Independents to Watch: Furlan Marri
Amid the noise and fervor surrounding up-and-coming independents, Furlan Marri has quickly skyrocketed to captivate the world’s attention.
“All beautiful things are made by those who strive to make something useful.” — Oscar Wilde
Over the past three years, the world has been mesmerized by the meteoric rise of Furlan Marri, one of the most sizzling microbrands today.
Let’s face it — the growth in popularity of watches over the past, let’s say thirty years, has changed collecting watches from a fringe activity for people with deep pockets to a mainstream hobby. The rise in popularity has allowed for a flurry of young upstart brands to take on the big watch houses, or at least find their niche and survive.
The advent of microbrands has opened up the world of accessible timepieces that have true horological merit to a new generation. The likes of Baltic, Unimatic, AnOrdain, Ming, and especially Furlan Marri have taken down the barrier to luxury timepieces. What these “new” companies lack in history they make up for in design and integrity.
I once heard this situation described as a David and Goliath battle. However, this isn’t about the little guy taking on the major Swiss watch houses. This is about the freedom, creativity, and risks the smaller brands can take to evolve watchmaking for a new generation.
The smaller brands may never sell like Patek or have waiting lists like Dufour but they should be respected for what they are and not compared to what they are not.
Occasionally, a young luminary surfaces in the watch industry destined to play a pivotal role in the future. For me, that luminary is Andrea Furlan. With the influx of these brands gaining traction on social media, Furlan Marri has quickly emerged as the darling of the show.
The enchanting tale unfolds (but does not begin) during the pandemic, when Andrea Furlan and Hamad Al Marri birthed their brand via Zoom, transforming it into a resounding critical and commercial triumph.
Shortly after their launch they clinched the Horological Revelation Award at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) for their Mr. Grey ref. 1041-A, etching their narrative into the annals of contemporary watch mythology. To put this achievement into perspective, this is the equivalent of a rookie QB winning the MVP. It is unheard of.
The Founders
To fully understand this brand and appreciate what they are bringing to the table it is important to know their founders.
Andrea Furlan, a Swiss industrial designer and graduate of ECAL (Ecole Cantonale d’Art de Lausanne, Switzerland), harbored a deep passion for the world of watchmaking from an early age. His professional journey includes several years of work with prestigious brands, including internships at Chopard, Hublot, Sarcar, and HD3 Complication.
Notably, he worked with Dominique Renaud, the founder of Renaud & Papi, a prominent manufacturer involved in developing movements with complications for renowned brands like Audemars Piguet, Richard Mille, and Cartier. When Renaud left his aforementioned company they worked together in the design of a complex timepiece named DR01 Twelve First. Referring to this watch, Wei Koh of Revolution stated, “Dominique Renaud’s DR01, [is] a watch so baffling that only Jack Forster, Suzanne Wong and let’s hope Dominique Renaud understand it.”
After four years, Andrea ventured to Asia and California, serving as a watch design consultant for major groups engaged in mass production and online distribution. Through various travels, he forged connections with discerning partners who have been instrumental in supporting his projects since November 2019.
Partner and Co-Founder Hamad Al Marri, a watch collector and artist from the Middle East, pursued business management studies in Australia. His lifelong fascination with auction houses and the captivating stories watches could tell fueled his passion for independent watchmakers and watch finishing. Hamad’s expertise and insights contribute to shaping the vision of the brand and influencing future collections.
Rewinding the clock on Furlan Marri.
Despite only being around for 3 years, their story goes back even further.
Roughly fifteen years ago, Andrea’s grandfather bequeathed him a watchmaker’s cabinet filled with vintage tools, pocket watch components, and letters from suppliers in the “Vallée de Joux” and “Le Brassus.” This inheritance sparked Andrea’s curiosity for vintage products and watch aesthetics, emphasizing the importance of stories behind timepieces. The sentimental value of his grandfather’s watch, with its accompanying narrative, left a lasting impression on Andrea.
Furlan Marri is a heartfelt tribute to their family members who have fueled their passion over the years. The brand aspires to create experiences, share stories, produce timeless designs of the highest quality, and perpetuate these narratives for future generations.
