The moonphase complication is one of the oldest and most beautiful in watchmaking history, infamous thanks to the complexity of its design and mechanism. While it’s a design that often falls in and out of fashion, it’s regardless long been an indicator of quality in luxury watch brands.
It’s only natural, then, that relative newcomer to game Farer has taken a stab at this complication, hoping to put its signature, ‘updated-yet-respectfully-so’ spin on this well-worn design.
An eclipsing design
Launching with three individually-named designs, all somewhat kitsch-ly taking the moniker of famous British faces from the world of astronomy. Throughout the collection, the same fully-polished stainless steel cushion case is present, almost identical to the case used in the brand’s Cushion Case Manual collection, but with the addition of – in Farer’s words – a ‘grain twist’ texture that dapples the sides of the case to create a pleasing tactile finish.
In terms of dimensions, the watches have 38.5mm width, and measure 43.8mm lug-to-lug with a 10.5mm thickness. Farer’s typical rounded pull-out crown featuring bronze cap is also present here. All of the Moonphase dials feature polished lance hands and a date wheel matched to each design’s respective colours.
Moonstruck
Each of the Moonphase Collection’s designs showcases the large hand-painted moon display that gives the collection its namesake, with an impressive amount of dial space dedicated to showcasing the lunar presence. The moon and discs across the collection have all been hand-painted in Switzerland, meaning they should offer up an eye-catching ‘pop’ that a simple printed disc would lack, and liberal use of lume means you’ll be able to easily see the moon phase without ever having to tilt your head to the night sky.
The Eddington – named for English astronomer, physicist and mathematician Sir Arthur Eddington – offers up a brushed copper dial in a light salmon hue, with a traditional off-white moon against a dark blue background that’s lightly flecked with white stars. The hour markers alternate between Roman numerals at the 12, 2, 4, 8 and 10 positions, and simple batons in the remaining spaces, both made from grade X1 Super-LumiNova.
The Burbidge offers the brightest splash of colour of the collection, and is named for British-American observational astronomer and astrophysicist Margaret Burbidge. The bright, arctic blue sunburst dial of the Burbidge is paired with simple batons at the hour markets. The handset is identical to the Eddington, but the moonphase disc is a slightly light shade of dark blue, featuring a distinct bright pink moon.
The Halley is named for Edmond Halley, the famed English astronomer and namesake of Halley’s comet, and is the most reserved design of the three, featuring a glossy midnight blue dial, a yellow moon against a pale blue sky, and a combination of Arabic numerals and simple batons in the same positions as with the Roman numbering seen on the Eddington.
All of Farer’s Moonphase Collection watches are powered by the manually-wound Sellita SW288, which in typical Farer style can be seen ticking away in the see-through back to the watches’ case. The movement features 18 jewels, 28,800vph and a 48-hour power reserve.
Setting up a moonphase is trickier than for your average watch, so Farer have gone to the added length of setting up an interactive guide on their website that may be helpful for newcomers to the complication.
All three of the Moonphase Collection designs are available at a range of price points depending on your choice of strap, from £1,470 for a rubber strap, £1475 for Granolo or St Venere leather, or £1485 for a steel Milanese bracelet at farer.com.
