Laurent Ferrier LCF044 Grand Sport Tourbillon "Pursuit" Titanium Review

There is an extreme level of confidence required to build a six-figure tourbillon and then refuse to show it to anyone looking at the dial. Laurent Ferrier’s Grand Sport Tourbillon “Pursuit” LCF044 hides its main attraction on the caseback. What’s the opposite of peacocking? Because that’s what this is, and that is damn cool. 

This sneaky approach feels fitting for Laurent Ferrier. Before establishing his own manufacture, Ferrier spent 35 years at Patek Philippe, and that experience shows in obsessive execution rather than in obvious old-world extravagance. The 44mm Grand Sport is not a small watch, but the Grade 5 titanium case is shaped and polished with an elegance that softens its substantial dimensions.

The salmon dial also carries more meaning than it appears at first glance. Ferrier was an accomplished endurance racer, finishing third overall at the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Porsche 935. The warm orange-pink dial is inspired by the light of dawn seen while charging down the Mulsanne Straight. This inspiration may seem a bit lofty or esoteric, but it’s also gorgeous, and that color is complemented by white-gold indices, Ferrier’s distinctive Assegai hands, and a small-seconds display…again, with a hidden tourbillon underneath. 

The hand-wound LF619.01, visible through the caseback, reveals the double-balance tourbillon. It is surrounded by finishing that separates genuine haute horlogerie from watches that may just carry a haute-horlogerie price tag. The architecture is restrained and beautifully proportioned, and the meticulous anglage gives the bridges definition and allows that tourbillon to shine. 

That is, hands down, the coolest thing about the Pursuit. Laurent Ferrier built an exceptionally finished titanium sports watch featuring one of watchmaking’s most prestigious (and expensive) complications, then made the owner turn it over to see it. It’s like a little secret that’s only for the wearer.