE PLUM BLOSSOM

PLUM BLOSSOM SPARKLE

Plum blossom, a lyrical symbol for over a thousand years, has chosen to open its mother-of-pearl petals in a bed of diamonds in the Cat’s Eye, the most feminine model of Girard-Perregaux’s watch collections.

Besides the beauty of its round corolla surrounding a bouquet of pistils, plum blossom, often confused with that of other fruit trees such as cherry or peach, is full of wonderful symbols. Very popular in Asian culture particularly Chinese poetry and paintings for over a thousand years, it is the first to bloom at the end of winter announcing the arrival of spring and embodying revival, youth and purity as well as continuity. Its flower is often depicted with five petals. Girard-Perregaux has chosen to welcome this sacred flower into the heart of its collection made exclusively for women bringing it to life in three Cat’s Eye Plum Blossom timepieces including a high jewelry piece with diamond pavé.

girard perregaux cat eye plum blossom closeupEasily distinguishable with its graceful oval-shaped body , the Cat’s Eye has a white gold case measuring 36.9 x 20.75 mm. The elliptical case which is water resistant up to 30 m and graced with a crown in the shape of a flower is decorated with a cloud of 52 brilliant-cut diamonds (totaling 2.31 carats) extending from the bezel to the attachments. The watch face is even more spectacular with its almond disc completely covered in 361 stones which dazzle with a thousand sparkles totaling 2.50 carats. It is in this bejeweled bed that the plum blossom has chosen to bloom. Its hand-painted pink mother-of-pearl corolla marks the time and dances to the rhythm of the seconds it displays at 7 o’clock. The hours and minutes are displayed traditionally at the center thanks to a pair of silver leaf-shaped hands.

This precious floral display is powered by the GP03300-0152 caliber, a self-winding movement designed by Girard-Perregaux which offers a power reserve of 46 hours.

The Cat’s Eye Plum Blossom comes with a pink alligator strap and a folding buckle in white gold finished with 31 diamonds.

Price on request

By Sharmila Bertin

girard perregaux laureato summer edition collection

LAUREATO SUMMER EDITION

SUMMER RAINBOW

Alas, summer doesn’t last long, but its colours are eternal. You just need to wear one of the five limited edition Laureato Summer Edition watches to feel like you are on holiday all the year round.

More and more women are attracted by the gentle silhouette of the Laureato by Girard-Perregaux. Thanks to the classical spirt and “neutral” silver tone of the case, it can be made in an almost endless number of versions, especially because of the colours to be seen on the dial. And what could be sexier than to wear a dynamic and festive colour filled with light on your nicely tanned wrist, caressed by summer sunshine. Although the season only lasts for three months, this watch is as timeless as time itself.

The colour range in this Laureato Summer Edition mini-collection takes up most of the hues of the rainbow, including yellow, violet, blue, turquoise and pink, with each available in 75 pieces. They all have Italian names that sound like delicate poems: “Giallo Luce” (yellow light), “Viola Armonia” (violet harmony), “Blu Infinito” (infinite blue), “Turchese Purezza” (turquoise purity) and “Rosa Prezioso” (precious pink). The last two colours are featured on a watch with a slightly smaller diameter (34mm) and driven by a quartz movement, the calibre GP13100-0008, while the three others are 38mm wide and powered by the automatic calibre GP03300-0147, which provides a power reserve of 46 hours.

girard perregaux laureato summer edition collectionThe watch cases are made of steel and include an octagonal bezel crowned with 56 brilliant-cut diamonds (with a total of a little under one carat), with the largest ones set on the “tips” of this geometrical figure. The metal settings with solid lugs harmoniously embrace the straps, whether they are made of rubber in colours matching the dial or with steel links, for greater comfort on the wrist.

Each dial, with its dynamic colours, is dressed in a “Clou de Paris” pattern and equipped with central silvered, stick-shaped hands – three for the automatic version (hours, minutes, seconds) and two for the quartz model (hours, minutes). And for the ultimate touch of elegance? While the date on most watches is displayed against a black or white background, Girard-Perregaux has opted to match the dial colour with the date window so as to harmonise the effect and prolong the impact of the colour down to the smallest details.

