Watch of the Week: Laurent Ferrier Classic Origin Beige

One of our magazine's mottos is “for those who know.” It’s a saying that we very much live by when it comes to what we write about. With watches specifically, we very much stand by this motto and champion the more independent and perhaps less known names. Laurent Ferrier watches fall very much into this category, as “for those who know”, a Laurent Ferrier watch is the ultimate flex.

The independent Swiss manufacture has built its reputation on restraint rather than spectacle. One of their latest creations, the Classic Origin Beige, is perhaps the purest expression of that philosophy yet.

It was created to mark the brand’s fifteenth anniversary. The latest Classic Origin doesn’t attempt to reinvent an already celebrated design. Instead, it gently evolves it. The familiar 40mm pebble-shaped case, its soft curves inspired by stones polished smooth by flowing water, has been presented for the first time in warm 5N red gold, paired with an understated beige opaline dial. The colour palette is extremely beautiful.

The creamy dial is framed by a brown railway minute track, punctuated with subtle red numerals that lend just enough contrast without disturbing the watch’s calm disposition. Laurent Ferrier’s signature Assegai hands are crafted from matching red gold.

Turn the watch over and the real theatre begins. Visible beneath the sapphire caseback is the hand-wound Calibre LF116.01, a movement that encapsulates Laurent Ferrier’s obsessive approach to traditional watchmaking. Finished with sandblasted bridges coated in black rhodium, polished bevels and mirror-finished screws, every surface has been meticulously worked by hand. Mechanically, it features a free-sprung balance with a Breguet overcoil and delivers an 80-hour power reserve. Laurent Ferrier’s distinctive long-blade ratchet system produces a wonderfully tactile winding experience, accompanied by a crisp, satisfying sound.

The watch is completed with a hand-sewn mocha nubuck strap lined in Alcantara, secured by an 18-carat red gold pin buckle. The combination really works.

For seasoned collectors, it’s another reminder of why Laurent Ferrier remains one of the most respected names in independent watchmaking. For everyone else, it serves as an introduction to the sort of quiet luxury that is very much “for those who know.”