Introducing Furlan Marri Goes Back To Its Roots With The Mechaquartz 'Sabbia Rosa' And 'Ardesia Blu'

Mechaquartz is where it all started for Furlan Marri. The brand, which feels like it's been around for a lot longer than four years, caught many collectors' attention when it was founded with a Kickstarter, offering very heritage-inspired quartz versions of fan-favorite vintage chronographs. The brand has grown beyond it—far beyond, with perpetual calendars, mechanical chronographs, Discos Volante, and more—but mechaquartz chronographs make the entry point into their three-tiered approach. Now, their permanent collection has two new looks.

The new 'Sabbia Rosa' and 'Ardesia Blu' chronographs (above and below, respectively) are both Tasti Tondi-style chronographs, inspired by Patek Philippe but with a twist. First and foremost, they feature Seiko VK64 mechaquartz movements with a sweeping chronograph hand, which, combined with battery power, makes the watch both affordable and reliable. One version features a 60-minute totalizer for the chronograph, while the other includes both that and a 24-hour indicator. Next, the 38mm by 12mm case (with 50m water resistance) has the domed pushers but is in 316L stainless steel, and one case is coated in 4N rose gold PVD.

The blue dial is something Patek never (to my or anyone else's knowledge) did with a single counter, vertically and circular brushed blue dial version of the ref. 1463, which makes the Ardesia Blu (with printed Roman numerals and double-printed text) a bit more modern. The other version, the Sabbia Rosa (red sand, in English), looks far more like a vintage Patek, but with a faded two-tone rose and silver dial. Both versions feature a domed vintage-style sapphire crystal and are available with two strap options for CHF 585.

There are a few brands out there that, if I could afford one of every catalog release, I would buy them all. It's like listening to a good album—there are a lot of great ones out there, but it's rare to find an album without at least one or two songs you could stand to skip. But, for some reason, I don't own any of Furlan Marri's mechaquartz chronographs. I also generally don't feel like PVD-coated gold watches are for me (the only one I own is a Casio ABL100). But the Sabbia Rosa looks fantastic.

As long as they keep it up, I'll say it until I'm blue in the face because I really believe it: the finishing on Furlan Marri watches, especially the dials, cannot be beat at these price points. You might not like the style (though I obviously do) but between the thought they put into the watches with their little twists (like the pulsation dial on the blue version) and quality (which I really suggest you take a loupe to), it just makes me happy that in an era of price creep and diminishing quality on some brands, Furlan Marri gives a lot of bang for your Swiss Franc.

Brand: Furlan Marri
Model: 'Sabbia Rosa' And 'Ardesia Blu'

Diameter: 38mm
Thickness: 12mm
Case Material: 316L Stainless Steel ('Sabbia Rosa' with 4N Rose Gold PVD)
Dial Color: Cream & champagne tones, matte finish, double-printed text (rose), Deep blue tones, matte & glossy finish, circular & vertical brushed, double-printed text (steel)
Indexes: Raised and applied Roman numeral style indexes. Highly polished steel with gold PVD coating. Curved and domed hands (rose); Stamped Roman numerals style indexes. Curved and domed hands (steel)
Lume: None
Water Resistance: 50m
Strap/Bracelet: One in brown with matching color stitches and one in cream with matching color stitches. Pin buckle with PVD coating (rose); One in dark velvet blue with matching color stitches and one in baby blue with matching color stitches (steel)

Caliber: Seiko VK64
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, chronograph with 60-minute counter (steel) and 24-hour indicator (gold)
Power Reserve: Battery-powered
Winding: Quartz
Additional Details: Scratch-resistant sapphire crystal with five layers of anti-reflective coating and one fingerprint-resistant coating

Price: CHF 585
Availability: Now
Limited Edition: No

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