Road To Rock: Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Rock

Since its comeback in 2017, the Laureato kept surprising us by taking different shapes and interpretations. A young and modern collection which, thanks to its vast offering, is able to satisfy any type of wrist.

The new Laureto Absolute Rock isn’t the classic and elegant Girard-Perregaux we are used to, but an exclusive piece that projects this collection towards a new imaginary horizon.

Just like an American muscle car, today this watch features a more robust frame, more prominent sports lines and a turbocharged engine. Precisely like the 1965 Shelby Cobra 427 – the famous racing car conceived by driver and designer Carroll Shelby. Of the many cars designed by the Texan entrepreneur, this Cobra was surely amongst the most appreciated, for it brought together the agility of the English AC Cars frames (weighting only 1.311 Kg) and the American engines’ power like that of the Ford 427 Side Oiler V8 (7.0 L – 431 hp).

“It’s a massive motor in a tiny, lightweight car.”

Carroll Shelby

To create a new timepiece of outstanding performance, Girard-Perregaux decided to start exactly from here: lightness. The Laureato Absolute Rock is made of carbon glass, an innovative material which, besides considerably reducing the case weight, guarantees total water resistance.

The manufacturing process for this type of carbon, unlike as for any other type, necessitates that the material be extremely compressed during the high-temperature injection phase. From an aesthetics standpoint, all surfaces are smooth and uniform and integrate seamlessly the blue fibres and the carbon, thus making every piece a unique item.

Another stunning innovation is represented by its extremely high resistance since the glass carbon proves to be 100 times more resistant than steel, with a density nearly equivalent to 1 – while steel’s is around 8 and titanium’s around 4,5.

Starting from the case, the Maison increased the Laureato Chronograph’s dimensions from the original 42-mm diameter by 12,01-mm height to 44mm by 14,75mm.

The chronograph’s classic screw on button pushers were redesigned and replaced by 2 new rectangle pushers, more aligned with the dimensions of the case.

Even the dial was completely revisited. Composed of two superimposed, hollowed plates: the top one comes with a sleek black matte finish while the bottom one shows a polished black coat – the plates are visible through the hours indices and within the chronograph’s subdials. The most observant will also notice that, under the GP logo at 12 o’clock, the Girard-Perregeaux writing isn’t followed by the date 1791 anymore, but by the new logo representing the iconic bridges design from the Bridges collection.

Beneath the Laureato Absolute Rock’s cover, the automatic GP03300-1058 movement sets the hours, minutes, little seconds, date and chronograph in motion. The model is powered by a 46-hour power reserve.

To complete this 100-piece limited edition, a black rubber strap was created featuring a textile effect characterised by blue stitchings, and a folding clasp made of PVD titanium. (Price € 16.300)