The Manufacture
Making only several dozen watches per year, Laurent Ferrier is a true independent manufacture, producing pieces with a quality and know-how which is long lost in many corners of the watch world. It is headed by Ferrier himself, who worked at Patek Philippe for 40 years, finishing as their creative director.
Though it may not be apparent from the design of the watches themselves, the inception of the brand actually took place on a racetrack. Whilst at Patek Philippe, Ferrier used to race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world's oldest active sports car race in endurance racing, with his friend François Sérvanin. This even culminated with the pair coming third in 1979, which Ferrier marked by gifting Sérvanin an engraved Nautilus 3700. Following their joint success, the two friends decided to launch the brand together, as Sérvanin was retiring and wanted to invest in a new venture. As Ferrier puts it,
"He wasn’t a collector or connoisseur, he gave me carte blanche in terms of the approach and design. It was of absolute importance, in my mind, that we develop a calibre from scratch, so myself and my son Christian, set about making that happen."
Capturing his dedication to his new eponymous brand, Ferrier developed a double spiral tourbillon movement as his first project. This would set the tone for what would come next. Combining traditional manufacturing techniques and design principles with contemporary innovation, the manufacture now creates pieces that combine watchmaking classicism and modern reliability.
The Design
Prototypes are usually closely guarded by manufacturers, with the majority usually being featured in the brands' own museums and collections. With so few production pieces leaving Laurent Ferrier’s Atelier d'Horlogerie, this example represents a rare opportunity to acquire an important piece of independent watchmaking heritage.
Despite its classic and understated design, the Laurent Ferrier Galet Micro-Rotor is sized at a contemporary 40mm, and has a distinctive amorphous, bevel-free shape that Ferrier himself has stated was intended to evoke the smooth, satisfying tactile nature of a pebble. Additionally, the case features thin lugs and the manufacture's signature onion-shaped crown, which work proportionately well together. The entire watch is polished and mirror finished.
The brushed, grey-toned dial is accented with white gold, applied index markers, in addition to a sub-dial in a slightly darker shade of slate-grey, which provides a subtle contrast to the rest of the piece. The watch also bears Ferrier’s signature ‘Assegai’-shaped hands, a name that invokes the appearance of the javelins used by Zulu warriors.
The Movement
Powered by the in-house, self-winding calibre LF 229.01, it is an incredibly high-quality movement that combines traditional watchmaking and modern innovation. Interestingly, where haute-horlogerie often favours a manual-winding movement so that it is not blocked by a rotor, Laurent Ferrier decided that contemporary needs called for an automatic movement. The solution was the incorporation of a micro-rotor as a winding mechanism, allowing the architecture of the movement to be shown completely.
The fan-shaped micro-rotor is made of solid gold and is suspended by a large bridge, together, intended to create the impression of a bird standing on one foot. Furthermore, it uses a pawl, allowing it to wind in a unidirectional manner, adding efficiency and reliability. This prototype example features many of the latest improvements, to match the final production design. Impressively, this Laurent Ferrier Galet Micro-Rotor utilises a double direct-impulse escapement, that improves the movement through its ability to use less power and maintain amplitude, achieved through the escape lever being locked down between two escape wheels.
Like the front, the case-back is covered by a sapphire crystal, revealing the "PROTOTYPE" engraving on the movement. The finishing is a major focus for the Galet Micro-Rotor, with contrasts established between the perlaged backdrop and the thick circular grained Geneva Stripes on the bridges. When viewed under a loupe, the incredibly precise finishing of the interior angles is shown, which are uniformly achieved through the use of a burin, and the handwork of the manufacture's skilled craftsmen.
The Galet Micro-Rotor is chronometer-certified by the Besançon Observatory, outperforming its more commonly COSC-approved peers. It has a power reserve of 72 hours.
The Set
This watch is accompanied by an Extract from the Archives, confirming the watch as a prototype, having been manufactured in 2013. It comes on one of our taupe Zürich grained calfskin strap, and is also accompanied by its original Laurent Ferrier alligator strap and white gold buckle. Like all prototypes, the manufacture does not offer a warranty on the movement, as they represent a unique stage of development, prior to the final design of the watch.