Price: 9,300 CHF (34mm quartz on rubber) – 10,100 CHF (34mm quartz on steel) – 14,400 CHF (38mm automatic on rubber) – 15,200 CHF (38mm automatic on steel)

By Sharmila Bertin

girard perregaux laureato skeleton closeup with caseback

GIRARD-PERREGAUX – LAUREATO SKELETON CERAMIC

FROM DARKNESS COMES LIGHT

Black is a symbol of elegance, providing a palette of tones that can only be seen with the help of subtle lighting. The new Laureato illustrates this perfectly.

In 2017, Girard-Perregaux gave a new lease of life to the Laureato. This 1970s icon has been released in countless versions over the last 40 years with a whole host of diameters, materials and colours. For this new edition, the timepiece has kept with the spirit of the original design, the famous octagonal bezel, and has been given a very contemporary material, ceramics. To bring reliefs and textures into play, the brand has provided an open structure, with a totally skeletonised calibre. The light brings out the shapes and the satin and polished finishes in the 42mm-wide case. It also illuminates the beautifully rounded components in the self-winding movement coated with black PVD. This exceptional mechanism is crowned with a double-faced, anti-reflection crystal glass, providing excellent visibility. The design reinforces the chic/sports character of the Laureato, which can be worn both with a casual outfit and with a made-to-measure suit.

girard perregaux laureato skeleton closeup with caseback

The calibre GP01800-006 provides the watch with 54 hours of autonomy. It drives the hour and minute hands, coated in luminous material, as well as the discreet small seconds at 10 o’clock. Through the sapphire caseback, the rotor carved out of a block of pink gold can be seen, with a openwork design, like the rest of the movement.

With its ceramic case and strap, the Laureato Skeleton Ceramic gains in user-friendliness and lightness. Its lucky owner will also enjoy the fact that it is practically scratch-free and has allergenic properties.

Price on request

By Dan Diaconu

girard perregaux laureato black ceramic closeup

GIRARD-PERREGAUX – LAUREATO 42MM CERAMIC

BLACK IS BLACK!

The Laureato has undergone many transformations since it first launched. This year sees the Girard-Perregaux icon dressed in ultra-trendy black ceramic!

1975 marked the arrival of the Laureato range by Girard-Perregaux. What an entrance it made. The name of the new soon-to-be legendary watch is inspired by the Mike Nichols film The Graduate, released in 1967 and telling the love story of a young student and older woman. The feature film caused quite a scandal at the time. Luckily the watch collection managed to make a name for itself without sparking controversy and has stood the test of time in a variety of equally remarkable versions.

girard perregaux laureato black ceramic closeup

A few weeks away from the SIHH 2018, Girard-Perregaux has unveiled the latest Laureato in a material that’s been fashionable for years: black ceramic. The Laureato 42mm Ceramic simply oozes elegant design and sports chic. The only features that aren’t black are the white luminescent hands and markers. The timepiece houses a self-winding in-house GP01800-0025 calibre with a 4Hz frequency and 54-hour power reserve. The “Clous de Paris” embellished dial features the hours, minutes and seconds in the middle and the date at 3.

The Laureato 42mm Ceramic plays on its satin-finished and polished surfaces to create a seductive look and bring the watch to life in spite of its inky hue. The flexible and lightweight strap is a joy to wear and fits in perfectly with the black ceramic 42mm case. Girard-Perregaux has brought us a high precision watch with an attractive and contemporary design.

Price: CHF 15,900

By Isabelle Guignet

girard perregaux laureato squelette caseback

GIRARD-PERREGAUX – LAUREATO SKELETON

LIVING SCULPTURE

Like a contemporary form of architecture in constant evolution, the Laureato Skeleton has a new, subtle and delicate face at each moment.

