This month Swiss watchmaker Laurent Ferrier debuted a “contemporary vintage style dial” version of the company’s Galet Annual Calendar. Uniquely, instead of precious metal, the 5-piece limited edition Galet Ecole Annual Calendar Vintage comes in a stainless case (40 mm x 12.8 mm).
“Inspired from rare vintage watches of the 1950s,” according to Laurent Ferrier, the matte champagne finish opaline gold-toned dial sets this apart from other Laurent Ferrier Annual Calendars. Punctuating the beautiful dial which has a champagne to yellow gold effect — depending on the light — are the brand’s signature Assegai-shaped hands, and treated with a dark brown/maroon ruthenium coating. The baton-type second hand is also treated with ruthenium. The hands are made from 18K/750 210Pd white gold. Completing the retro look is a cross-hair printed on the dial in black.
The small seconds display at 6 o’clock, is sunken below the plane of the dial, has snailed surface in the centermost section, subtly contrasting with the main dial while maintaining the classic aesthetic. The outermost ring is printed in black (except for the 31st which is marked in red) and in coordination with the long white centrally mounted arrow tipped hand, indicates the date, and being that this is an annual calendar, it corrects automatically for months with 30 and 31 days. The only time it needs to be manually adjusted is March 1st, whether it’s a leap year (like 2020) or not.
Two beveled apertures at 12 o’clock display the day and the month, respectively, via white discs underneath. The days and month change over semi-instantaneously. The date and month can be quickly changed via the crown. A push-piece on the left side of the case provides a simple way of adjusting the day display. All other adjustments can be made easily by pulling the crown and rotating it accordingly, without any tools.
In addition to the hours, minutes, small seconds, day, date, and month, on the back of the watch is a power reserve indicator.
Driving these functions is 3Hz manually wound in-house caliber LF126.01 which measures 31.60 mm x 5.80 mm, has 235 components, including 23 jewels. The movement design incorporates a Swiss lever escapement, free-sprung variable inertia balance wheel, and runs for 80-hours when fully wound.
Each bridge is adorned with pristine Côtes de Genève decoration and ruthenium treatment, while the mainplate is decorated with perlage. As you would expect at this level (and price range) the edges of the bridges have been hand beveled and polished to perfection. All jewel sinks and screw heads are “painstakingly polished to a gleaming conclusion.”
The Laurent Ferrier Galet Annual Calendar (Ecole) School Piece “Vintage” is presented on a honey alligator leather strap with Alcantara lining. Water-resistance is rated at 30 meters. (Ref. LCF025.AC.J2B)
Retail is approximately $50,000.
Photos by Laurent Ferrier.
