Arpal One is the surprising result of Laurent Ferrier teaming up with Urwerk
By James Gurney

The real surprise of the news that Laurent Ferrier and Urwerk would be collaborating on an entry into the Only Watch auction was not that the two independent makers are so different, but that they are so similar. It would have to be very dark indeed for anyone to mistake the lines of an Urwerk UR-110 with a Laurent Ferrier Galet, but under the surface both watches express craft knowledge and dedication to artisanal qualities that are virtually indistinguishable.

As the Only Watch news came with nothing more than a Urwerk-ish sketch and an image of Martin Frei, Felix Baumgartner (Urwerk?s designer and watchmaker respectively) and Laurent Ferrier looking serious, there was an expectation that the great reveal of the project would show a Ferrier movement within an Urwerk case.
Satisfyingly, that prediction turned out to be completely wrong. Arpal One uses UR5.03 movement, essentially the same satellite system as seen in the UR105 series and as beautifully finished as you should expect from Urwerk and certainly of a standard that Laurent Ferrier would be happy putting his name to. The surprise is that it was Ferrier that designed the case: drawing on his lifelong love of race cars: ?It?s a cleanly cut watch. My friends know my love of cars, a predilection expressed in this watch. This new creation is like streamlined coachwork, fluid and without any affront to the eye,? he explains.
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