For Andrea, the appreciation of watches extends beyond mere timekeeping; it’s about unraveling the hidden stories behind each piece, whether it’s a diving watch, a relic from World War II, or one worn by a famous actor. Furlan Marri seeks to offer a daily reminder of the individuals and experiences that have shaped their journey. Their commitment is reflected in a dedication to meticulous detailing, and by primarily adopting direct distribution to customers, they prioritize enhancing the product’s value.
Accessibility remains a core principle for Furlan Marri, as the brand actively engages with customers through social networks. Daily interactions with customers allow them to gauge sentiments and preferences, making customers integral participants in the brand’s development process. Additionally, maintaining continuous communication with collectors and customers worldwide enables Furlan Marri to showcase prototypes before product launches, fostering a sense of collaboration and community.
In an article on Revolution Marri explains, “We understand that we have no history. As a collector, I have too much respect for haute horlogerie to want to create a brand that competes at this price level. Together with Andrea, we wanted to make something accessible, fun, that you could wear without thinking about it too much, but at the same time [to expose] a new generation to some of the most wonderful designs in watchmaking history. I would like Furlan Marri to be a kind of bridge that connects the next generation with the incredible story of Swiss watchmaking. But the only way to do that is to make watches the next generation can afford.”
Andrea epitomizes the modern watch entrepreneur—a blend of profound humility, understated confidence, and relentless hard work. Despite his status as one of the industry’s brilliant designers, he remains almost shy about his success. The watches, initially priced in the few-hundred-dollar range, have transcended their category, becoming favored accessories for even the most discerning collectors worldwide. Furlan Marri’s inaugural offerings, including the award-winning “Mr Grey,” “Laccato Nero,” and “Tasti Tondi,” charmed enthusiasts universally.
The design ethos explained.
“Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.” — Oscar Wilde
Furlan Marri’s designs have been praised by experts worldwide and the inspiration from which they derived their final products does an incredible job at toeing the line of truly original yet also familiar.
Despite now having a line of mechanical watches, the first run of Furlan Marri’s were all mecha-quartz. This type of movement is a long lost relic of the Swiss watch industry. It was created by Frédéric Piguet and Jaeger-LeCoultre in the 1980s and is essentially what the name describes; mechanical components powered by a battery. In an interview with Time and Tide watches Andrea noted, “It’s important to remember that even big brands had quartz movement.”
Opting for mecha-quartz, specifically the Seiko VK64 also provided an avenue to maintain affordability. However, Andrea emphasized that the brand’s dedication to accessible pricing would not undermine the product’s quality. He articulates, “Our motto is: ‘crafted with care and designed for detail.’ We invest significantly in the product, including aspects that may go unnoticed, such as inside the case and caseback.”
But inspiration did not stop at the movement but continued to every detail of their watches from the case to the pushers to the dial.
When living in Geneva, Andrea lived next to famed casemaker Francois Borgel, who played a massive role in Andrea’s case design.
Borgel gained fame for his innovative impermeable watch cases, notably those with a one-piece screw design eliminating back seams. As the preference shifted from pocket to wristwatches in the early 20th century, Borgel’s screw cases faced challenges with slimmer timepieces.
Following François Borgel’s death in 1912, his company was sold to the Taubert family in Le Locle. During this period, the iconic Borgel case emerged, featuring a unique decagonal caseback screwed into the mid-case, cork gaskets for the crown, and distinctive sunray-finished oversized pushers on chronograph versions.
This case became famous in horology, housing the renowned Patek Philippe ref. 1463 or “Tasti Tondi”. For Andrea Furlan, this Borgel case serves as the inspiration for Furlan Marri’s inaugural collection of timepieces, embodying an iconic design in horological history.
Moving on to the dial, which shows a clear inspiration from the Patek Philippe ref. 1463 except for the font, which Furlan and Marri found inspiration elsewhere. They selected two fonts, Decimal by Hoefler & Co and Henderson by the Argentine firm Sudtipos. The attention to detail did not stop there and went on to include flame-blued hands, central hands shaped to match the crystal contour, engraved pushers, and the distinctive decagonal caseback.
Furlan Marri now has a glorious catalog of mecha-quartz, mechanical, and collaboration watches. Building off the momentum and popularity of their first mechanical line of time only sector dial watches, they shocked the world with the release of a secular perpetual calendar in collaboration with Dominique Renaud and Julien Tixier created for Only Watch.