An icon of the 1970s, the Laureato collection returned to the watchmaking spotlight in late 2016 with some new, more up-to-date versions. This summer, Girard-Perregaux is launching a model freed of some of its decorative elements, the Laureato Skeleton. As its name implies, the dial, encircled by an octagonal bezel, is reduced to its most simple elements. It reveals a superior watchmaking skeleton movement, the GP01800-0006, providing 54 hours of power reserve. The calibre stands out with the presence of a variable inertia balance wheel at 12 o’clock. This handy mechanism optimises the precision of the time indicators while improving the movement’s shock-resistance.

girard perregaux laureato squelette caseback

The 42mm-wide case of the Laureato Skeleton is made of steel or more refined rose gold, and is equipped with a strap alternating polished and satin surfaces, with a folding clasp.

Price: €32,600 (steel version) – €64,000 (rose gold version)

By Dan Diaconu

girard perregaux laureato 42 collection

GIRARD-PERREGAUX – LAUREATO 42

A CLASSIC NEVER DIES

After its renaissance in 2016, the steel sports model by Girard-Perregaux is experiencing a new lease of life this year. Available in a diameter suited to both men and women, the Laureato is now available as a complete collection.

In 1975, Girard-Perregaux asked a Milan architect to design a steel sports watch, resulting in the first Laureato, a piece with a strong character and rounded off by an octagonal bezel with curved edges. 41 years later, in 2016, the model was given a new lease of life to celebrate the 225th anniversary of the brand based in La Chaux-de-Fonds, before a complete collection was released and presented this year at the SIHH in Geneva. Among the new watches is the Laureato 42, a watch that has maintained its strong identity since the 1970s.

girard perregaux laureato 42 collection

Thirty different watches have been added to the Girard-Perregaux catalogue in the Laureato range. With four different diameters, the watches are powered by self-winding or quartz movements or feature complications such as a tourbillon, and are available in several different metals (steel, pink gold, titanium). But the watch that seems to have had the most impact is the Laureato 42. The 42mm diameter of the watch case (with an interior width of 11mm) does indeed suit both women and men. The setting carved out of steel or titanium is topped by the famous octagonal crown with rounded angles, available in pink gold for the two-colour version. The crown enhances the watch face that comes in three colours (silver, slate grey or blue) with the Clous de Paris pattern, and housing an hour marker with surface-mounted arrow-shaped indexes, highlighted with a luminous coating. At the centre, two large silver and phosphorescent hands (or gold, for the titanium and pink gold model) display the hours and minutes, along with a second hand. The date is displayed in white on a background matching the watch face in a window at 3 o’clock.

These elements are driven by the GP01800-0008 calibre, a mechanical self-winding movement made by Girard-Perregaux, and which also provides a power reserve of 54 hours. The mechanism is partly visible thanks to a sapphire background adorning the back of the Laureato 42 watch case.

Price on request.

By Sharmila Bertin

girard perregaux 1966 wwtc closeup

GIRARD-PERREGAUX – 1966 WW.TC

SYNCHRONISE YOUR TIME WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD

Girard-Perregaux’s classic 1966 collection has a new complex feature intended for travellers: world time, with 24 countries together on just one watch dial.

The world as a playground and watchmaking as a form of expression: you could make this hastily-written phrase the unofficial motto of Girard-Perregaux’s new watch. Indeed, the 1966 collection, which pays homage to the Chaux-de-Fonds factory’s past, in the Neuchâtel canton, has embarked upon a complex feature that has been specially developed for hardened travellers or people who work in different time zones. The world’s times are at the heart of this new 1966 ww.tc model, available in rose gold or steel.

girard perregaux 1966 wwtc closeup

In the centre of the opalescent dial with its delicately brushed finish lie two leaf-shaped hands that mark the hours and minutes, sweeping rhythmically round the hour rim. On this rim, gold or silver-coloured markers and fine black lines are used in harmony with each other. The seconds are displayed off-centre at the 6 o’clock position in a sunken counter with a blue leaf-shaped hand.

A first two-tone ring on the dial displays the scale of 24 hours as well as the day/night indication. Over it lies a second, larger, circle on which the names of 24 capital cities and major towns of the world are marked in upper case letters. Thanks to this complex feature, the fortunate owner of the 1988 ww.tc can instantly and simultaneously know the time in any of the 24 countries. The world times can be selected using two crowns placed on the body of the case at the 9 o’clock and 3 o’clock positions. These can be turned both ways, to position the town concerned at the 12 o’clock position and to adjust the hours and minutes respectively.

