he independent Genevan brand Laurent Ferrier, established in 2010, has a new chief executive, appointed this year, in the person of Florent Perrichon, whom we met at Watches and Wonders. No stranger to luxury or watchmaking, having previously held executive positions at TAG Heuer, De Beers and Cerruti, he is also a familiar face at Laurent Ferrier as a board member since June 2013. This is a brand he knows inside-out, from (almost) his first steps.

Florent Perrichon, the new CEO of Laurent Ferrier.

This graduate of Ecole Polytechnique in Paris is also a business angel, investing in tech startups with a focus on deep tech, from AI to quantum computing. In his leadership role, he brings to the table the capacity to accompany fast-growing companies – independent watchmakers are “coming back down to earth” after a period of unprecedented development – and an emphasis on good governance and efficient organisation.

Profitable and independent

After a long career with Patek Philippe, in 2010 the then 63-year-old watchmaker Laurent Ferrier founded the Laurent Ferrier brand alongside industrialist François Servanin, who as the chief investor gave Ferrier the means to fulfil this ambition and who also serves as the company’s president. The two men share a longstanding love of motor racing and, from partners on the race track — they secured third place at the 1979 24 Heures du Mans, driving a Porsche 935T —, they became business partners. As the fourth generation of watchmakers in the Ferrier family, Christian Ferrier has joined the business his father co-founded, where both spend much of their time in the movement construction department.

An article published in Europa Star in 2011, shortly after the launch of the Laurent Ferrier brand.

©Archives Europa Star 2011

©Archives Europa Star 2011

©Archives Europa Star 2011

“My priority in taking on the CEO role is to assemble the company’s talents and put everything in place for the future of product development,” Florent Perrichon tells us. “After 15 years in business, we’re beginning to have a certain number of calibres, references and cases in our catalogue.” Growth is controlled and stable at around 1% to 2% (a long way from 2021-2022 when the watch sector was in overdrive). Last year’s production was in the region of 500 watches.

Laurent Ferrier is cited as an example in this recent article on watch finishing.

©Archives Europa Star 2025

Laurent Ferrier only sells through retailers, of which there are currently 35 worldwide. “We benefit from opportunities at retailers who need to add new independents to their roster of brands,” Perrichon continues. “I’m a great subscriber to the retail partnership model and they like who we are. We’re profitable, we don’t depend on anyone and we’re not going to open our own stores. This is reassuring for them and means we can build, together, a solid model to grow and consolidate the brand.”

The Galet Square on the cover of Europa Star in 2015, among a selection of watches by the new generation of independents.

©Archives Europa Star 2025

©Archives Europa Star 2015

It all came together for Laurent Ferrier in 2021, with the launch of the Sport Auto. This luxury sports watch came at exactly the right moment, when integrated bracelets were all the rage, dominating both design and sales. The Sport Auto drew new customers to the brand, boosting desirability as well as bringing much-needed stability after a more complicated first ten years in the highly competitive segment of haute horlogerie, where independents compete against the industry’s big guns.

Everything watch buyers wanted, the Sport Auto marked a turning-point for Laurent Ferrier.

©Archives Europa Star 2025

Master of finishing

After a fifth GPHG win in 2024 for the supremely elegant Classic Moon (after the Classic Tourbillon Double Spiral, its first watch, in 2010, the Square Micro-Rotor in 2015, the Ecole Annual Calendar in 2018 and the Grand Sport Tourbillon Pursuit in 2023), Laurent Ferrier has presented several more iterations of its classics. “We won’t deviate from the line that has made the brand a success, with Laurent and Christian Ferrier in movement development, who also bring their eye for the models’ aesthetic,” insists Florent Perrichon. “The pebble shape is the quintessential Laurent Ferrier case, with lines that stretch infinitely along the flanks and tapered lugs, wearing much smaller on the wrist. A Laurent Ferrier watch that’s 40mm on paper will give the impression of measuring 38mm or 39mm on the wrist.”

Laurent Ferrier collects the Calendar and Astronomy Watch Prize at the 2024 GPHG for the Classic Moon. This was the brand’s fifth GPHG win.

The brand is known to accord particular importance to traditional hand-finishing: bevelling, polishing with gentian wood and diamond paste, black polish, etc. Finishing is, in its words, “a signifying factor of high-end watchmaking”. Its legitimacy and rarity mean its watches more than hold their value on the secondary market, which is the new measure of a brand’s worth. Laurent Ferrier is the embodiment of watchmaking that is independent, discreet, understated, refined, artisanal, classic and elegant; it is the epitome of what’s now referred to as “quiet luxury”, exuding excellence in the smallest details.

Class of 2025

Harmonious and minimalist, the new Classic Auto Horizon shares the same movement as the emblematic Sport Auto – remember, the brand came about through a shared love of motor racing – in a model which, as the name suggests, has a more classic design, with a horizon blue dial. Inspired by nineteenth-century pocket watches, the pebble-shaped case is in stainless steel and measures 40mm across.

Classic Auto Horizon

The automatic movement — the LF 270.01 with a 950 platinum micro-rotor — is entirely designed decorated, assembled and adjusted in-house. Rhodium-plated Côtes de Genève on all the bridges lends the finishing touch to the year’s key launch. Priced at CHF 45,000 (excluding tax), it joins the permanent collection.

Sport Auto 79

For the brand’s 15th anniversary, Laurent Ferrier is releasing a commemorative version of the Sport Auto named the 79, in reference to 1979 when, after 24 hours of mental and physical endurance and 3,988 kilometres, Laurent Ferrier, François Servanin and François Trisconi crossed the finish line to take third place overall at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The cream-toned dial, whose opaline finish confers a powdery texture, is achieved through a galvanic treatment that reveals a soft rose-silver hue. In contrast with the muted dial, the entire livery, including the 41.5mm case and the bracelet, is in 5N red gold. At 6 o’clock, the snailed small seconds register is accented with powder grey markers. As with the entire collection, legibility is key and this is optimised by the minute track, also defined in powder grey. Like the Classic Auto Horizon, the Sport Auto 79 is equipped with the LF270.01 movement. Bridges feature subtle ruthenium-treated horizontal satin brushing that imparts contemporary energy to the entire movement.

A fresh interpretation of the Classic Traveller is also among the year’s new releases.

Florent Perrichon takes the reins at a time when clouds are gathering on the horological horizon, from China to the United States. However, the realistic objectives he has set, grounded in a watchmaking that upholds the highest values, recognised by connoisseurs and personified by two generations of the Ferrier family, will, as for many independents, be the force that weathers the storm.