Girard-Perregaux Absolute Light & Quasar Light

Backstory

Archives have it that the name ‘Laureato’ was suggested by Girard-Perregaux’s Italian distributor, having taking inspiration from Mike Nicholas’ movie, The Graduate (1967). When the film made its Italian debut, it went by the name ‘Il Laureato’, reflecting the Italian tradition of crowning graduates with a laurel wreath upon completion of their studies (Laureato means “crowned with a laurel”). Years later, Girard-Perregaux revived the Laureato as a special commemorative piece, to mark the 225^th anniversary of the brand. The Laureato has since graduated into a fully-fledged collection, available in a range of complications and colour-ways. Including the Laureato Absolute collection, unveiled at SIHH last year.

Absolute Light

Before the introduction of the Laureato Absolute, the Laureato collection was synonymous with Clous de Paris dials – a decorative guilloché pattern, comprised of many small raised pyramids. The Absolute Light breaks convention with an octagonal skeletonised anthracite NAC-treated main-plate – allowing visibility of Calibre GP01800 from all angles.

Hour markers are rendered as a series of 12 curved mirror-polished triangles on a black NAC-treated circular outer-ring. The Absolute Light also features skeletonised hands with luminescent material and a black rubber strap with fabric effect.  Inside the 44mm by 11.56mm case, ticks the 172-component Calibre GP01800-1143 – a self-winding mechanical movement (measuring 30mm by 4.16mm) with a frequency of 4 Hz and a power-reserve of 54 hours.

Reference: 81071-43-231-FB6A – leave an enquiry here for pricing & availability

Quasar Light

 Named after a celestial object (a luminous active galactic nucleus), the Quasar Light takes transparency to an unprecedented level. Unlike the first Quasar from 2019, the Quasar Light features the already iconic Girard-Perregaux bridges made out of sapphire. The all sapphire case measures 46mm by 15.25mm and features an anti-reflective ‘box’ case and case-back. Sculpting and polishing its curves to produce such extreme transparency requires over 200 hours of work and hundreds of operations. Located at the 12 o’clock position is a starry Ruthenium barrel, radiating in the light – it nicely complements the grey fabric strap which has been given a metallic effect.

At the opposite end of the dial, the 0.25 gram, 79-component tourbillon cage is powered by a unidirectional automatic winding system with a micro-rotor made of white gold. Visible through the sapphire crystal box, the micro-rotor is engraved with an eagle – an instantly recognisable hallmark of the Swiss Manufacture. The 260-compoent Calibre GP09400-1128 measures 36mm by 9.54mm, has a frequency of 3 Hz and a power-reserve of 60 hours. Limited & numbered edition of 18 pieces

Reference: 99295-43-001-BA6A – leave an enquiry here for pricing & availability