HANDS-ON: The new Girard-Perregaux Laureato Green Ceramic Aston Martin Edition has our hearts racing
Zach BlassI am not going to beat around the bush here. With the holy trinity ushering in the era of crazy demand for integrated sports watch designs, and their unobtanium status in terms of purchasing at retail, the search for alternatives has grown and grown over the last decade. The Girard-Perregaux Laureato is constantly a part of this discussion, considered by many to be a strong alternative – and not necessarily a compromise – to watches like the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and Patek Philippe Nautilus. But, today, Girard-Perregaux expands their catalogue of Laureato Aston Martin Editions in a manner that sets the model completely apart from the aforementioned duo. The Girard-Perregaux Laureato Green Ceramic Aston Martin Edition offers the watch in a material never offered in the Nautilus, Royal Oak, or Overseas collections. This is a big deal, especially when you consider the fact that the watch, newly outfitted in 38mm/42mm green ceramic cases with a matching green ceramic bracelet, costs half as much as a 34mm Royal Oak in ceramic.
The cases
Beyond the obvious difficulty of creating coloured ceramic for a case and bracelet, the more subtle obstacle is achieving the same level of finish that is achieved on a metallic case and bracelet. Girard-Perregaux has done a phenomenal job of maintaining the level of finish seen on their metallic references, with the same rich horizontal brushing executed on the majority of the facets and surfaces and glossy polished accents to the outer perimeter of the octagonal bezel and case and bracelet bevels. As I mentioned before, you have two sizes to choose from: 38mm and 42mm. Both are sporty-slender and 100 metres water-resistant, the 38mm case clocking in at 10.27mm thick and the 42mm case 11.08mm thick. Their green tones are not bright and bold, more so a darker forrest green befitting of the Aston Martin name. This offers the watch more of a luxurious super car feel, rather than a playful expression of colour. It wears great on the wrist, either size working for my 6.5 or so inch wrist (although I would personally lean towards the 38mm size with my smaller wrist). The lug-to-leg length is quite broad, but thanks to the downward turned form of the lugs the latter half of the lug length is wrapping around the wrist rather than extending out too far.
The dial
The Girard-Perregaux Laureato Green Ceramic Aston Martin breaks new ground with its case and bracelet, but the dial is a familiar face we have seen in the past previously on watches like the Laureato Chronograph Aston Martin and Laureato Absolute Chronograph Aston Martin F1 Edition – and I have zero complaints about this. Each time we have seen this dial executed here at Time+Tide we continue to be impressed with the darker green sunburst dial (which does have a level of vibrancy under direct light) and its textured diamond cross-hatched twist that ties its aesthetic to the Aston Martin ‘AM’ logo from 1921-1926. The pattern, presumably stamped, creates darkened and sunken lines across the dial that provides both contrast and a glisten-factor that really heightened the look in a distinct way. Both sizes use the same dial format, with three central hands that incorporate SuperLuminova® and a sloped black outer bezel ring with a printed hashed outer minutes track and applied indices with SuperLuminova® at each hour aside from the 12′ and 3′ position. In the past, Girard-Perregaux’s Aston Martin Editions have utilised white on black date discs. Here, however, we now have a fully dial-matching date disc rendered in white on green. Black disc, green disc, either would have worked fine. But, with the green disc the look is truly tied together and leaves no room for purists to bemoan the detail.
The bracelet
While the case, particularly the bezel design, draws more comparisons to the Royal Oak, the Girard Peregaux Laureato’s tapered bracelet is definitely more evocative of the Nautilus’ layout. To be clear, the Laureato predates the Nautilus by a year – first introduced in 1975, while the Nautilus was introduced in 1976. But, the Laureato design has evolved over the decades to speak to the modern marketplace. Ultimately, I would definitely not say the Laureato is a clone of either holy trinity design and, especially in green ceramic, it is definitely distinguished from the pair. The H-shaped links are horizontally brushed like the case, with the rectangular connecting link rendered in a full glossy polish. Both bracelets for each case size utilise a butterfly-folding clasp, and, while there is no micro-adjustment, I suspect the majority of people will safely find a perfect fit. The clasp, caseback screws, and where the bracelet meets the case on its underside are the only components not made of green ceramic, but these are hidden components on the wrist so the green monochromatic aesthetic is certainly upheld enough in its design.
The movements
Up until this point, the watches have had an identical build aside from size. A key difference between the pair, however, is the in-house automatic calibre seen within each beneath their commemorative exhibition casebacks. The 42mm size utilises the in-house automatic calibre GP01800-2165, a 4Hz movement which offers a minimum of 54 hours of power reserve. The branded winding rotor is decorated with circular striping, while the bridges beneath it have linear striping. You will also find perlage on the outer perimeter of the movement where the mainplate is visible and thin chamfers to the outer edges of the bridges.
The in-house automatic GP03300-2166 is decorated in the same manner, but a noticeable visual difference is the surface area the bridges in the centre. The outer perimeter, where the perlage-decorated mainplate can be seen, is much wider on the 38mm’s movement then the 42mm’s. The in-house automatic GP03300-2166 in the 38mm also has a lower minimum power reserve of 46 hours. Nonetheless, both calibres are handsome and offer enough juice to keep people happy – but neither are breaking power reserve records or have “weekend-proof” movements.
The verdict
I am one of those NYC people who does not have a diver’s licence, and I certainly did not grow up with a fascination for cars and racing. But, I really dig this watch and did not want to give it back when our photoshoot concluded. The green ceramic really distinguishes the novelty from its direct competitors, and I think Girard-Perregaux nailed down the perfect colour of green for the case and bracelet. And, at the pricing Girard-Perregaux has set for the watches, US$25,000 for the 38mm and US$25,800 for the 42mm, it really is quite the bargain – especially when you consider what I mentioned at the outset (being effectively half the price of a 34mm Royal Oak in black ceramic). The only shame here is that each size is a limited edition, 188 pieces for the 38mm configuration and 388 pieces for the 42mm configuration. I feel very confident in saying these watches will sell fast. So if these watches appeal to you, definitely do not hesitate to inquire with your local AD.
Girard-Perregaux Laureato Green Ceramic Aston Martin Edition pricing and availability:
The Girard-Perregaux Laureato Green Ceramic Aston Martin Editions are available now as limited editions, with 188 pieces to be made in the 38mm size and 388 pieces to be made in the 42mm size. Price: US$25,000 (38mm), US$25,800 (42mm)
| Brand | Girard-Perregaux |
| Model | Laureato Green Ceramic Aston Martin Edition |
| Case Dimensions | 38mm (D) x 10.27mm (T) 42mm (D) x 11.08mm (T) |
| Case Material | Green ceramic |
| Water Resistance | 100m (screw-down crown) |
| Dial | Diamond cross-hatched green sunburst Aston Martin dial |
| Crystal | Sapphire crystal and caseback |
| Bracelet/Strap | Green ceramic bracelet with metallic butterfly folding clasp |
| Movement | 38mm: In-house automatic GP03300-2166 42mm: In-house automatic GP01800-2165 |
| Power Reserve | 38mm: 46 hours 42mm: 54 hours |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, seconds, date |
| Availability | 38mm: Limited to 188 pcs. 42mm: Limited to 388 pcs. |
| Price | 38mm: US$25,000 / GBP 19,000 / CHF 23,800 / EUR 25,000 42mm: US$25,800 / GBP 19,300 / CHF 24,600 / EUR 25,900 |