Hands-On With the Laurent Ferrier Classic Traveller Globe Night Blue

At this point, it’s tradition. For the past three Watches and Wonders, we’ve had the privilege of meeting with Laurent Ferrier—and every year, we leave wide-eyed, smiling. The watches speak for themselves, but it’s the chance to actually handle them, to see and feel the details up close, that leaves the strongest impression. This year, that experience came courtesy of the Classic Traveller Globe Night Blue.

The watch debuted back in February, so we already had a general sense of what we were walking into. But you can’t appreciate a hand-painted enamel dial like this in press images. You just can’t.

An Enamel Masterpiece That Pulls You In

This dial isn’t just beautiful—it’s an accurate world map. The champlevé enamel center depicts the Earth’s continents and oceans at night, with hand-painted gold specks marking where city lights would be visible from space. The more densely populated the area, the more light you see. It’s the kind of dial you can stare at for hours—and probably will if you get the chance.

Of course, making a dial like this is no small feat. Because it’s enamel, it has to be fired in a kiln at extremely high temperatures. And with this level of intricacy, there’s almost zero margin for error. According to the brand, the dial goes through five separate stages of firing before it reaches its final form.

It’s a work of art. But thanks to the brushed metal ring surrounding that convex center—housing applied indices and chamfered apertures at 3 and 9 o’clock—it’s still highly legible. You can wear this and check two time zones at a glance. You can also admire it with a loupe for ten minutes straight. We did both.

Practical Dual Time, Executed Beautifully

The layout is straightforward: local time is displayed via central hands, and home time is shown on a 24-hour disc at 9 o’clock. Pushers on the left side of the case allow the local hour hand to jump forward or backward in one-hour increments, with the date display at 3 o’clock advancing or reversing automatically.

It’s intuitive, it’s user-friendly, and the pusher action deserves a special mention—it’s among the most confident, tactile click mechanisms I’ve ever felt on a wristwatch. Zero mush. You press the button, it feels like a mini gunshot, and the hand jumps. It’s everything you want from a travel complication.

There’s also no ambiguity between the time zones. One is analog, one is digital. You always know what you’re looking at, and you can adjust on the fly without fiddling with the crown.

A Movement That Rivals the Dial

Flip the watch over, and the in-house caliber LF230.02 is on full display. Like any Laurent Ferrier movement, this one's architecture is beautifully proportioned, with every component feeling like it has room to breathe. The solid gold guilloché micro-rotor is particularly eye-catching, supported by a vertical bridge on the right-hand side. That rotor spins above a plate of circular perlage, while the main bridges—taking up most of the visual real estate—are finished with Côtes de Genève.

Everything here is beautifully executed. The angles are hand-beveled, the decoration is consistent, and the finishing holds up under magnification. It’s a level of handwork that justifies the price—and the time spent ogling under a loupe.

Wearable, Practical Haute Horlogerie

For all the technical firepower on display, this is still a highly wearable watch. At 41mm in diameter and 12.64mm thick, the white gold case fits comfortably on the wrist—in this case, my 6.75" wrist—with no sense of bulk or top-heaviness. The case is mostly polished with ridged oblong pushers, and that signature LF onion crown gives it a slightly classical lean without compromising functionality.

It comes on a hand-stitched grey nubuck strap that’s soft, flexible, and perfectly suited to the dial. The deep blues and golds of the enamel really pop against the neutral tones of the strap and case. It’s a subtle configuration until you look closely—and then it’s hard to look away.

Final Thoughts

This is one of those rare watches that blends artistry, practicality, and mechanical excellence in equal measure. It’s a world-class enamel dial. It’s a dual-time travel watch with one of the best pusher systems we’ve used. It’s a high-end movement with thoughtful finishing that deserves the display caseback it gets.

It’s also just a great watch to wear.

That’s what makes the Classic Traveller Globe Night Blue special. It’s not trying to overwhelm you. It’s not a limited edition. It’s part of Laurent Ferrier’s ongoing collection, priced at 90,000 CHF (~$110,000 at time of publishing). It’s expensive, yes—but it delivers on every angle: form, function, and finish.

We’ve handled Laurent Ferrier pieces every year at Watches and Wonders. They never disappoint. But there’s something about this one that lingers. Maybe it’s the dial. Maybe it’s the pushers. Maybe it’s the whole thing, working exactly the way it should.