As the story goes, Renaud and Tixier were already working on a perpetual calendar for Furlan Marri. “But then Julien and Dominique came to me and said ‘we have a surprise for you.'” They came with the idea to put a secular calendar module on top of the perpetual calendar module, and asked “why not?” recalls Furlan during an interview with Hodinkee.
A secular perpetual calendar is a sophisticated variation of the standard perpetual calendar, designed to address the nuances of leap years in the Gregorian calendar. While a typical perpetual calendar accurately tracks the day, date, and month, including leap years, the Gregorian calendar’s omission of three leap years every four centuries presents a challenge.
Centuries not divisible by 400 do not have leap years, leading to discrepancies in standard perpetual calendars. Master watchmakers, such as Patek Philippe, Svend Andersen, and Franck Muller, have ventured into crafting the more intricate secular perpetual calendar.
Secular perpetual calendars in watchmaking are exceptionally uncommon, mainly due to the complex challenge of overriding the month program wheel with varying notches corresponding to each month’s length over a 100-year cycle.
Furlan Marri made their name by creating affordable, vintage inspired mecha-quartz watches. The fact that within four years they went on to create one of the most sophisticated perpetual calendars to be produced in recent memory is unheard of and a feat that merits affirmation and praise. This is like a twelve-year-old painting the Sistine Chapel.
Most recently, they partnered with famed collector, historian, and author Auro Montanari and Revolution captivated the watch world’s attention with their 3 piece lineup of Flyback Chronographs. The trio paired up a few years back during Geneva Watch days when Wei Koh sought out Andrea in IceBergues, a public space rented out to small or independent brands during the major fairs.
And in a spur-of-the-moment stroke of genius asked the young watchmaker one question, “Andrea, would you like to meet Auro Montanari?”
As Wei tells the story, By 2021, Andrea Furlan was well acquainted with Auro Montanari’s esteemed reputation as an educator, unrivaled collector, and influential figure in the watchmaking industry. Upon their introduction, Andrea, acknowledging Montanari’s stature, politely asked him to take a seat. Auro, responding with his characteristic elegance, smiled and said, “I like what you do. I bought two of your watches.” This simple exchange sparked a genuine and profound friendship between them.
At that moment, inspired by the connection forming before them, Wei proposed an idea: “Gentlemen, would you be open to a collaborative project? What if we could bring forth Furlan Marri’s inaugural fully mechanical chronographs through this partnership?”
The distinctive Furlan Marri Flyback Chronographs introduce a completely new case design tailored explicitly for this project. Departing from the stepped bezels of the previous mecha-quartz Furlan Marri chronos, these timepieces showcase a highly polished, strikingly concave bezel. The bezel’s form finds resonance in the gracefully sweeping compound curve of the lugs that cascade dramatically toward the wrist.
Montanari played a pivotal role in designing the sleek, curvilinear olive-shaped chronograph pushers, a unique touch drawing inspiration from vintage styles popularized by brands like Breitling and Omega in the 1930s.
The Revolution exclusive two-tone salmon dial watch departs from the olive-shaped pushers, featuring the beloved Tasti Tondi pushers as a tribute to Furlan Marri’s initial Instagram post that captivated enthusiasts. The three distinct models boast varied dials, including the aforementioned two-tone salmon and black dial, an eye-catching blue dial with gold-colored text and olive-shaped pushers, and a discreetly elegant taupe dial version with olive-shaped pushers.
The significant innovation lies in the watches’ engine bay. Departing from the Seiko VK64 mecha-quartz movement and enclosed caseback, the new watches house a Sellita manual wind, column wheel-activated flyback chronograph movement, specifically the caliber AMT5100 measuring 30mm by 7mm in thickness. Andrea went to Sellita, who were already developing a manual chronograph movement in the classic-sized watch which they desired.
The final dimensions of the watch are 38mm in diameter (46mm lug to lug) by 13.2mm in thickness, inclusive of a domed sapphire crystal on the front and a sapphire display caseback. Opting for Sellita’s highest level of finishing, the movement features a signature rose gold-plated finish and a blued column wheel.
Furlan Marri has continued to evolve and amaze even the most ardent skeptics. The continued drive to honor horological history while pioneering innovation and accessibility has become the foundation for bridging the gap between the old guard and the new in the watch world. They have become without a doubt THE new independent brand to watch.