One thing can be said about Laurent Ferrier watches: his designs are boldly understated. This watch doesn’t try to impress with a skeleton dial, and the shape of the case isn’t particularly remarkable. It’s not a watch you wear to impress people from afar. With watches like these, it’s all about the details. You wear a Laurent Ferrier watch because you truly enjoy the attention to detail. These watches are made for the pleasure of the wearer, not for those around them. And the same can be said about the brand’s new Classic Auto Sandstone, with its three-dimensional widescreen date window.
As Mike said in his introductory article, Laurent Ferrier must have created this watch with a specific customer in mind. Like Mike, I think this watch would be much better without a date window. However, I also know that many people would never buy a watch without a date window. The majority of the brand’s watches do not have a date window. So why not release a limited edition that incorporates a date window? Let’s take a closer look at the Laurent Ferrier Classic Auto Sandstone.
A date window is more than just a date window
We won’t go into all the specs of the Classic Auto Sandstone, since Mike has already done so in the introduction. Instead, we’ll focus on some of the watch’s most striking details. We’ll start with its unique date window. Incidentally, this isn’t the first time Laurent Ferrier has presented a watch with a date window. In fact, the cushion-shaped Sport Auto also featured the same angular, three-dimensional finish. However, as the name already suggests, the Sport Auto is a sportier watch. The date window fits that concept well.
But in dressier watches, that’s not necessarily the case. Take a look at other watches from the brand; many of them don’t have a date window. This is a deliberate choice, of course. A time-only watch looks clean and balanced; a date window would throw it off balance. Adding a complication changes the character of the watch. That’s why Laurent Ferrier goes all out when it comes to adding complications. We saw it with the Classic Moon, and now we see it with the Classic Auto Sandstone.
Laurent Ferrier is a View-Master
The Classic Moon and its widescreen date/month window remind me of the old View-Master with its two peepholes. Laurent Ferrier didn’t just cut two holes in the dial; the angled openings allow the eye to slide to the information on the disc below. The date/month display is placed exactly in the middle of the top of the dial, which balances the overall design. On the other hand, the Classic Auto Sandstone’s date window is at the 3 o’clock position, making it much more difficult to achieve a balanced dial design.
So they added arced sides to match the round shape of the dial, and they put crosshairs in place to figuratively hold the date window in place. It also suggests, at least to me, that the date window can disappear – almost like a visualization that you can turn on and off with the push of a button. When you press that imaginary button, the date window collapses again, transforming into one of those beautiful elongated drop-shaped hour markers, while the crosshairs recede and make the whole thing look uniform. Yes, that’s the transformer date window.
Attention to detail even on the back
Well, maybe this is a bit over the top, but at least it shows what great design can achieve with one’s imagination. What I want to say is that Laurent Ferrier has finally given the date window the attention it deserves. Of course, this is not surprising in a watch where every detail has a right to be and has a specific purpose. Here again, the elongated indexes in 18K white gold look truly spectacular, coupled with the sagai-style hands made from the same material. And the copper-colored dial, brushed vertically and circularly, plays sublimely with light. And let’s not forget the two-tiered sub-dial with one of the most amazing azure-age textures I’ve ever seen.
Combine all this with the smooth, pebble-shaped 40mm stainless steel case and unengraved, onion-shaped crown and you have an understated yet striking watch, and we can also commend Laurent Ferrier for adapting the movement finishing to the dressier style of the Classic collection.
The Sport Auto is equipped with the same LF270.01 automatic movement, but with a ruthenium coating and brushed surfaces that give it a rather industrial look, while the new Classic Auto Sandstone has rhodium-plated bridges decorated with Geneva stripes and polished bevels. Laurent Ferrier added feathers to the platinum micro-rotor to match the beak-shaped bridge that holds the rotor in place. Additionally, the rotor’s V-shape indicates the direction in which the rotor will wind.
lastly
Admittedly, given the choice, I would still go for the no-date version. But for those who just can’t live without a date window, the Laurent Ferrier Classique Auto Sandstone features one of the best date windows in the industry. If you’re as enamored with this watch as I am, hurry up. Laurent Ferrier is only producing 20 pieces, and judging by the attention this watch is receiving, they’ll probably sell out quickly. Of course, the 50,000 CHF price tag is something to consider, but I think there are more than enough people, myself included, who think this watch is worth every penny.
The Laurent Ferrier Classic Haute Sandstone is available to purchase from the brand’s official online boutique, or you can try your luck at one of the brand’s 33 physical stores around the world.
Let us know what you think of the new Laurent Ferrier Classic Auto Sandstone in the comments below.
