Watch and jewelry retailer, Wempe, launched the latest iteration of its “Signature Collection” with Girard-Perregaux.
This Signature Collection consists of a series of limited edition and exclusive timepieces made in collaboration with best-in-class watch manufacturers, available only at Wempe, which includes the retailer’s Fifth Avenue New York store in the Peninsula New York Hotel.
Previous Signature Collection releases partnerships were with Nomos, Chopard and Breitling.
The latest release with Girard-Perregaux is the 42mm Laureato Chronograph. The most distinctive feature of this timepiece is the shiny copper-colored dial with a Clous-de-Paris pattern that plays with light.
Adding contrast are three silver-colored subdials with radial polishing. The rhodium plated baton-shaped hour markers and hour and minute hands are topped with a luminous green coating.
The subdial hands and central chronograph seconds hand are gold plated. The date disk at 4:30 has a copper-color finish and the Girard-Perregaux logo at 12 o’clock is gold-plated.
The small seconds is at 3 o’clock. The two other counters for the chronograph measure elapsed minutes at 9 o’clock and hours at 6 o’clock; with the elapsed seconds measured on the central chronograph hand.
The dial is completed with an anti-reflective sapphire crystal top.
The dial is housed in a 42mm 904L stainless steel satin-finished and polished case with the signature Laureato octagonal bezel. The stainless steel three-position screw-down winding crown is at 3 o’clock with the chronograph pushers on either side of the crown.
The stainless-steel screw-down caseback is water resistant to 10 bar. It’s engraved with “Wempe Signature Collection” and “One of 100.”
The watch is powered by the caliber GP03300-2361 automatic movement, produced in-house with 419 components, including 63 jewels. It operates at 4 hertz (28,800 vph) and has a 46-hour power reserve.
The watch is completed with an integrated bracelet made of satin-finished and polished 904L stainless steel.
Kim Eva Wempe, owner and managing director of Wempe, says the watch “has a modern look, yet at the same time, still stays true to the original design of the 1970s.”
Patrick Pruniaux, CEO of Girard-Perregaux, adds, “The partnership between our two companies is rooted in a shared history, tradition, and a free-spirited mindset that allows us to push the boundaries of Haute Horlogerie,” adding that the launch of the signature collection Laureato is “evidence of our ongoing commitment to celebrate and advance the heritage of gifted watchmakers, aesthetes, and visionaries.”
Ruediger Albers, president of Wempe US, says the Laureato collection has been a top seller for the New York retail store since it was re-introduced in 2017. “There are a lot of synergies between the two brands, both being independently owned and rooted in tradition. I am delighted to have the opportunity to offer such an exceptional watch to our clientele.”
The Wempe Signature Laureato Chronograph is limited to 100 pieces and retails for $18,600. It is available at all Wempe boutiques worldwide and online at www.wempe.com.
Wempe is a family-owned retailer based in Hamburg, Germany, founded in 1878. It has 32 retail locations in Europe, the United Kingdom and the U.S., including New York, Paris, Vienna and Madrid.
This article was first published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
