A Stunner: The Laurent Ferrier Classic Traveller Globe Night Blue
If I were pressed to choose the brand with the most breathtakingly beautiful lineup, Laurent Ferrier would surely receive my vote. The Haute Horlogerie watchmaker eschews the hyper-modern trend and makes elegant timepieces with equally bewitching movements. While I tend toward the classic non-complicated models, today’s latest Classic Traveller Globe Night Blue infuses complications without looking too busy.
Laurent Ferrier crafts some of the best-looking watches on the market today. I struggle to find fault with the brand’s slightly modern takes on classic case shapes. The Assegai-shaped hands are the best in the business. Even the dial font is perfectly suited — a typical blunder from other companies. Yes, I’m biased from the get-go about the new Classic Traveller Globe Night Blue, but I’ll do my best to be fair.
The Laurent Ferrier Classic Traveller Globe Night Blue
The new Classic Traveller Globe Night Blue is a celebratory release for Laurent Ferrier’s 15th anniversary. For those unfamiliar with prior models, it’s a new version of 2016’s Galet Traveller Globe Night Blue. As we’ll see, this watch uses different Métiers d’Art to create the exquisite dial. For starters, the watch has a 41mm by 49mm case crafted from 18K 210 Pd white gold. Ferrier calls out the palladium content to differentiate it from the typical nickel alloy. Palladium yields a brighter and more durable composition.
Other details worth noting are a 12.64mm thickness and a domed sapphire crystal. Laurent Ferrier intends for the watch to travel and rates the water resistance at 30 meters. A gray nubuck leather strap with Alcantara lining and pin or folding buckle is standard.
We’re here for the dial!
The original 2016 Globe Night Blue featured an engraved globe made from translucent blue enamel with sprinkles of gold glitter. For 2025, a different Métier d’Art was chosen. Instead of engraving, Laurent Ferrier chose painting and used opaque blue enamel with gold highlights. Incidentally, the gold represents bright city lights as seen from space.
Normally, an enameling process is challenging enough, but the Classic Traveller Globe Night Blue raises the stakes. The dial’s center is convex to replicate the earth’s curvature. This means the champlevé enameling must be completed on a non-flat surface — a difficult task! The process undergoes five firing stages before completion, each introducing an opportunity for irreversible failure. A brushed gray hour ring is adorned with 18K white gold indexes that match the Assegai-shaped hands.
Functionality
Functionally, the Classic Traveller Globe Night Blue remains unchanged from its stablemates. The watch uses the in-house automatic LF230.02 with an 18K gold micro-rotor, a 21,600vph frequency, and a 72-hour power reserve. It also has a natural escapement with double direct impulse on the balance, a characteristic that supports the robust power reserve. Of course, the movement receives beautiful finishing, including Geneva stripes and anglage. Functionally, the watch features a home-time window on the dial’s left side. Two pushers on the left adjust the central hour hand forward or backward by one hour to show the local time. A date indicator on the right changes automatically.
The Classic Traveller Globe Night Blue — a fitting anniversary piece
Despite the lengthy list of details adorning the Classic Traveller Globe Night Blue, this is a remarkably clean and composed watch. The tones are modern, yet the watch uses traditional finishing techniques. When comparing this watch to the 2016 edition, the latest Classic Traveller is a great example of how a brand should evolve a classic design. The only challenge, as always with a Laurent Ferrier, is the price. At CHF 90,000 (excluding taxes), this watch will be for a select few, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying it from afar.
