Farer, the British watch brand, has introduced a new Tonneau case collection featuring three models: Milan, London, and Paris. Each timepiece offers a distinct aesthetic, drawing inspiration from various elements and eras.
Farer have developed a distinct style across their range, taking bold colours mixed with a vintage inspiration, but with a very modern look. The dials in the Tonneau collection are no different, each crafted to highlight specific colors and textures related to their city. They are paired with contemporary applied numeral designs and a clean baton handset for clarity and legibility.
Milan: The Milan model is an automatic two-hand watch with a tonneau-shaped case. It features an emerald green dial with a ridge-textured lacquer.
London: The London, another automatic two-hand watch, comes with a tonneau-shaped case and a white dial. The dial’s surface has concentric ridges, and it includes sunken red numerals.
Paris: The Paris model offers a straightforward layout with an electric blue dial. This, like its counterparts is an automatic two-hand with a tonneau-shaped case.
The tonneau case is a very wearable 35mm wide by 45mm lug-to-lug. It has a thickness of 10.6mm, with the curved portion of the case being only 7.2mm deep. Two notable details include polished chamfers running along the top edges and the engraved groove tracing the outer edge of the case sides. The crown is rounded stainless steel, inset with a solid bronze cap featuring an embossed Farer ‘A’.
Milan: a celebration of green hues
Farer’s Milan watch is a nod to the classic two-hand cushion-cased watches of the 1970s. These watches were renowned for their innovative designs, incorporating unique case shapes, dial textures, and colors. The Milan, named after the iconic Italian city, seeks to encapsulate the essence of that era.
The Milan watch is distinguished by its vibrant emerald-green dial, inspired by green-glazed ceramics. This dial showcases a captivating pattern of concentric ridges, adding depth and texture. The lacquered finish enhances the various green tones, resulting in a spectrum of shades that mirror the lighter highlights and deeper hues found in historic ceramics. Against this backdrop, polished silver batons and Arabic markers are set. These markers have a rounded surface, ensuring they reflect light from every angle. They’re complemented by a polished baton handset.
London: geometry and proportion
The London watch also draws inspiration from the classic two-hand cushion-cased watches of the 1970s. The London watch seeks to capture the spirit of that era, focusing on geometry and proportion.
The white dial is dominated by a pattern of three-dimensional concentric ridges, lending the face texture and depth. This design draws the eye towards the midnight blue baton hands. Red Arabic numerals are inset into the dial, cutting through the pattern and producing a stepped effect. This design choice enhances the depth provided by the ridges, while the alternating sizes of the numerals prevent a uniform appearance, redirecting the eye from the center to the rest of the dial. A blue railroad minute track frames these elements, further emphasizing the watch’s geometric design.
Paris: inspired by the city of lights
The Paris watch features a metallic royal blue dial inspired by the blue hues found in Parisian street signs.The dial undergoes a transformation under different lighting conditions, shifting from its primary shade to an almost electric blue. This dynamic color serves as a backdrop for the brilliant white hour markers, which include a mix of batons and Roman numerals. These applied markers have a modern, sans-serif design, and are paired with a simple gloss white baton handset. Together, these elements contrast sharply with the rich blue of the dial. The watch also features a discreet minute track with a matte texture, breaking the continuity of the brushed dial finish.
Movement and features
Powering Farer’s Tonneau range is the Swiss-made Sellita SW300-1 automatic movement. This premium calibre, modified to remove the seconds hand, boasts 25 jewels, a 56-hour power reserve, and a 4Hz beat rate. The movement has been adjusted for accuracy in four positions.The rotor has been vapor-coated to match the color of the dial, observeable through the sapphire crystal on the watch’s case back.
The Tonneau range come equipped with a curved sapphire crystal with a beveled edge and a multi-layer anti-reflective coating on the underside. The watch is paired with a St Venere leather strap, secured with a 316L stainless steel buckle. It’s water-resistant up to 100M or 10ATM.
Availability and Pricing
The Tonneau range is priced at £1,095.00. Like all Farer watches, they comes with a 5-year guarantee and are available for purchase on Farer’s website.
