One-Off Wonders

Laurent Ferrier
Galet Micro-Rotor

Laurent Ferrier’s contribution is the prototype for the next model in his celebrated Galet series. The watch features a unidirectional micro-rotor with a silicon direct impulse balance (offering less friction), and an 80-hour power reserve. The case comes in steel, and the elegant brown dial is guilloche-finished, with a seconds subdial at 6 o’clock. Golden needles in the shape of spears form the hours and minutes, and straight lines form the seconds. The overall aesthetic of this watch is clean, polished, and without distraction, the signature of Laurent Ferrier. This unique piece has the words “Only Watch” and “prototype No. 1” engraved on the rotor and the barrel bridge, and the back, as Ferrier’s other models, offers a generous view of the essential parts of the movement. The Galet Micro-rotor sold for €41,000, with a wish price of €25,000-€35,000

MB&F
Only Watch HM4

A fan of contemporary art, Max Büsser’s contributions to Only Watch have often been done in collaborations with artists. At the third edition of the auction two years ago, MB&F presented an Horological Machine No.2 with a blued gold butterfly, designed by Californian artist Sage Vaughn. This year the team presented the Horological Machine No. 4, the Thunderbolt, but with an 18k solid gold detachable panda on top, inspired by a painting by Chinese artist Huang Hankang of a flying panda. The HM4 Thunderbolt is an amazing piece of engineering, with two mainspring barrels that offer 72 hours of power reserve. Instead of a dial, there are two turbine-like pods that display time on the right, and the power reserve on the left. This special watch fetched an impressive €410,000 at auction.