More Brown in Town

Oddly, it took decades for the most universal colour in menswear to colonise watches. There was a time when blue dials were an oddity and suddenly, they were everywhere. Still are. But that other essential colour in the palette, brown, isn't as widespread... except with Laurent Ferrier. On several occasions, the Geneva brand has delved into beige, tobacco, sand, dove, tan and other shades of coffee, always with a great deal of success. It has a lot to do with Laurent Ferrier's innate sense of understated pairings. They apply it to their Grand Sport, to their Classic Origin and if you want to go real far back, their founding timepiece, the Galet Classic Tourbillon Double Spiral, once had an grand feu ivory enamel dial to die for. And now they've done it again, with their Classic Moon.

The Classic Moon Dusk is part of their Série Atelier sub-collection, one where pillars of the brand are interpreted a little outside their usual design guidelines and in very limited quantities, 20 pieces in this instance. So colour management is of the essence here. It starts with the colder tones of 2N yellow gold, the paler shade of the alloy. It's used to craft the pebble-shaped case. It's 40 mm in diameter, 12.9 mm in thickness, and its curves make it look like a million bucks. 

A shade of brown dubbed Chocolate dons the first ring on the dial, used to display the date which is part of an annual calendar. It works in pair with a central hand, rose gold in colour and with a diminutive javelin head. The day and month are printed on a pair of chocolate discs with white typeface. White which is used on the main hands, whose Assegai (a type of short spear popular in Africa) shape is a brand signature. Then comes the dial's main section, occupied by a chocolate to beige gradient applied on an opaline surface. The transition from one tone to the other is in fact a synthesis of what the Classic Moon Dusk is : a large slide from one hue to the next.

Moving to 6 o'clock, a new colour pairing enhances the presence of the double moon display. A black obsidian disc, rich with golden reflections, makes up the body of the rotating disc, with a yellow translucent bridge on top of it. And the final touch, a mocha brown nubuck leather strap attaches the watch to the wrist.

This Classic Moon Dusk is definitely an elaborate thing. Over a dozen items are covered in tones ranging from almost white to almost black, all of which lives in the general brown area. Wear it with a sand coat, a gray velvet jacket, a camel sweater or a cream shirt, and the look will be complete. Definitely an outfit designed to be worn in town, thus proving the old British commandment wrong. “No brown in town” is completely ill-fitted to describe the Classic Moon Dusk.