Buffy Acacia
Life isn’t about scoring points or ticking boxes, but if it were, Laurent Ferrier would definitely be on the leaderboard. Most people would consider one long career with a legendary company a success, especially if you led a product development department. Laurent Ferrier worked at Patek Philippe for 37 years. Alongside his professional endurance racing careerHe rose through the ranks until he retired and launched his own brand, which is now a luxury watchmaking powerhouse in its own right.
It’s clear that watchmaking runs in the Ferrier blood, as Laurent’s father and grandfather were both watchmakers. Being born in Neuchâtel, the birthplace of Abraham-Louis Breguet, must have meant something special. Laurent Ferrier’s father made complicated watches in a shop below the family’s apartment, and Laurent was encouraged to work with watches from an early age, gradually beginning to understand how they worked.
He enrolled in the Ecole d’Horlogerie de Geneve, which celebrates its 200th anniversary this year and is known as one of the best watchmaking schools in Switzerland. Notable alumni include Roger Dubuis.Christophe Claret, Franck Muller, Recep Rexhepi, etc. Many of the graduates have gone on to work for Rolex, Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, And of course, Patek PhilippePatek usually hires the best people, and Laurent Ferrier was hired in 1968 after excelling in his studies and work at Montre Décor.
Patek or passion?
Ferrier’s first major project was actually to offer a quartz watch with a digital screen, but that was dropped when Patek Philippe decided to stick with analog displays. During the Quartz CrisisIt soon became apparent that traditional watchmaking was still a viable path, especially in the luxury sector, where quartz could not compete in terms of exclusivity, originality and manufacturing quality. Ferrier spent the next few years working in several different departments at Patek Philippe, but there was another passion that drew him back. Watchmaking and motorsport are intrinsically linked For financial and brand reasons, as well as a philosophical connection to engineering and performance: Ferrier left watchmaking entirely to pursue his racing dream, but soon returned to Patek, working out a deal that involved spending four days in the office and Fridays on the race track.
Laurent Ferrier’s racing career really began in 1974, when he teamed up with François Servanin for the final race of the year. Although neither of their cars made it to the Brands Hatch 1000km, a friendship was forged. Their next race together was the Nürburgring 1000km in 1975, where they finished 17th out of 29 in a Lola T294. Endurance racing was what fascinated Ferrier, and his obsession with sustained perfection overlapped with his ideals of wristwatch performance. He 24 Hours of Le Mans He competed at Le Mans in 1975 but it wasn’t until 1978 that he finished the legendary race. That year, he and his two co-drivers won the Group 6 Sports 2L category and finished 11th overall. It must have been a rollercoaster of emotions to go from failing to finish Le Mans in six attempts to winning his class in his seventh.
1979 was Laurent Ferrier’s best overall year, again teaming up with François Servanin. Starting from 20th on the grid, Laurent Ferrier, François Servanin and François Trisconi worked their way up to third place overall in a Porsche 935/77A for Porsche Kremer Racing. There is no podium for the overall winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but if there was a podium, Ferrier and Servanin would have shared the stage with the legendary Paul Newman, who, together with Dick Barber and Rolf Stommelen, took second place overall and first place in the IMSA GTX class.
Ferrier used some of his winnings to buy off Servanan. Patek Philippe NautilusHe was actually involved Bringing Gerald Genta’s paintings to lifeIt was around this time that the pair began dreaming of having their own watch brand. But for the time being, it remained a dream: Ferrier rose through the ranks at Patek Philippe, eventually heading up product development and assuming greater responsibility for the brand, while Servanin got into car manufacturing and founded Oberland, a company that made off-road vehicles specialising in the military and defence sector.
In 2005, the company acquired Panhard, one of the oldest car manufacturers and a major manufacturer during World War I, and transformed Overland (also called Panhard General Defense) into one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of armored vehicles. In 2009, Servanin and Ferrier, now in their 60s, decided to make their dream a reality before it was too late: Ferrier resigned from Patek Philippe three years before his 40-year milestone and gave up all of his retirement benefits, and Servanin sold Panhard to Renault Trucks Defense for €65.5 million, and the deal closed in 2012.