All the displays are powered by the GP03300 self-winding calibre, to which Girard-Perregaux has added a special module developed in their workshops. Housed in a 40mm-diameter case, this movement, which provides a 46-hour power reserve, is visible through the sapphire crystal back.

Price on demand

By Sharmila Bertin

girard perregaux paureato 34

GIRARD-PERREGAUX – LAUREATO 34

STREAMLINED ELEGANCE

La Chaux-de-Fonds manufacture showcases its harmoniously-sized ladies’ watch, proposed on three classical colours.

The Laureato timepiece may have been created back in 1975 but it hasn’t aged a bit! Now a mature 41 year-old, it continues to cultivate its classical, though not in the least boring, style and its ever-so strong identity. To celebrate the arrival of the New Year, Girard-Perregaux has designed a watch for today’s woman, available in three choices of gold and three dial shades, which can be worn to highlight the strict businesswoman look or, on the contrary, to eclipse the casual-wear look of a garment, or even to enhance a cocktail dress. In short, an incredibly versatile timepiece that doesn’t just tell the time but is also a definite ‘must-have’ partner when it comes to daily style.

girard perregaux paureato 34

As its name suggests, the Laureato 34’s case diameter measures 34 mm and it is 7.75 mm thick. This elegant fineness was achieved thanks to the GP013100 quartz movement nestling in the heart of this metal case. The case is proposed in steel, in rose gold or a harmonious two-tone (silvered case middle and bezel, with golden crown and central element). Just like mix & match clothing, the Laureato 34 is an exquisite blend of styles that features a horizontally-brushed case middle and a polished ring crowned by an octagonal bezel strewn with 56 brilliant-cut diamonds (0.82 carats).

The dial disc, edged with a flange that embraces the minute tracker, is decorated with the pyramidal Clou de Paris motif. It is available in three discreetly-sophisticated tints: slate grey, silvered opaline and blue. A pair of baton-style hands, highlighted with a luminescent line, are set in the centre of this three-dimensional textured face. And, last but not least, the date is displayed in an aperture at 3 o’clock.

 Price on request

 By Sharmila Bertin

girard-perregaux-competizione-1-wn

GIRARD-PERREGAUX – COMPETIZIONE

Introducing the Girard-Perregaux Competizione

La Chaux-de-Fonds-based Girard-Perregaux was founded in 1791 and is celebrating its 225th anniversary this year with a new collection rooted in motor racing: Competizione. The brand has unveiled two versions a self-winding chronograph: the vintage-style “Stradale” and the seriously sporty “Circuito”.

The Stradale has a 42mm steel case whilst the Circuito is made of a titanium and carbon composite (with black DLC pushers and a titanium crown).

girard-perregaux-competizione-1-wn

The classic model has a silver and black dial whilst the sportier piece has a black honeycomb openwork disc. Both versions have the same hands: silver baton-shape hour and minute hands, a red chronograph seconds hand (in the centre) and small seconds hand (at 3). The date appears at 4.30, the minute counter at 9 and the hour counter at 6.

Price on request

By Sharmila Bertin

GIRARD-PERREGAUX – Cat’s Eye Water Lily

Two water lilies lie on calm shimmering water on the Cat’s Eye Water Lily’s dial. The star of the bejewelled Girard-Perregaux watch collections has been transformed into a zen garden awash with brilliant-cut diamonds (412 gems for a total of two carats) set concentrically using the so-called “à grains” technique. Two lotus flowers bloom at 5 and 9 o’ clock each with three petals in pink sapphire (0.24 carat) or emerald (0.15 carat) depending on the model. Two leaf-shape hands blossom in the heart of the piece to float over the hours and minutes. The time functions are brought to life by a self-winding mechanical movement by Girard-Perregaux which also provides a 46-hour power reserve. The GPO 3300-0101 calibre lies in the oval white gold 35.44×30.44mm case with 62 diamonds glittering on the bezel. Price: 51,900 CHF (pink sapphires) – 59,400 CHF (emeralds). Sharmila Bertin