Furlan Marri burst into the watch industry a few years ago with their inaugural mechaquartz chronograph collection, which was such an immediate success that it went on to win the Horological Revelation prize at the 2021 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. Five years later and the collection has remained a fundamental part of Furlan Marri’s catalogue. Ahead of their appearance at the new Chronopolis event in Geneva next week, they are launching the Meteorite Octa mechaquartz limited edition.
As you can likely surmise from the watch’s name, this is indeed a meteorite dial edition of the chronograph. If you’re astronomically minded you might even be able to deduce the kind of meteorite that has been used from the name as well because ‘Octa’ is a reference to ‘fine octahedrite’, a specific classification of iron meteorite. In what is undoubtedly an oversimplification, a fine octahedrite is an iron-nickel meteorite that displays the widmanstatten pattern – the signature crystalline lattice pattern you can see here.
Even more specific than that, the meteorite that Furlan Marri have used on the Meteorite Octa is the Muonionalusta meteor from Scandinavia. It’s the most common source of meteorite used across watchmaking, including the Orient Star M34 F8 Date Meteorite we reviewed yesterday. The meteor is believed to have landed on Earth over one million years ago but is itself much older, around 400 million years old.
The meteor forms the central disk of the dial, where its silver colour is paired with white bicompax subdials, a dark grey 60-minute scale and a white pulsometer to create a cool monochromatic design. It maintains the Art Deco influences of the collection thanks to a combination of Roman numerals and bar indexes as well as railway track scales on the subdials.
Housed inside the 38mm steel case is the Seiko VK64 Mechaquartz movement. Mechaquartz uses a quartz regulator powered by a battery paired with a mechanical chronograph function, making it a hybrid movement. The advantage of which is the convenience and accuracy of quartz with the tactile feel and smooth motion of a mechanical chronograph. It’s also a very accessible movement, helping to keep the watch itself accessible too.
The Furlan Marri Meteorite Octa is CHF 720 (approx. £680). It’s not limited by quantity but is strictly available during a limited pre-order window from April 10th – 20th, coinciding with Geneva Watch Week and the Chronopolis event.
Price and Specs:
More details at Furlan Marri.