Turning dreams into reality
Given how close Ferrier and Servanin had become through their decades-long friendship, the creation of the Laurent Ferrier brand was practically a family business, especially since Laurent brought his son Christopher with him. Christopher Ferrier, who had previously worked at La Fabrique du Temps, had a particular interest in mechanical movements and continued the Ferrier tradition. With Laurent providing the ideas and designs, Christopher in charge of the movements, and François Servanin providing the funding and business know-how, the brand’s leadership was impeccable. It all started in 2010 with the first watch, the Laurent Ferrier Galet Classique Tourbillon Double Spiral.
Laurent Ferrier cannot take all the credit for the Galet Classique Tourbillon Double Spiral; the movement was a collaboration with Enrico Barbasini and Michel Navas, who now run La Fabrique du Temps, an LVMH subsidiary. But the caliber FBN 916.01 was a surprising debut. It won the Best New Men’s Watch award at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, and for good reason. Not only did its smooth, pebble-like case and traditionally decorated dial boldly challenge all the ultra-modern watches available at the time, but the movement also redefined the tourbillon as a useful wristwatch complication rather than merely a status symbol. The tourbillon’s balance wheel had two springs in opposite directions, instantly cancelling out any differences. Unlike the original Breguet tourbillon, which only supported pocket watches housed vertically, this tourbillon improved the performance of the watch in any orientation.
In 2011, Laurent Ferrier introduced a micro-rotor in its first automatic movement, partly to make it more accessible. Compared to the Classic Tourbillon Double Spiral’s suggested retail price of CHF 185,000 in 2010, the Galette Micro-Rotor’s CHF 44,000 was a slightly more affordable price point. Caliber FNB 229.01 uses an unusual escapement known as a double direct impulse escapement, where two escape wheels transmit the force of the mainspring to either side of the balance swing. This minimizes the power differential between the ticks, improving overall efficiency and precision. It also compensates for some of the limitations normally associated with a micro-rotor, allowing for a 72-hour power reserve, and of course a beautiful view of the movement through the sapphire case back.
While some evolutions have occurred over the ensuing years, the launch of the Galet Square Micro-Rotor in 2015 marked a watershed moment. Not only was the cushion case much sportier than previous models inspired by river-worn pebbles, it was also the first Laurent Ferrier watch to be released in stainless steel. It was priced at CHF 35,000, but it was clear that the tool watches of the 1970s that Ferrier was racing were calling him. It also won the GPHG award for Best Horological Revelation, demonstrating just how much it shook the watchmaking world when it was launched at Baselworld.
The company’s next big GPHG award was in 2018 when its Ecole Annual Calendar won the Best Men’s Complication award, in recognition of its entirely in-house production, its ease of setting despite its complication, and its departure from the signature Laurent Ferrier style that was familiar at the time.
If I were to detail every important release from Laurent Ferrier, this article would be at least ten times longer. Laurent Ferrier’s eye-catching watch is the Sport AutoThe heyday of 1970s racing watches is finally back in fashion, and who better to present a timepiece that pays homage to the era than Laurent Ferrier. The Sport Auto 40 in particular is dedicated to the Porsche 935/77A #40 that Ferrier and Servanin raced in 1979, and is finished in the same spearmint green as the car’s livery. As a stainless steel integrated bracelet sports watch, it also pays homage to the Patek Philippe Aquanaut that Ferrier helped develop in 1997. The “regular” Laurent Ferrier Sport Auto in gorgeous blue fumé is priced at CHF 48,000, making it a phenomenal alternative to the big-name brands without sacrificing quality.
Though still in its teens, Laurent Ferrier has proven itself as a brand to watch since its inception. With production still fairly small at around 300 pieces per year, the momentum between releases has been incredible. Despite the regular appearance of new technologies such as the natural escapement, double direct impulse escapement, tourbillon double spiral, and Laurent Ferrier’s large, hand-polished horizontal click spring, the company has managed to evolve its releases in a way that is both on-trend and fresh. With this final effort in an already illustrious career, Laurent Ferrier is delivering impressive results.
