The Girard-Perregaux Laureato and the Forgotten Third Entrant in the Luxury Steel Watch Race
In 1975, three years after the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and one year before the Patek Philippe Nautilus, Girard-Perregaux introduced the Laureato: a stainless steel sports watch with an integrated bracelet and a slim, tonneau-shaped case. Designed for the Italian market, it was the third entrant in what would become luxury watchmaking's most coveted category, yet it was largely forgotten for decades.
The original Laureato shared key characteristics with its more famous contemporaries: a steel case, an octagonal bezel, and a bracelet that flowed seamlessly from the case. Its quartz movement, however, was a point of distinction in 1975, as quartz technology was at the height of its prestige, and a luxury quartz watch was not the oxymoron it would later become.
Girard-Perregaux revived the Laureato in 2016 as a full collection with mechanical movements. The reintroduction positioned the Laureato directly against the Royal Oak and Nautilus, offering GP's in-house automatic calibre GP01800 in cases ranging from 38 to 42 millimetres. The octagonal bezel with polished facets and the Clous de Paris dial recalled the 1975 original while updating proportions for modern tastes (https://www.girard-perregaux.com).
The Laureato's value proposition is straightforward. It offers manufacture movement credentials, integrated bracelet design, and a heritage that predates the Nautilus, all at a price point significantly below both the Royal Oak and Nautilus. For the collector priced out of the Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe waiting lists, the Laureato represents a genuine alternative rather than a compromise.
The collection has expanded to include chronograph, skeleton, and absolute-titanium variants. The Laureato Chronograph, with its column-wheel in-house movement, is particularly compelling, offering a complication that neither the standard Royal Oak nor Nautilus provides in their base models.
On the secondary market, the Laureato trades below retail, which purists see as a disadvantage but pragmatists recognise as an opportunity. The watch delivers more horological substance per dollar than its competitors, and as collector awareness grows, early examples of the revival may appreciate.
For the man seeking a luxury steel sports watch without the multi-year waiting lists and secondary-market premiums, the Laureato deserves serious consideration. Its 1975 heritage is genuine, its manufacture movement is capable, and its design is distinctive without being derivative. It is the thinking collector's alternative in an overheated category.
