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Culture > Time

This Girard-Perregaux Aston Martin watch is easy on the eyes

Most of its parts are thankfully hidden away from view

The Laureato Chronograph Aston Martin Edition really looks like a watch. PHOTO FROM ASTON MARTIN

The name Girard-Perregaux may not be a familiar one. For some context, it collaborated with Aston Martin earlier this year to elevate the exclusivity of owning one of the automaker’s products by having bespoke timepieces made for its clientele.

However, the first watch that came out of this partnership was not every one’s cup of tea. While the average Aston Martin owner isn’t exactly subtle, the eccentric-looking Tourbillon with Three Flying Bridges Aston Martin Edition is a little hard on the eyes (and the mouth), and clients may want something more subdued that matches the elegance of their British supercars.

This is the Laureato Chronograph Aston Martin Edition, a design that (thankfully) shows restraint which should be appealing to a broader audience. If you don’t want something as pedestrian as an Omega Speedmaster to go with your Aston, consider one of these.

Aston Martin's special green paint is the main theme. PHOTOS FROM ASTON MARTIN

The watch isn’t as radical as its sibling, following the formula of previous Laureato Chronograph models. It features a 42mm stainless-steel case with an integrated stainless-steel bracelet, and the requisite chronograph pushers surrounding the crown found at the three-o’-clock position. The trademark octagonal bezel design highlights the lustrous dial (found under a sapphire crystal) adorned in the famous “Aston Martin Green” paint.

Just like the automaker’s road cars, the paint on the dial is applied 21 times to form a very lustrous and rich seven-layer finish (which would probably look impressive in person). There’s an engraved crosshatch pattern that is meant to evoke the manufacturer’s logo from 1921 to 1926, and to mimic the diamond cross-stitching found in the seats of its modern vehicles.

Other Aston Martin-related changes extend to the hands of the watch, where the skeleton-like hour and minute hands mimic how vintage race cars would cut holes in the bodywork in the pursuit of weight loss (also known as speed holes), and the counterweight of the second hand resembles the side strakes found on the Aston Martin DB4.

Only 188 examples of this premium chronograph will be made. PHOTO FROM ASTON MARTIN

Rounding it off is a sapphire-crystal caseback with a printed Aston Martin logo, which makes it the first time a Laureato receives a see-through case back. Here, you’ll see the beautiful, in-house Calibre GP03300-0141 movement which features a rather disappointing 46-hour power reserve, considering the price you’ll pay for this timepiece.

And on that topic, one example demands $18,100 (P917,000), with only 188 being made. This may seem eye-watering for most people, but for the average Aston Martin owner, we assume that this number might be chump change.



Sam Surla

Sam is the youngest member of our editorial team. And he is our managing editor (believe it or not). He specializes in photography and videography, but he also happens to like writing about cars a lot.



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