Geneva Watch Days 2023: Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Chronograph 8Tech with a Carbon-Titanium Case

For Geneva Watch Days 2023, Girard-Perregaux continues to modernise its Laureato collection, the brand’s stable of luxury-sports watch, with contemporary materials and styling. The watchmaker has taken the covers off the Laureato Absolute Chronograph 8Tech, which is both minimalistic and minimalist: the carbon-titanium case sports a rugged, organic pattern while the dial is simple and clean.

Girard-Perregaux’s Laureato was born in 1975 as an answer to the market’s trend of integrated-bracelet sports watches, and it started out as an elegant, understated timepiece. But in 2019, the brand has given the Laureato a makeover by applying modern material and styling, and the result is appealing from a contemporary perspective – the new Absolute collection is creative, catchy, and has a good command of wrist presence that’s perfect for a fun, sporty watch.

This year, the brand continues down that path and debuts the Laureato Absolute Chronograph 8Tech, which is immediately striking with the carbon-titanium case that sports an organic, rugged pattern.

The making of the patterned case involves several steps. First, carbon fibre is impregnated with resin to create an organic pattern of patches. These pre-impregnated sheets are then mixed with titanium powder, before being layered in various directions to form a solid block, a process that naturally requires high heat and pressure. Finally, the solid blocks are cut into the precise octagonal shape of the Laureato case. As with a typical carbon composite case, the Laureato weighs just a fraction of a typical steel watch, making it perfect for sports occasions both in terms of feel and look.

Notably, while the case is maximalist, the dial is restrained, which gives the watch an overall balanced mix of elements and resulting in an aesthetically pleasing layout.

Most interesting of the dial are the triple registers. They have been made to appear smaller, as the outer ring of these registers is coloured black just like the dial, while the inner part of the registers is painted in grey to stand out. From far, they look like triple tiny registers, which bring to mind early sports chronographs with their smaller registers. This leaves the watch with a sense of nostalgia and elegance, and is a good balance for the hyper-complicated looking case.

Aside from the registers, the dial is also handsome. It is painted in gradient grey that darkens to black towards the edge, instead of plain grey or black, giving the watch an added sense of visual depth. In fact, the hour markers are even more three-dimensional. They are cut out to reveal another plate underneath that’s coated with luminescent material, meaning it’s a twin-layer construction that’s better known as a “sandwich” construction.

Inside the watch is the brand’s cal. 3300, which is based on the time-only cal. 3100 and equipped with a chronograph module. The result is an automatic movement with a power reserve of 46 hours. While the movement functions as intended, it doesn’t quite exude the same level of high-end feel as the rest of the Laureato Absolute, especially when compared to competitors with more modern movements. That said, the movement has been entirely “blacked out” in this instance to match the colour of the dial and case, adding a thoughtful detail to complete the black-on-black palette.

Movement: GP03300-1058, automatic, 46 hours of power reserve
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date, and chronograph
Case: 44mm x 15.15mm, titanium and carbon, water-resistant to 100M
Strap:  Black rubber strap with titanium folding buckle
Limited edition: No
Price: USD 27,800