Laurent Ferrier are expanding their Série Atelier Classic Moon at Geneva Watch Days to include a new case material and colour scheme called Classic Moon Dusk. Where the previous Classic Moon Silver and Classic Moon Blue were bright and bold representations of celestial themes, the Dusk is all about that liminal time of day when the light begins fading a golden haze can be seen on the horizon.
Kicking things off with the case, it’s presented in yellow gold for the first time, conjuring the image of golden hour. The time approximately between 7pm – 8pm when the sun is setting, the first stars can be seen in the sky the lighting is oh so sweet for pictures. The case itself measures 40mm in diameter by 12.9mm thickness with a smooth, round shape. Laurent Ferrier describes it as ‘pebble’ shaped and it’s inspired by the shapes of vintage pocket watches.
That feeling of a relaxed evening is maintained by the dial, which is a soft brown gradient that starts taupe in the centre before fading towards coffee around the edge. There’s a slight speckled texture that gives it a subtle smoky appearance that’s known as fumé. The golden theme is maintained by the piercing gold pointer date hand that shoots across the display like the last ray of light from the sun.
What’s more unusual than that is the use of yellow on the moonphase function at 6 o’clock. The twin moons (one for the northern hemisphere and one for the south as denoted by N and S on the surrounding scale) are hidden beneath translucent yellow disks in order to show the current phase of the moon. You might think that it’s a bit of yellow tinted glass or perhaps sapphire crystal but it’s more impressive than that – it’s anise-yellow plique-à-jour enamel. Plique-à-jour is an exceptionally difficult enamel technique where the material is bonded to a wire frame rather than on top of a solid base in order to create transparency – you can see a more extreme example in the Czapek Antarctique Plique-á-Jour.
Beneath the Série Atelier Classic Moon Dusk’s dial is the calibre LF126.02, a manual winding movement with an 80-hour power reserve. It has a complete array of calendar functions with pointer date on the central handstack and then days of the week and months via two apertures below 12 o’clock – as an annual calendar it needs adjusting just once a year at the end of February. The central hands also display hours and minutes while seconds is superimposed on top of the moonphase subdial at 6 o’clock. There’s also a power reserve indicator visible through the exhibition caseback. When viewing the movement, you can admire the clean Côtes de Genève finishing as well.
For pricing, the Série Atelier Classic Moon Dusk is the most expensive Classic Moon to date at CHF 93,000 (approx. £84,900) including taxes and it’s a limited edition of just 20 pieces. That’s understandably higher than the Classic Moon Blue in stainless steel but it’s also more than the red gold Classic Moon Silver to the tune of approximately £5,000. That could be for a multitude of reasons such as producing the more complex gradient of the dial, the plique-à-jour moonphase or perhaps most likely, the rising price of gold since the 2024 launch of the Silver. Plus, when you’re talking about prices this extreme to begin with, a shift of £5,000 is not likely to be the make or break distinction for buyers.
Price and Specs:
More details at Laurent Ferrier.
