On the opening day of SIHH, last Monday, we had a spectacular start to the show with Vacheron Constantin, where we got to see and enjoy the impressive Atelier Cabinotier Celestia. Later that morning we got a nice surprise at Girard-Perregaux. Last year the brand, which is by the way one of the oldest manufactures in the watch world, launched a renewed Laureato limited edition. This year it further improved many small but very significant details on the watch and now I’m convinced that this is a serious competitor in the field of luxury sports watches, plus its price point is only half of its competitors. Sounds good, doesn’t it??And it is good. We here at Monochrome get to handle quite a few watches, and during fairs like the SIHH we’re in meetings, back to back, to see the brand’s new creations. In all honesty, I was not convinced by last year’s limited edition of the Laureato (or maybe I was hoping too much for something extraordinarily good), so when I got to touch, wear (and photograph) the new 42mm Laureato it was great to see and feel so much small differences compared to last year’s model. The case has been reworked; GP has gone with a larger movement that actually fills the 42mm case, and there’s a choice of three ‘normal’ models plus one 45mm tourbillon to choose from. In the 42mm size Laureato there’s a choice between titanium, steel and titanium/pink gold, and for the 38mm automatic there’s no titanium, however, it is offered in full rose gold (on 18 PG bracelet or alligator leather strap) and in stainless steel. There’s also a 34mm ladies model in steel or 18K pink gold, and that one comes with a high-end quartz movement. Ad - Scroll to continue with article The clou de Paris (hobnail) dial is very nice and changes under different light conditions. As I said earlier the 42mm case has now been equipped with Girard-Perregaux’s larger in-house automatic movement, the calibre GP1800 that nicely fills the case (as it should!) This movement with nice high-end finishing, also offers a more generous power reserve of 54 hours (compared to the 46 hour power reserve of the GP3300 calibre in last year’s limited edition, which is also in the new 38mm version). We’ll now leave you with the specifications and price of the 42mm Laureato. Later we’ll come back to?this lovely watch with an in-depth?review and more details.Specifications Girard-Perregaux Laureato 42mm Case: stainless steel, titanium or titanium/rose gold, 42mm in diameter and 10.9 mm thick, slightly domed sapphire crystal with anti reflective coating, water resistant 100 metres (10 ATM, 10 bar) Movement: GP01800-0008, automatic, 28,800 vph (4 Hz), power reserve of 54 hours, indicates hours, minutes, seconds and date Straps/bracelet:Leather strap: black or anthracite grey alligator with topstitchingMetal bracelet: steel, or titanium and 18K pink gold, with alternating polished and satin-finished surfacesClasp: titanium triple folding clasp Price is around € 10,000 euro depending on bracelet (just about 10k) or strap (just below 10k)