Last year Girard-Perregaux was announced as the official watch partner of Aston Martin. To date, two watches have been unveiled in partnership with the automotive branch: the Tourbillon with Three Flying Bridges Aston Martin Edition and the Laureato Chronograph Aston Martin Edition. The Three Flying Bridges cost more than an Aston Martin V8 Vantage when it was unveiled. But a new watch has been unveiled as the first involving Aston Martin's F1 team, the Laureato Absolute Chronograph AM F1 Edition.

Girard-Perregaux claims the Laureato is a ground-breaking watch uniting micro-mechanics with the extreme performance of Formula 1. No, the watch is not powered by a hybrid V6 F1 powertrain. Instead, Girard-Perregaux was inspired by the weight-saving tactics used by AMF1 and has even included pieces from an actual Aston Martin F1 car.

Girard-Perregaux states that the Laureato features a cutting-edge 44mm case. It consists of titanium powder and carbon elements taken from two F1 cars used during the 2021 season. Last year, Lance Stroll put his F1 car into the wall at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after a tire blowout, likely providing one of the donor cars, while Sebastian Vettel's car was probably the other donor.

These two elements are combined using a high-tech manufacturing process and mixed with a tinted resin. Girard-Perregaux claims this is a world-first in the watch industry and that the resulting material is more robust than steel. In addition to having an actual piece of an F1 car embedded in the case, each watch will have its own visual identity, making it a truly unique one-off item.

The strap is another world-first. The GP Rubber Alloy finished in Aston Martin Green uses carbon elements from the two donor cars. Creating this pioneering composition is highly technical and requires specialized equipment. Girard-Perregaux had to research the process extensively to prove that the various elements were, in fact, compatible.

"From the outset, working with Aston Martin has been a joy. We have collaborated on various projects, resulting in the production of two very different watches," said Patrick Pruniaux, Girard-Perregaux's CEO. "Working together has led to some innovative and interesting ideas, culminating in creating new exciting products. However, with this latest watch, we sought to work closely with the F1 side of the brand, focusing more on the idea of performance."

"As a team, we have the determination to succeed - and that ambition requires us to analyze every element of our performance package. That includes managing the materials we use to build our cars, measuring their weight their strength, all in a bid to find that critical extra thousandth of a second in lap-time. Girard-Perregaux is a valued partner to our organization, and we have worked together to share and combine our knowledge to improve each other's brands. The new Laureato Absolute Chronograph AMF1 is the first example of this collaboration and a stunning example of the work we can achieve together," said Mike Krack, team principal of the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula 1 team.