Laurent Ferrier Manufacture Visit

I have been incredibly fortunate to have previously visited and toured two watch brand manufactures – Blancpain during my first visit to Geneva and, more recently, a tour of Bremont’s new manufacture in Henley-on-Thames, The Wing. I find it fascinating to see inside these manufactures, and whilst there are of course similarities, it is interesting to see where they are different from one another as well.

During my trip to Geneva earlier this month, I was lucky to be able to go for a Laurent Ferrier manufacture visit as well after our partners at The Limited Edition put us in touch. It was a wonderful experience, and not only did we get to see some of the brand’s incredible watches, but there are also a couple of very cool bits of memorabilia on show, too!

Laurent Ferrier

For those who perhaps aren’t familiar with Laurent Ferrier, I thought I’d start off with a quick introduction to the man and the brand.

The short version would be to say that Laurent Ferrier has watchmaking in his blood – his father and grandfather were both watchmakers, his father having worked on high complication pieces.

Having qualified from watchmaking school, he went on to work for Patek Philippe for the best part of four decades, working on iconic watches such as the Nautilus and Aquanaut, and a focus on traditional watchmaking with arguably the world’s foremost watchmaking manufacture.

Watchmaking is, however, but one side of Laurent Ferrier – an avid motorsports enthusiast, he in fact competed in the Le Mans race of 1979, finishing second behind none other than Paul Newman! This passion for motor sport also served to introduce him to a great friend in François Servanin, and the pair went on to found Laurent Ferrier in 2009, realising a long-harboured ambition to create their own brand.

This deliberately short introduction is meant to give you a little insight into the brand and its values (and to contextualise one particular piece of memorabilia!) If you want to learn more, I have previously written a Spotlight article on Laurent Ferrier which might be of interest.

Laurent Ferrier Manufacture Visit

A far cry from the annual outputs of other brands I have visited, Laurent Ferrier produce only a couple of hundred pieces each year, and this was really brought home to me when we arrived at the manufacture. Rather than being in a significantly sized building in Le Brassus or the British countryside, to get to the Laurent Ferrier manufacture was a short train ride from the centre of Geneva, and a 15-minute walk down a relatively busy road. In fact, we almost missed it, as the address is a traditional-styled building which is set back a little from the road.

After being greeted by Rob who was going to look after us, we went in. Inside, the building very much reflected the traditional exterior with exposed stone walls and a pretty low ceiling in the rooms; it wasn’t lost on me that this kind of environment is rather indicative of the ethos of the Laurent Ferrier brand, being firmly rooted in traditional watchmaking, and Laurent Ferrier’s own watchmaking values of “simplicity, precision, and pure uncluttered beauty”.

The atmosphere this created felt almost homely, warm and most certainly welcoming, and when we later learned that the entire tight-knit team comprised of less than 20 people, it all made perfect sense.

Looking around the room we had entered and taking it all in, we noticed a couple of very cool things on display – firstly, a display case containing a racing helmet, which was the helmet worn by Laurent Ferrier in the 1979 Le Mans race, and then placed on the side was the brand’s GPHG Horological Revelation prize from 2015!

It’s not every day that you get to see things like these up close, and I thought it was a great touch that Laurent Ferrier had sought to share these them with the team as well as any visitors.

We sat down and enjoyed a drink as we learned about the history of the brand, what they have achieved to date (including multiple GPHG awards since just 2009!) and of course followed an opportunity to get hands on with some of the different Laurent Ferrier watches.

Given the extremely limited production of Laurent Ferrier watches, it genuinely isn’t very often you see so many in one place, let alone get to handle them and try them on for size. This is something that I personally believe is incredibly important – being able to hold a watch and feel it on the wrist is a totally different experience than just seeing photos or reading about them. There have been so many occasions where there have been watches I thought I would love, only to be sorely disappointed with the watch on my wrist, and vice versa where something has caught me by surprise.

Anyway, it’s safe to say that at this point we both turned into the proverbial children in a sweets shop.

I couldn’t help but start with the double-spiral tourbillon watches, which we could see in both the round and Galet (square, or cushion) cases. This was the first watch that the Laurent Ferrier brand launched in 2010 and uses two springs, layered above one another but in opposite directions, to counter any effects or variances in the rate of oscillation for more accurate timekeeping.

To my eye this really is the epitome of classical watchmaking. The “stretched” looking Roman numerals almost look like baton indices from afar, and the dial is clean and uncluttered with a small-seconds dial at 6 o’clock.

