Laurent Ferrier's Basile Monnin is obsessed with the finer details of his craft

The Star

7 hours ago

Laurent Ferrier is a relatively new kid on the watchmaking block that has gotten everyone's undivided attention lately.
The Swiss-based manufacturer was only founded in 2009 in Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva.
Named after its founder, the brand takes pride in showcasing timeless elegance evident in its designs, combined with avant garde manufacturing technique.
This has allowed Laurent Ferrier to become − in just over 15 years − a stalwart brand in the world of watchmaking, and certainly a noted one among horological fans all over the world.
Son and grandson of master watchmakers himself, Ferrier has been immersed in the world of complications and movements since he was a child.
In 1968, for instance, as a 16-year-old he designed a pocket watch during his apprenticeship, one that he now fondly recalls as the Montre d'École or the 'School Piece'.
Then, for the next 37 years, he worked in Patek Philippe as its technical director.
Robert Bailey, head of sales at Laurent Ferrier, presenting the finer details of the brand to media members in Kuala Lumpur.
This was when his passion for cars – also developed from a young age – led him to compete in local races before moving on to car endurance competitions.
He experienced firsthand the many similarities between racing and watches: it was essential to seek perfection in execution and precision in results for both worlds.
In racing, just like in the measurement of time, details are everything and even a millimeter's margin of error is big enough of a mistake to cause failure.
So, it's really no surprise that Basile Monnin, the brand's head of watchmaking, is also a keen devotee in the art of infinitely detailed finishings as well.
Monnin oversees all the work dedicated to the production, assembly and decoration of the brand's timepieces.
'Yes, every bit of detail means the world to me!
'Each one of our LF270.01 calibre requires more than 139 manual finishing operations, and a key element that makes a Laurent Ferrier watch so attractive to collectors,' he says proudly.
Checking the dimensions of a watch's raw main plate.
The concept of 'finissage'
Recently in Kuala Lumpur as a guest of Sincere Fine Watches, Monnin was keen to talk about the concept of finishing – derived from the French word finissage –which represents the pride of the Laurent Ferrier design team of 15 watchmakers and eight decorators whom he leads.
'What we call anglage in French, is what you may know as chamfering. This is the act of creating an edge between two faces of an object,' he explains.
'It's actually one of the most prized techniques in fine watchmaking.
'If you look at the bridges of a Laurent Ferrier movement, you'll notice this 45-degree angle that uniquely captures the light.'
Monnin emphasises that this detail is not merely aesthetic.
In technical terms, the angulation on the plates and bridges helps prevent stress concentrations in the watch material.
'The process begins with the removal of scratches and imperfections from the upper edges of the bridges.
'The edges are then smoothed and contoured using a file, forming a uniform angle with perfectly defined parallel lines.
'There's also the curved outer bevels, visible on the balance bridge of each watch's micro-rotor movement.
'This actually represent one of the greatest challenges for us as it cannot be executed by machinery, but must be worked on exclusively by hand,' says Monnin.
Looking into the process of black polishing a watch's balance cock.
Geneva Stripes
The conversation then shifts to the Côtes de Genève or 'Geneva Stripes'.
This is a decorative finish comprising a series of parallel, wavy lines that are applied to the bridges and plates of a watch movement.
'Originally, their function was to prevent the accumulation of dust and particles in the gears,' Monnin elaborates.
'But since many of the contemporary watch cases feature advanced seals, the Côtes de Genève have become more of an emblematic decorative technique of fine watchmaking.'
Monnin explains that the pattern is applied mechanically using a steel cylinder with an abrasive belt moved over the bridges to create straight or circular lines.
'The lines should be uniform in width, but slight imperfections may be seen as a sign of hand finishing.'
He draws attention to the satin finish on each Laurent Ferrier watch case.
'This sort of finish is common on many watch cases, but for us at Laurent Ferrier, it is used on a much smaller and more precise scale.
'A fine example is our Calibre LF270.01, in which the bridges feature an anthracite (dark greyish) satin finish, providing an elegant contrast with the micro-rotor bridge, and polished to black.
'We also use a circular finish, widely known in fine watchmaking as 'cerclage'.
'This finish creates fine lines by circular sanding on the metal surface.
'For round components, the lines are concentric and generate a characteristic light reflection, enhancing the aesthetics of the watch movement.
'Then, there's also the sandblasting technique – a type of finish that gives surfaces a smooth, matte appearance to further highlight the polished details of the movement.'
Monnin adds that the last process involves projecting a volume of compressed air and fine sand onto the watch surface, creating thousands of micro-craters that are invisible to the naked eye.
Brushing and polishing of surfaces set a hand-built and in-house movement apart from mass-produced calibres. —SAMUEL ONG/The Star
Art of mirroring
He then takes everyone through the ubiquitous watchmaking art of mirroring, or black polishing.
This is the act of creating a perfectly smooth, nearly mirror-like surface on a watch.
The technique's name comes from its ability to reflect light so that when viewed at a certain angle, the surface appears completely black.
'The process is extremely delicate,' says Monnin.
'The piece in question is first polished on a zinc plate with abrasive diamond paste.
'Then, controlled circular movements are made, gradually reducing the size of the abrasive grains.
'This is done until a perfectly flat and mirror-like surface is created which is, again, impossible to achieve by machines.
'At the end of it all, this art of hand-finishing not only embellishes the fine watches from Laurent Ferrier, but is testimony to a commitment to tradition and watchmaking excellence.
'Completing each one of our masterpieces requires decades of experience, thousands of hours of work and meticulous attention to detail by everyone in our team.
'And for the collectors who celebrate fine watchmaking, these finishes not only represent luxury and exclusivity, but also the true essence of Swiss artisanal savoir-faire,' Monnin concludes, with more than just a hint of satis­faction.