Girard-Perregaux has a long and prestigious history, but the brand over the past decade or so has been, to put it bluntly, a bit hard to pin down as far as its focus and identity. It has produced everything from high-complication masterpieces (the La Esmeralda Tourbillon) to racing-inspired sports watches (Competizione), to vintage-look dress pieces (the 1966 collection) to a buildout of out its classic Three Bridges Tourbillon into entire new lines (à la the Neo-Bridges). Now it seems to have found some solid footing with the revival of a luxury sports watch from the 1970s ? the same sweet spot from which icons like the Patek Philippe Nautilus and Audemars Piguet Royal Oak emerged ? the Laureato.
The Girard-Perregaux Laureato is the modern descendant of a 1970s classic. Since its debut in 2016, the back-to-basics version of the Laureato has been successful enough to expand into a fairly wide-ranging and versatile collection, now encompassing multiple dials and case materials, a skeletonized model, and as of this year’s SIHH, a chronograph. It’s my fervent wish to review them all eventually, but we’ll start here with the flagship three-hand version, the one most directly descended from the original. The Laureato model that I acquired for a wrist review from Girard-Perregaux was in stainless steel, with a clean white dial and attached to a black rubber strap. The case channels the look of the 1975 original, with rounded, curved sides flowing elegantly into...