I really like the fact that, despite containing a tourbillon (a complication which is one of the most demonstrative of watchmaking prowess and savoir-faire), Laurent Ferrier took the decision to keep this concealed as a secret for the wearer. You would often expect to see an aperture in the dial to showcase a tourbillon from the front of the watch and show it off; however, as this ultimately serves no direct purpose to further Laurent Ferrier’s values, the tourbillon remains visible only through the sapphire caseback.

There was also a rather interesting cork material strap on the round version (you can see this in the photo above), which caught me completely by surprise. It was exceedingly comfortable, interesting to look at, and by all accounts a material which collectors have said works particularly well in warm weather, too!

We got to experience various other pieces in the current collection, including the Traveller Dual Time, Classic micro-rotor with natural escapement, and we were also lucky to see the latest Galet Square releases with retro dial in both the silvery/white and charcoal dials. I thought the retro charcoal dial in the red gold case was particularly beautiful!

Each piece that we were able to try was incredible in its own way, and this visit really served to underscore for me that Laurent Ferrier is a brand that truly resonates with me on a personal level. I have tended to gravitate towards dress watches and particularly enjoy the traditional facets of watchmaking, however I also appreciate something contemporary, and designs which aren’t necessarily limiting in terms of appropriate occasions.

For me, Laurent Ferrier fits the bill perfectly, and his history in motor-racing also appeals to my adventurous side as well!

After we had had our fill of the current watches, we got a sneak peak at the releases coming in 2022 – of course, I can’t share any details, but suffice it to say that where Laurent Ferrier is already at the point of being over-subscribed, I think next year it is really going to take off – the new releases are fantastic, and I think the future of Laurent Ferrier is incredibly exciting.

Looking at the watch world, it is clear that collectors are really starting to gravitate towards fine watchmaking from independents in a big way, and again, Laurent Ferrier certainly ticks these boxes.

Anyway, the last part of our visit was a tour around the rest of the building, including a visit to the watchmakers’ and decorators’ benches. As I said earlier, there aren’t many people working at Laurent Ferrier and it is a considerably smaller outfit than the likes of the other brands I have visited, and it was interesting to see that there was just one small room for the 2 or 3 decorators, and a slightly larger room for the 4 or 5 watchmakers.

It was explained to us that there is one head watchmaker who works closely with Laurent Ferrier and his son, Christian. For any new movements or complications being worked on, these are designed by Laurent and Christian Ferrier, with the head watchmaker key in testing the movement in both its assembly, performance, and identifying any areas for improvement.

Once a movement is completed it becomes part of wider production. Every component used to make the movements is hand-finished by the decorators, before being passed to the watchmakers. The watchmakers will then assemble the components together into movements for watches, and once the assembly is complete the movements are passed back to the decorators to apply the final touches, meeting the extremely high standards required of a Laurent Ferrier timepiece.

After a final look around the remainder of the building (with a quite lovely staircase which to me is indicative of this wonderful setting) and the office space and being introduced to a few other members of the team, it was time for us to leave for lunch and so our visit concluded.

I think it is safe to say that we left with an even greater appreciation of the brand, and the watchmaking behind it.

In Summary

One of the things I have really enjoyed throughout my experiences exploring the world of watches, is witnessing the skills of watchmakers first-hand and being able to experience and explore the manufactures. It always induces the same feeling of awe, whether it be watching a single watchmaker explain a movement at a boutique event, or visiting manufactures such as Laurent Ferrier.

Just as with my other experiences, my Laurent Ferrier manufacture visit was a truly, thoroughly enjoyable experience, and I would without hesitation whole-heartedly encourage anyone who ever gets the opportunity to visit a manufacture to do so.

A huge thank you to the team at Laurent Ferrier, to learn more visit LaurentFerrier.ch or follow Laurent Ferrier on Instagram.

Thanks also to @mywatches777 for allowing me to his photos as well – be sure to give him a follow on Instagram!

Finally, another thank you to our partners at The Limited Edition for putting us in touch with the team at Laurent Ferrier. For anyone interested in purchasing a Laurent Ferrier watch, be sure to reach out to The Limited Edition, and mention “Watch Affinity” to receive a small gift with any order!

If you have any questions, please get in touch via our Contact page, or via our Instagram.

You might also be interested in:

• Spotlight: Laurent Ferrier
• A Watch Aficionado’s Guide to Geneva – Part 2
• A Tour of Bremont’s “The Wing” Facility
• Watch Stationery and Gift Ideas
• Watch Books, Watch Boxes and more at the Watch Affinity Shop on Amazon (commissions earned)

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