To mark the 49th anniversary of the launch of the Laureato collection, Girard-Perregaux presents a new variant with a case and bracelet made of grade 5 titanium.
For its 49th anniversary (the collection was launched in 1975), the Graduate of Girard-Perregaux combines for the first time its unmistakable design - octagonal bezel resting on a circular ring, which in turn rests on a tonneau-shaped case - with grade 5 titanium. A hypoallergenic, lightweight, corrosion-resistant material, Grade 5 titanium is also characterised by a high lustre.
To isolate titanium in pure form, several processes have been developed over time. In particular, the Hunter process was invented in 1910, followed in the 1930s by the Kroll process, still used today. Over the years, legions of specialists have created numerous titanium grades by alloying pure titanium with other elements.
Titanium alloy 6-4, better known as titanium grade 5, was invented in 1951 by Professor Stan Abkowitz. Since then, it has been used in various sectors, such as the chemical, medical, nautical, aerospace and weapons industries (to name a few) and, of course, also for making watches.
Laureato Chronograph Ti49: the advantages of titanium
Compared to other, cheaper types of titanium, titanium called grade 5 is difficult and expensive to machine.
Grade 5 titanium consists of almost 90% titanium, 6% aluminium and 4% vanadium, taining small traces of iron and oxygen. It is light, rigid, corrosion-resistant, non-magnetic and hypoallergenic, all very useful features in watchmaking. A further advantage of using this particular form of titanium alloy is that it can be polished to an extraordinary lustre. A talent that Girard-Perregaux exploited very well in the Laureato Chronograph Ti49.
Grade 5 titanium case and bracelet are therefore used in combination with a grey dial, with tone-on-tone counters and PVD treatment also grey on hour markers and hands. On the dial, finely guilloché-engraved with a clous de Paris motif, there are additional counters for continuous seconds (at 3 o'clock), chrono hours (at 6 o'clock) and chrono minutes (at 9 o'clock). The counters themselves are decorated with a snailed motif, the date display is positioned between 4 and 5 o'clock, and hands and indexes are luminescent.
With a diameter of 42 mm, the watch is equipped with the IWC-manufactured GP03300 calibre. (6.5 mm thick, 28,800 vib/h, 65-hour power reserve), self-winding. The movement is finished with various decoration techniques, including côtes de Genève, perlage, bevelling, mirror polishing, snailed decoration, engraving and soleil finishing. Water resistance is guaranteed up to a pressure of 10 atmospheres.
Price20,500 euro.
