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It feels like Furlan Marri has been around longer than four years, doesn’t it? Their trajectory from “Kickstarter brand” to one of the most consistently interesting small indies/micros/whatever has been fascinating to watch simply because it doesn’t correlate at all with the typical growth of a watch brand, regardless of the size. They are doing interesting things that are purely design driven (like the Disco Volante I reviewed last year) but are also pushing the envelope when it comes to mechanical watchmaking. They have fully transcended, in my opinion, all of the baggage that comes with launching on Kickstarter, to the point that we don’t even think about how it all started unless we’re intentionally meant to look back, which is part and parcel with an anniversary watch release like this one.
To celebrate four years, Furlan Marri has unveiled the Red Hunter, a watch meant to pay tribute to classic hunter-case pocket watches and officer-style wrist watches. This is the brand’s first watch to measure 36mm in diameter, which I guess is a little surprising considering the vintage inspiration that runs through all of Furlan Marri’s designs, and the conventional wisdom that 36mm is perhaps the most classic, universal watch diameter. In any event, the size makes a lot of sense here when taken together with all the other little vintage inspired details.
Let’s start with the dial, which is a new design from Furlan Marri. It’s a black lacquer with a subtle step on the perimeter where you’ll find a minute track. The interior is marked with applied Roman numerals at the cardinal positions, which when you examine closely reveal a slight curve that matches the domed hands. Small “stud” markers dot the remaining hours, adding additional visual interest and another vintage inspired touchpoint.
The Red Hunter’s party trick is the caseback, which can be opened hunter-style via a notch in the side of the case. Historically, so-called hunter cases provided protection to delicate pocket watch crystals for hunters, equestrians, and military officers. It’s a design detail that has been somewhat lost to time as modern manufacturing simply makes them far less necessary. While there isn’t a ton of utility in a hunter case these days, it does present an opportunity for a brand to call attention to something special, like an anniversary, as it provides a fresh surface to be engraved. That’s what Furlan Marri has done here – when you open the caseback you’ll be greeted with an engraving that calls attention to the brand’s four year anniversary.
The hunter case also gives the owner a view of the movement, a La Joux-Perret G100 with a 68 hour power reserve. This is the same caliber that Furlan Marri used in their Corne de Vaches collection, but here a new custom rotor has been added with a rose gold plating. According to Furlan Marri, the caliber has been regulated to +/-7 seconds per day, and it also features several high end touches like blued screws and Geneva stripes.
Another first for Furlan Marri is a new steel bracelet available on this watch for the first time. It’s a five-link design with three narrow interior links and two broad links on either side, and suits the general vibe of this watch quite nicely. The Red Hunter also includes two straps, one in black leather with red stitching, and the other in cream.
I’ll be curious to see whether the Red Hunter is a one-off or the beginning of a new line of some sort for Furlan Marri. The way that it leans into some of the ideas that have defined the brand to this point without actually replicating any other watch they’ve released is actually quite impressive, and I think makes this particular watch well suited to being a one-and-done collectible for the brand’s longtime supporters (well, relatively speaking – we’re just talking about four years after all). To that point, the Red Hunter, with its small diameter and unusual hunter case, feels very much like a niche product that will excite existing Furlan Marri owners in particular.
The retail price on the Red Hunter is $1,830, and it’s available to order via the Furlan Marri website beginning today, with the order window closing on May 4. Furlan Marri
