“What If” – The Laurent Ferrier Galet Square With My Dream Sector Dial

Yesterday, Brice wrote a piece about his own dream, a timepiece that is an answer to the question “What if… you could create your own dream watch?“. I must admit that his vision of a Panda Datograph in Steel was properly stunning. With that same question in mind, I imagined something different. Similar to yesterday’s dream watch, today’s “dream watch” will also be of significant quality (meaning price is not an object) and one that doesn’t exist. There’s one piece by Laurent Ferrier that I’m sure I’ll never be able to own. Sad, but true. And this brings us to the creation of this dream piece, a Laurent Ferrier Galet Square in Steel with that oh-so-lovely “Only Watch” sector dial (sort of).

Just like Brice did yesterday, I also dreamt up my dream watch; a piece that does not exist, but that I would fall in love with immediately. My name is Frank Geelen and I founded Monochrome-Watches 10 years ago. This website started with a hobby-blog about watches, and later became a respected magazine and a full-time job for me. I was only able to do this because of my passion for fine watches. Today I’m managing a team of passionate watch experts, or maybe we should call them #watchnerd (yes, including the hashtag) as they call themselves. I’m intrigued by beautiful timepieces and the art of creating them. Like every one, I do have my personal preferences. While some of our team members are into sports watches or vintage pieces, my focus is mainly on Haute Horlogerie. Yesterday’s steel Datograph with panda dial could easily be among my dreamt-up pieces, however I also have a weak spot for classic, elegant three-hand watches with a strong horological content. But what equally intrigues me is the human factor behind these watches. I need the story, the contact with the person who created a watch. I need my watches to be imbued with the designer’s soul. This is why “independent watchmaking” will always have a strong position in Monochrome’s editorial philosophy. And this is why my dream watch had to come from such a manufacture.

Why the Laurent Ferrier Galet Square?

With this in mind and with my affinity for classical, elegant and “timeless” (this remains a strange connotation for a timepiece) watches, the name Laurent Ferrier came to mind rather quickly. Their approach of watchmaking, both on a technical level as well as on a design level, really appeals to me. What they do is maybe conservative for some but what I see is a huge respect for traditions, for the concept of haute horlogerie, combined with a timeless appeal, with some rather interesting and innovative movements, and finished in a properly stunning way. Although the brand is still very young, Laurent Ferrier is to me one already of the great names of today’s watch industry.

Why the Galet Square and not a watch that doesn’t exist? Well, in fact, I don’t really see the point of making something completely different, when what you can have is already close to perfect. I simply love this Galet Square since I first saw it at Baselworld 2015. I love the brand’s ‘standard’ round Galet case, however this cushion-shaped version adds the right amount of originality without being overly disruptive. It remains elegant and sleek. And there’s this movement… Yes, it is only a 3-hand movement but fitted with a micro-rotor and a silicon escapement featuring double direct impulse on the balance (that certainly tick all boxes for me). To me, this is what watchmaking should be. I love complications, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes there’s no need for them. The path for precision and the attention to the finishing are much more relevant in my conception of a fine watch.

Why that Sector Dial?

In 2015, Laurent Ferrier created a unique piece for Only Watch, a specific version of the Galet Square with a different case and dial – a dial that was called a “sector dial”. While the lugs were not exactly my taste, that sector dial immediately did it. Balanced, elegant, historically relevant, slightly sportier than the other watches of the brand… Still, I would certainly never be able to own that watch, as only one was made for this unique auction. Still, dreaming is free, and a healthy thing to do as well. Hey, if I hadn’t dreamt of doing Monochrome for a living, I’d still be working some place else.

This is why my dream Galet Square comes with a sector dial inspired by the Only Watch 2015 version, slightly modified for the occasion to look exactly like I’d love to: the sector track is now dark grey, to better match with the silver dial, the superb “assegai-shaped” hands are now silver-toned, the sub-dial is in a darker grey (to add a bit of depth to that rather monochromatic face) and I removed the blue color of the minute track. The result is a face that is softer and sleeker than the Only Watch version, maybe more versatile too, due to this fully grey color scheme. If only it could be something else than just a Photoshop mockup…

Just like the Steel Datograph, this article and its illustrations are the result of a dream and nothing you see here is officially coming from Laurent Ferrier. This a dream, only a Photoshop dream.