“Creatively classic” is the new tagline of this young company created by previous Patek Philippe watchmaker Laurent Ferrier and his son Christian. This saying not only applies to the conservative – and therefore timeless – outward appearance of these watches, but in particular to the concept used in creating the new calibers. The latest in line is a movement that is destined to become the base caliber for future automatic watches of this brand. Caliber 229.01 has a lot going for it.
Ferrier's goal in creating this particular movement was to define a functional balance between the limitations already posed by keeping an automatic movement svelte in height and allowing the spring barrel high efficiency. Naturally, the former was achieved by the micro rotor (found in the name of the watch), but the latter would naturally be difficult with such a small rotor and its low inertia. In comparison to a full-sized rotor (which adds to the total height of a movement), a micro rotor needs twice as many rotations to achieve the same amount of winding. To solve this problem, Ferrier decided to make the escapement more efficient, which has reduced the typical amount of micro rotor rotations by one-third.
Double Direct Impulse
The changes the Laurent Ferrier team made to the escapement were inspired by an invention of Abraham-Louis Breguet more than 200 years ago: the “naturelle” escapement. The addition of a double direct-impulse escapement crafted entirely in silicon reduces the torque required to wind the mainspring, thereby optimizing the winding. Unlike a “regular” detent escapement, this style gives the balance two direct impulses for each full oscillation.
The position of the gold micro rotor is also unconventional: it is secured directly between the base plate and the upper bridge, ensuring maximum stability and reduction of total movement height. The entirety of this thought process allows the mainspring to generate 80 hours of power reserve.
Appearance
The look of this beautiful watch was inspired by the timepiece that Laurent Ferrier made in 1968 as his final exam before becoming a master watchmaker, known in horological parlance as the “school watch.” A transparent case back allows a glimpse into the fine finishing of the movement and a view of the silicon escapement. The front of this classic 40 mm timepiece displays the hours, minutes and subsidiary seconds. It is available in red gold or – uniquely – white gold that has not been rhodium-plated, but rather left to its own naturally beautiful color.
