In the universe of modern horology, the biggest planets are Richemont, the Swatch Group and LVMH, followed by the largest single watch brand, Rolex. Then come some important privately owned watchmakers, like Patek Philippe. We do not often hear of the smaller planets, which to the watch industry are known as the independents, but when one of these watchmakers makes waves like Laurent Ferrier has, we have to sit up and take notice.
Ferrier is the epitome of the watches he designs: simple yet extremely polished, understated, but hinting of technical genius. This gentleman started his watch brand in 2008, at a period when the watch industry was undergoing a great change. He admits it was a big risk to start a business at the midst of a financial crisis, but as it turns out, he timed it perfectly. Having worked for 37 years at Patek Philippe, Ferrier style was understandably sophisticated yet discrete, and 2008 was the year that brought a resurgence of classicism and a return to traditional values in watchmaking.
He recounts: “There were so many timepieces that came out that would hardly tell you the time. There were huge mechanisms, but small openings showing you the time. It didn’t make any sense for me to try to do what others already have done, I felt when I was still at Patek Philippe that people wanted to go back to the more simple and discreet things.”
His first piece, the Galet Classic Double Spiral Tourbillon, took the watch world by storm. Everyone marvelled at the refinement of the design, combined with a technical mastery that only someone with decades’ worth of watchmaking experience could achieve. Ferrier himself was surprised at the success of his first project, a watch that won the Golden Hand for the Men's Watch category at last year's Grand Prix d' Horlogerie de Geneve, which, to put in perspective, is like getting an Oscar if you were an actor, or a Laureus award if you were a sportsman.
The watch boasts a very unique movement. It is the first tourbillon in the world to have a double balance spring, which helps keep the centre of gravity perfectly in the middle of the watch, even with constant movement; in effect offering very accurate and precise timekeeping. Ferrier says: “The whole product concept is taking inspiration from old pocket watches and recreating them with new engineering methods. We are not doing old movements, but rather taking inspiration from them and doing them in a modern way. We are not pretending to reinvent watchmaking, but rather taking tradition further down.”
Ferrier was the head of product development at Patek Phiilppe when he left in 2008, but it wasn't his career as a watchmaker that gave him the idea to create his own brand. It was Le Mans. A passionate racing driver, Ferrier participated in the Le Mans 24 Hours seven times.
In 1979, he won third overall with Porsche, and was so happy that he gave his co-driver a Nautilus. (Yes, it does pay to be good friends with a Patek Philippe watchmaker!) He recalls: “My co-driver, a French entrepreneur and a good friend until now, thanked me but asked why I didn't make my own watches. It took him 32 years to convince me, but he finally did!”
According to Ferrier, the development of the Galet Classic Double Spiral Tourbillon was initially something to celebrate his many years in the business. Ferrier's son, Christian, who originally worked at Roger Dubuis as a movement constructor, had moved to a small company called La Fabrique du Temps, with Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini, both of whom had worked with Laurent at Patek Philippe as master watchmakers. It was these four who built the first tourbillon calibre from the ground up.
Ferrier explains: “In coming up with the concept of the product, we wanted to focus on very high quality because doing the same as an established brand wouldn’t be sufficient to establish ourselves. So we go much further than many brands in terms of finishing. We have about 20 engaging angles done by hand, on the bridges, on the tourbillon bridges, all hand engraved. That’s quality of finishing that you will not find on an established brand. To give you an example, on a Philippe Dufour watch you will find similar quality of finishing, with different technique though, but similar quality. A big brand producing 100 tourbillons a year and another 20,000 watches can’t do that anymore. That’s our competitive edge.”
The success of the Galet Classic has led to further developments in the line. An amazing watch that was presented at the GTE in Geneva early this year is the Galet Mysterieux (French for secret). It's a variation using Ferrier’s Galet Classic Tourbillon calibre, but taking a more specialised approach on the dial. The watch features a complication that resembles a fan that slowly reveals a unique, customised dial underneath. Each watch is one of a kind, since the owner will have a hand in the inner dial's design. The time at which the special scene is revealed and concealed is up to the lucky owner as well. A simple push of the crown opens the dial manually. Only 20 of these watches, priced at $270,000 will be made, at a pace of two-three pieces per year.
The latest model from Laurent Ferrier is going to be presented in Monaco on September 22. The brand is donating its first prototype of the Galet Micro-rotor, housing its second in-house calibre, to the Only Watch auction, which supports research to find a cure for Duchenner muscular dystrophy, a disease that affects one out of 3,500 people.
The watch features a unidirectional micro-rotor with a silicon direct impulse balance, and an 80-hour power reserve. The case comes in steel, and the elegant brown dial is guilloche-finished, with a seconds sub-dial at six o’clock. Golden needles in the shape of spears form the hours and minutes, and straight lines form the seconds. The overall aesthetics 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 essential parts of the movement.
As Ferrier explains, he wants his brand to be known for quality, reliability and purity of aesthetics. Each of his creations is meant to have sturdy movements, to last, and to be very precise in regulating: chronometer timepieces. That is why he takes testing to the extremes, regulating the movements to only +/- two-second difference per day, a rarity in mechanical timepieces.
When asked about his vision of the perfect timepiece, Ferrier answers with a statement that describes his work explicitly: “I think that the watches I make are very low-key, very subtle. They’re no show off, just like me. I create what I think mechanical watchmaking is all about.”
Laurent Ferrier is represented in Hong Kong by MAD & Associates. For more information, contact info@madassociates.asia / 2572 2386
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