The smell of gas, the heat that hit your face, the thick fireproof jacket, and the roaring sound of the engines, behind the wheel is a man, a man whose both his passions are opposite of the spectrum, his feet on the pedal are steady, his hands on the wheel taking control of the Porsche 935 Turbo, ready for the Le Mans 24 Hours race.
back In the 1970s, Laurent Ferrier, a master watchmaker and Technical Director at Patek Philippe diverted from watchmaking and became obsessed with motorsport racing; the only thing that Patek Philippe managed to get hold of Laurent Ferrier was to let him take every weekend off to the racing track.
fast forward to 1979 Laurent Ferrier came 3rd of the Le Mans 24, which is quite stunning because most competitors were professional F1 drivers. And you know who the second? Paul Newman.
After 37 years at Patek Philippe, before his retirement, Laurent Ferrier was challenged by a friend to create a brand of his own; instead of opting for a well-deserved rest, Laurent Ferrier, whose nature is a competitive man, took the challenge and started Laurent Ferrier branding in 2008,
The first year of an official lunch in 2010, The Galet Classic won the Best Men's Watch award at the 2010 Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix. This was the first time such a young company was honored for a first creation.
This model launched in 2015 the Gallet Square with the double step case style with stunning Autumn warm Salmon dial; it catches the light very differently depending on the viewing angle, the satin lineage texture on the dial is also very impressive, and the star of the show that made recognized by many enthusiastic is the spear shape hand-finished "Assegai hands" named after a slender African spear.
We turn to the back and also see an outstanding in-house caliber FBN 229.01 with hand-finished black polished screw and bridges, a hand-finished bevel on edge, and a very attractive micro-rotor to keep your watch wound.
It's amazing how a young brand like this has such fantastic craftmanship; Laurent Ferrier made just 100-150 watches per year which are a very low number, consider Patek made 50,000 and Rolex made a million. I think Laurent Ferrier is one of the brands you don't want to miss.