THE CURATED EDITION.
Reportage /
Girard-Perregaux, MING, Vacheron Constantin and Parmigiani Fleurier approach the dial, the movement and the sound of time from different directions.
WATCHES
An enamel dial, a hand-cut titanium surface, an adjustable-frequency perpetual calendar and a chiming tourbillon offer very different reasons to look closely at a watch. These four releases connect recognisable watchmaking traditions with specific contemporary decisions, rather than treating complexity as the same achievement in every case.
The Laureato began in 1975 as a quartz watch, giving Girard-Perregaux’s integrated-bracelet design a technical history that is sometimes lost behind the current mechanical range. Its proportions and octagonal bezel have remained a foundation for later expressions.
The 39-millimetre version with a blue enamel dial brings depth to the Clous de Paris texture. Changes in light interact with the pattern and the enamel, while brushed and polished steel surfaces distinguish the case and bracelet without separating them visually.
Calibre GP4800 connects the compact format with contemporary mechanical construction. The view through the back introduces the bridge work and finishing, giving the watch another scale of detail beyond the dial. The appeal is the meeting of a familiar exterior with materials that reward a closer look.
The 37.06 Lightning begins with a 38-millimetre steel case, but its individual character comes from the dial. J. N. Shapiro’s Los Angeles workshop uses traditional engine-turning to cut the Lightning pattern into grade-two titanium.
The dial then travels into MING’s finishing process in Kuala Lumpur. Heat introduces blues, purples, oranges and yellows, with each surface developing its own result. The colour is therefore part of the material treatment, not a printed image laid over the pattern.
A modified Sellita movement provides the mechanical base. Jean Rousseau’s strap combines blue Barenia leather with an Alcantara lining. The announced small production rate makes handwork part of the organisation of the project, although it should not be read as a promise of immediate availability.
The Twin Beat introduced a different answer to a perpetual calendar’s practical problem: how to keep its indications running while the watch is not being worn. Its regulating system can move from a higher-frequency active mode to a slower standby mode, reducing the energy required over a long period.
The newer expression develops the concept with an openworked view and an advertised standby reserve of up to seventy days. The active mode runs at 5 Hz, the standby mode at 1.2 Hz. The earlier model’s sixty-five-day figure should not be carried across without distinguishing the versions.
The attraction is not solely the length of the reserve. The owner can see the mechanism behind a practical decision: keeping a calendar alive through periods away from the wrist instead of repeatedly resetting it afterwards.
For its thirtieth anniversary, Parmigiani Fleurier created a five-piece Carillon Tourbillon, drawing on the restoration culture behind Michel Parmigiani’s work. A historical Perrin Frères watch supplies part of the inspiration, but the result is a contemporary interpretation rather than a replica.
A white-gold case, vertically worked detailing and a hand-hammered blue dial give the piece a restrained exterior. Inside, a manually wound movement combines a tourbillon with four distinct gongs. Time acquires a musical structure as well as a visual indication.
These watches make different demands of their makers and their owners. One invites attention to enamel, another to a singular titanium surface; the Twin Beat changes how a complicated watch is kept running, while the Parmigiani gives time a voice. Their common ground is not a list of complications. It is the precision with which each project develops its own idea.
Dial craft and mechanical complexity are different achievements. MING asks the eye to follow a worked surface; Twin Beat asks the owner to understand two operating modes; Parmigiani asks for attention to sound. The Laureato brings a distinctive dial into an established daily-wear form.
MING’s published dimensions clarify its physical proposition: 38 millimetres across, 10.9 millimetres thick and 44.5 millimetres from lug to lug. Hand winding gives the owner another regular interaction with the movement. These details explain more about use than a production count alone.
A standby reserve is not an active reserve, just as the number of gongs does not establish how a watch sounds in person. For the complicated pieces, operation and future servicing matter alongside the view through the caseback. The specifications define a mechanism; a direct encounter is needed to judge its tactile and acoustic character.
Further information: Laureato Fifty 39mm, reference 81008-11-3530-1CM · 37.06 Lightning · historical timeline · Carillon Tourbillon 30th Anniversary.
Instagram: Girard-Perregaux · MING · Parmigiani Fleurier.
Cover: Girard-Perregaux Laureato watches. Archive image.
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