Geneva Watch Days: Laurent Ferrier, Doxa, Girard-Perregaux, Urwerk & Ressence

Text/photo: Mia Litström

During Geneva Watch Days there are a total of 39 different brands exhibiting. Large as well as small, and we have taken an extra look at five of them that are not so common in Sweden and that presented exciting novelties.

Laurent Ferrier Sport Auto ref. LCF040.T1.V1GCO

The brand has a fine racing history that they want to highlight with their novelty, the Sport Auto 40. It is a tribute to their participation at Le Mans on 9 June 1979, where the brand's founder François Servanin and Laurent Ferrier started in the race in a lovely Porsche 935 Turbo N°40 Kremer Racing. It went really well for the gentlemen, who managed to take home third place out of 60 starters. The experience tied them together and they have worked together ever since. 

And how the tribute is brought out in the watch is precisely that the green colour of the dial is the colour the Porsche they raced in had. In addition, the sides of the car also had colours such as orange and purple, which are also found on the watch. On the indices and hands, which are in white gold, there is orange Super-LumiNova, and across the dial in the middle there are purple lines, shaped like a cross, which also form a box around the date display at 3 o'clock. At 6 o'clock there is a small seconds hand in white opaline, where you also make out the no. 40 that symbolises the car's number. 

It is a really cool watch if you like the colour of the dial and its colour combination. The case and link are in grade 5 titanium in the 41.5 mm size and a height of 12.70 mm. The soft tonneau shape does a lot, as does the fact that it is a balanced combination of brushed and polished surface. The watch sits comfortably on the wrist and thanks to it being in titanium it is light to wear. The heart is their automatic movement LF270.01, which has a microrotor. The power reserve is up to 72 hrs and the case is water resistant to 120 m.

The price is 51 000 CHF and the model is limited to 40 pieces. 

Doxa SUB 300ß Beta Sharkhunter ref.830.20.101.20

Doxa proves with their novelty that diver's watches do not only have to be very sporty but can be elegant. The soberly black novelty is called SUB 300ß Sharkhunter. It has a case in matte black ceramic with a bezel and crown in gold. A really handsome combo. The size is 42.50 x 44.50mm and the height is 11.95mm, and the caseback is in titanium.

The dial is black with a grainy rubbed surface and the indices as well as the hands have Super-LumiNova. The gold bezel has unidirectional rotation. Both the outer and the inner ring have black-lacquered numerals. It has an automatic movement that is a COSC-certified chronometer with a power reserve of up to 38 hrs. The strap is in black rubber and the three-step clasp has a black PVD. So this is a a dramatically black handsome diver's watch that sits surprisingly handsomely on the wrist. A real bullseye from Doxa. A very handsome combination of black ceramic and gold. Water resistant to 300 m. 

The price is 7 250 EUR.

Girard-Perregaux Laureato Absolute Chronograph 8Tech ref. 81060-41-3222-1CX

Girard-Perregaux continues to develop advanced materials for its Laureato collection. And now they are presenting a really sharp and lovely model, Laureato Absolute Chronograph 8Tech. It has a case in a material that consists of composite carbon fibre and titanium. The surface is special and mysterious. It is moulded in several layers and each case gets an entirely unique pattern. Materials such as titanium and carbon fibre also make the watch very light to wear. On the dial they have made use of a sandwich construction, and with its smoked look the dial above all makes it easy to see the small white subdials as well as the hands and indices, with luminescent material, which also gives a lovely style.

 It has an automatic chronograph movement ref. GP03300-1058 with a power reserve of up to 46 hrs. The chronograph pushers have distinct shapes and likewise a distinctly good feel when the functions are activated. The strap is in black rubber and the three-step clasp also has micro-adjustment, which is very positive. Water resistant to 100 m. 

The price is 28 200 EUR

Urwerk UR-100V Stardust 

That Urwerk would produce such a special and sparkling watch surprised us wonderfully much. It is their UR-100 model series that has now been expanded with the UR-100V Stardust. It is a watch with a very distinctive appearance that has now been strewn with sparkling diamonds that make it impossible to stop looking at it. The case is in steel and the caseback in titanium as well as sapphire crystal, since the back is open. The size is 49.7 mm lengthways and 41 mm in width, the height is 14 mm. The watch looks big but when you put it on the wrist it does not become too big, precisely for those of us with slimmer wrists. 

Fascinatingly enough, this watch has 400 brilliant-cut diamonds on the case set with the snowsettingtechnique, which makes it extra sparkling and star-like. On the crown alone there are a further 24 brilliant-cut diamonds. When the sunlight strikes the watch on the wrist it sparkles incredibly beautifully. It is an automatic movement UR 12.02 produced in collaboration with Windfänger airscrew. 

Like all watches in the 100 collection it has two gauges on the edges with its satellite carrier. The first is a kilometre counter that represents the distance the earth has moved on its own axis during 20 minutes, i.e. 555 km. The second is a further kilometre counter that shows the distance the earth has moved around the sun during the same period, that is to say 35 740 km. Wackily wonderful and sparklingly beautiful. The watch is water resistant to 30 m.  

The price is 88 000 CHF, limited to 10 pieces per year.

Ressence TYPE 3 Eucalyptus

Another brand that also makes different watches is Ressence which has oil-filled cases with a convex shape. Besides, it takes a little while to learn how the watch works and how you read the time, since it is not constructed in a traditional way. But that is also what makes this brand extra fun, because they really do their own thing. Their novelty is an expansion of the model Type 3 in a new colour that is eucalyptus green. In addition, the watch's disc, which shows hours, has been given indices every other hour, and there are new colours on, among other things, the one that shows the oil temperature and the days of the week. This is a really lovely watch that offers the more unusual and now with a beautiful light green colour.

The movement is their patented ROCS 3.5 automatic movement, which has a power reserve of up to 36 hrs. The dial is convex in grade 5 titanium with engraved indications that have blue Super-LumiNova. The case is also in grade 5 titanium and has two separate chambers, of which the upper one is filled with 3.75 ml of oil. The size is 44 mm and the height is 15 mm. The watch cannot be bathed with but copes with splashes of water. 

The price is 38 200 CHF