The latest from Furlan Marri pays tribute to a classic watch design while adding just enough of a twist to make it feel contemporary. The new Disco Volante takes a circular, flying saucer-like case that first became popular in the 1930s as its starting point, and tweaks the formula slightly. Thinking about Furlan Marri’s previous work and the design language they’ve established, the Disco Volante makes a lot of sense in their ongoing project of updating classic Art Deco ideas, and the watch really fits into the current moment as well, which has seen shaped cases and unusual designs pulled from the past and brought up to date for new audiences.
The circular cases seen here have hidden lugs on the back side, so these sit as a perfect circle on the wrist. Cases with no visible lugs, of course, tend to wear a bit smaller, so Furlan Marri has chosen to make these Disco Volantes in 38mm as opposed to the more traditional 36mm cases found on vintage watches in this style. In theory, this should open up the Disco Volante to both men and women who are used to wearing modern watches, but seek something a little unusual and heavily vintage inspired. The integrated crown that sits flush with the case further reinforces the Disco Volante’s shape, as does the gently curved bezel.
Three dial options are available at launch: Havana Disco, Disco Celeste, and Disco Verde. The Havana Disco is perhaps the most striking of the bunch, and acts as a link to Furlan Marri’s very first collection of meca-quartz chronos, which featured a similar brown/salmon colorway. The Celeste is dominated by shades of blue and white, while the Verde, naturally, is green. All three dials share a sector layout that is core to the brand’s aesthetic. In this execution, the dials feature applied markers at 12, 3, and 9, combined with Arabic numerals at 2, 4, 8, and 10. There’s a separate outer minute track and each dial is anchored with a running seconds indicator at 6. The most contemporary touch on these dials however is certainly the lume application – the rings surrounding the hour and minute and small second indicators have been lined with lume in a shade complementary to each dial. It makes for quite the light show.
The movement powering the Disco Volante is the classic Peseux 7001. It’s a well known manually wound caliber prized for its thinness, robustness, and its ability to be easily serviced (the caliber debuted in 1971, so there are many decades of spare parts out there). The movement has been given some aesthetic upgrades by Furlan Marri, which include redesigned bridges and black polished screws.
While the movement looks nice, the reason it was chosen is largely due to its size. It’s just 2.5mm thick, which allows the Disco Volante case to be sized at just 8.95mm tall with the sapphire crystal included. WIthout the crystal, the case is just 8.1mm tall. That’s very, very thin, which is essential for a watch in this shape and style.
These three new references in the Disco Volante collection are intended to be permanent additions to the Furlan Marri catalog. A batch is planned for delivery later this year, with new pieces being manufactured on an ongoing, as needed basis. The retail price is set at $2,780. Furlan Marri
