Classic Traveller Magnetic Green – SÉRIE ATELIER III

For the new opus of its “Série Atelier”, LAURENT FERRIER travels light.

More than an art of living, travel is a “back to basics”  perspective. LAURENT FERRIER dedicates this N°3 “Série Atelier” to those who do not want to abandon beauty for the sake of comfort when travelling. This new version of the Classic Traveller with dual time zones is clothed in polished titanium, with a gracefully sunburst magnetic green dial and a forest green nubuck strap. In line with previous editions, this Classic Traveller Magnetic Green “Série Atelier” is produced in limited quantities of 15 pieces only, available exclusively on the website www.laurentferrier.ch.

Trying on a LAURENT FERRIER is like entering a parallel watchmaking world without realizing it. At first glance, everything seems minimalist and classic. But the longer you look, the more you are struck by the myriad of exceptional details that distinguish the LAURENT FERRIER brand's watch design. More than 40 years of experience in the watchmaking culture have led Mr. Laurent Ferrier to exercise omnipresent attention and meticulous care in his aesthetic creation. Laurent Ferrier's vision is to give integral and passionate care to all the components of the watch. The Classic Traveller is no exception. 

A MAGNETIC DIAL

The first striking element is the balance and harmony. The softness of the dial is enhanced by a graceful green tone. A sunburst on the central and main part electrifies the mineral nuances of the dial. In addition to providing a multitude of shimmering green reflections, this finishing allows the dial to reveal its multiple faces, depending on its exposure to light. The double texture adds character to the dial, as a soft circular satin-finish finely embraces the central sunburst at the periphery. This magnetic green is intensified by the deep green of the nubuck strap.

The 18ct white gold drop-shaped hour markers complete the dial. Thin and long, they are in fact much more sophisticated than they seem.  They are applied and their shape is a three-dimensional creation. Wider and taller on the outside, it only becomes narrower in all three planes as it approaches the centre. Their surface is soft, rounded and perfectly polished. Last detail to strike the retina, these fine points are replaced by nails, rounded heads in polished gold, at 3 and 9 o'clock. There, the counters forbid to work in the length. But there was no question of giving up the harmonious rhythm of the twelve indexes.

Then comes the small second, at 6 o'clock, set back from the thickness of the dial, to paradoxically highlight it. Its Arabic numerals are transferred in slate grey with extreme finesse. Their 1920s cursive typeface, reminiscent of the 1920s, with downstrokes and upstrokes, is set in an elaborate grid where the railway and ten-minute sectors are marked on a barely perceptible snailed pattern. Characterised by a concentric circle pattern, it creates a demarcation, a geometry, which offers the needle a space to express itself.

Extremely slender, in the form of a baton, this second hand is balanced by a slightly bulging counterweight, one of those curves favoured by the brand, with which the dial of the Classic Traveller "Série Atelier" is endowed with. And it is indeed this relief that is also found on the stamped hour and minute hands, anchored in the centre. They adopt LAURENT FERRIER's fetish shape, called "Assegai", like these long and tapered spears. Once the surprise of discovering their cut-out is over, the eye is drawn back to the shine, the reflections and the subtle domes.

A LIGHT CASE

The bewitching green magnetic dial is housed in a 41mm grade 5 titanium case. This case offers the softness, the cambers and the curves typical of the "pebble" shape cases created by LAURENT FERRIER from the very beginning. Its sides, bezel and lugs are polished. This operation gives the Classic Traveller "Série Atelier" a flattering finish, just as precious as white gold, but with a wearability that has been transformed by the properties of titanium. Four times lighter than 18ct white gold, it makes the Classic Traveller "Série Atelier" a featherweight, whose feel disappears on the wrist. On the other hand, titanium is a material that is difficult to scratch because it is very hard. However, here, rubbing operations that border on caress are run in order to attain an immaculate polish. Obtaining such a brilliant finish on such rounded and softened surfaces requires demanding work, and even more so on the recessed surfaces of the correctors. This uncompromising choice was made with a single aim in mind: the Classic Traveller "Série Atelier" must be pleasant to both wear and touch, from all angles and, as a traveller's watch, contribute to the wearer's comfort.

EASY TO USE

Launched in 2013, the Classic Traveller was added to the LAURENT FERRIER catalogue. Before that, the brand offered a tourbillon with a double balance spring or a micro-rotor with a natural escapement, and had launched this new GMT watch that did not say its name, nor did it have a classic appearance.

Rather than the traditional second hour hand in the centre, or off-centre in a dedicated sub-dial, LAURENT FERRIER had opted for a remote time display on a disc, visible through a window at 9 o'clock. Responding to the other aperture, the date aperture at 3 o'clock, the Classic Traveller introduced a symmetrical support on the dial, reinforcing the sense of harmony and proportion that was already apparent.

The hour hand located in the centre represents the local time, the one that must be read immediately and at all times. It is also the one that is intended to be modified when travelling across the time zone grid. It is therefore modified by means of the corrector push-pieces, which allow it to jump from hour to hour according to the distance travelled, forwards or backwards.

The time zone indicated in the window at 9 o'clock is the distant time, the one from which we come, also called Home Time. It is not modified by travel. It is therefore controlled directly by the crown. And to conform to the fluid nature of the time that passes, its disc is trailing.

A CALIBRE THAT STANDS THE TEST OF TIME

To bring these functions to the wrist, LAURENT FERRIER uses its LF230.02 calibre. A self-winding movement with a micro-rotor and natural escapement, designed in collaboration with the Fabrique du Temps. It is also the object of the highest level of finishing, of which LAURENT FERRIER is one of the most emblematic figures. The finely circular-grained mainplate, the hand-bevelled bridges decorated with a horizontal rhodium-plated satin finish, the mirror-polished openwork anchor bridge revealing exceptional hand-crafted interior angles, the mirror-polished and hand-bevelled rotor bridge, and the bevelled and guilloché rotor are just some of the details that bring relief, brilliance and excellence to the watch and make it one of the most demanding of traditional watchmaking timepieces. The Classic Traveller offers an unobstructed view of the micro-rotor with its unidirectional 18ct gold oscillating weight, thanks to its sapphire crystal back.

This escapement with a double direct impulse to the balance wheel, which is as rare as it is complex to produce, was inspired by the father of modern watchmaking, Abraham-Louis Breguet. It refers to a system with two escapement wheels, operating alternately and transmitting their energy directly to the balance wheel. This is called direct impulse to the balance wheel because it is no longer the anchor that gives the impulse to the balance wheel as in the classic Swiss anchor escapements, but the escape wheel, which is much more efficient in terms of performance. As the escapement wheel can only rotate in one direction, a second escapement wheel completes the set to give the impulses to the balance wheel alternately. They interact with a silicon anchor, an ultra-light and self-lubricating material. The gain in efficiency thus achieved is directly reflected in its autonomy. The Classic Traveller thus offers a substantial power reserve of more than 72 hours.

THIRD LAURENT FERRIER « SÉRIE ATELIER »

The LAURENT FERRIER "Série Atelier" was initiated in 2020 with the Classic Origin Green. It was continued in 2021 with a blue and orange version of the École Annual Calendar. Unlike most LAURENT FERRIER watches, the pieces from this series are produced in very limited quantities and sold exclusively on the brand website.