Unless you’re a Laurent Ferrier obsessive, you probably won’t have seen this Galet before. The case is still the familiar 40mm pebble-like proportion with wide mirrored surfaces and the meticulously finished micro-rotor calibre 229.01 is still the engine. But the details are entirely different. This is 1 of just 12 Galets made a few years ago in collaboration with Hodinkee for close friends of the brand only, never offered publicly. The changes are significant: the case is in Grade 5 titanium and a feather. Drawing inspiration from the classics, it sports a sector dial with a brushed track. Petite seconds are gone. And the movement has been treated with galvanic ruthenium which gives its plates and bridges a darker, more brooding atmosphere. Thanks to carefully considered detail, it is a Galet which perfectly represents Ferrier’s own philosophies in watchmaking.
Starting from the inside out, this dark ruthenium 229.01 is what Laurent Ferrier deserves to known by. It embraces the very best of traditional watchmaking and modern architecture, which is his modus operandi. The gold micro-rotor is not just beautiful hand guilloché, but allows for a slimmer watch and unobstructed view of the calibre. Its bridge is inspired by a bird standing on one foot, elegant and elongated but perfectly beveled and mirror finished. That finishing standard extends throughout the movement, done by hand with a burin. The calibre is certified by the Besançon Observatory, more exacting that COSC.
And in a genius stroke of detail that places a modern bow on the whole vintage aesthetic, the calibre’s ruthenium tone is exactly matched in the Assegai spear-shaped hands, applied indices, outer chemin de fer. The stark classicism of the dial is doubled by the removal of the petite seconds you’re used to seeing on the Galet. It leaves the brushed sector uninterrupted, and draws focus toward the time itself. With sector dials like this, we’re all used to seeing blued steel. Your mind almost fills in these hands and indices as blue, but they’re not. They’re all a perfect deep slate, sharp as the spears they’re inspired by and an amazing contrast to the opaline dial.
This is the beauty of independent watchmaking, it’s individual. This Galet has been imagined by someone who cares about vintage aesthetic while embracing what’s possible with modern techniques. The modernity is almost invisible at a glance, there are very few truly exceptional independent watchmakers embracing titanium cases or such a different finishing style at request. This design is testament to Laurent Ferrier’s ability to see his client’s every wish realized, and the result here is more beautiful than most because that client knew exactly what they were doing. It’s almost a shame there’s only 12.
