The plane lands, or you reach the shore. You want to set your watch to local time. But normally you are too busy with the bags, or you might not want to disturb your first impression by having to pull the crown and setting your watch. And given the old warning: how dangerous is it to wind a movement backwards, would it be safer to wind 23 hours forward if you have moved 15 degrees west rather than going backwards?
On most modern watches you may set your watch backwards as well. But please don’t quote me on this at your service watchmaker.
Anyway, to make travelling as easy as possible, Laurent Ferrier created the Sport Traveller, whose dual time zone is handily adjusted at the push of a button. The 08 o’clock button reverses the hour hand by an hour, whereas the 10 o’clock button moves it forward. The time indication at 09 o’clock, between the two push buttons, indicates home time, which is always visible at quick glance.
The home time is not the only graphical element on the anthracite dial. Most notably, we see the brand-typic central cross, the words Sport Traveller in a subtle and discreet tone-on-tone writing. And the date at three o’clock, and last but not least the small seconds in a finely snailed subdial at 06 o’clock. The Assegai-(spear-) shaped hands are, just like the teardrop indexes, made from 18-karat white gold, and as both hands and indexes are painted with Super-LumiNova®, you will also be able to read your watch when lying sleepless on a red-eye flight.
The Sport Traveller has a new in-house caliber called LF275.01. Powered by a platinum rotor, it provides a power reserve of more than 72 hours. And, just like its sibling in the Sport Collection, the Sport Auto, its ruthenium-treated bridges are decorated with a horizontal satin finish.
All these horological goodies come packaged in a 42-millimeter grade 5 titanium case, which is water resistant to 100 meters. And, just like most watches created by Laurent Ferrier, it comes in a subtle tonneau shape, whose rounded edges are reminiscent of speed. Mr. Ferrier worked nearly four decades at Patek Philippe before launching his eponymous brand in 2010 at the age of 63, and for him, the racing flirt is not just a typical watch form language thing. It is also a direct link with Mr. Ferrier’s second career in racing, which involves seven starts in Le Mans 24 Hours race, and six years selling components for racing cars.
The development of the new Sport Traveller was done in tandem with his son Christian Ferrier, as the two lead the Creative department of Laurent Ferrier. Is it too bold of a guess to believe that this duo will again will make sure the brand will be recognized at watch awards? This would be just in line with the brand’s very first creation, the Classic Tourbillon Double Hairspring, which won the award of best men’s watch at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in 2010.
The Sport Traveller will become a part of the permanent collection of Laurent Ferrier.
