Farer Palmer GMT Limited Edition Is ‘Almost Bauhaus’

It’s getting tricky to start an article about a new Farer watch without talking about how colourful and British they are. Fortunately, Farer are clearly cognizant of the plight of watch journalists and have given us something new to talk about with the Palmer GMT, one of their most minimalist designs to date. In their own words, it’s ‘almost Bauhaus’.

To be honest with you, I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the idea of a watch being ‘almost Bauhaus’ for a while now and the conclusion that I’ve reached is that it’s actually an incredibly accurate way of describing the watch. Individually, the elements of the watch have nothing to do with Bauhaus but they’re all adjacent to Bauhaus concepts.

Take the colour palette for example, the Palmer GMT has a white dial, a teal GMT scale and an orange minute scale. Each of those colours is a variation on the signature colours of Bauhaus, which are yellow, blue and red. It might be a stretch to call white a variation of yellow but if you make it pale enough then it will eventually become white, so it almost works – hence almost Bauhaus. The same thing can be seen in the shape language being used. The signature shapes of Bauhaus are the triangle, circle and square and the Palmer GMT is circular with baton indexes and triangular seconds and GMT hands. Again, not a perfect match but close enough that the correlation can be seen.

In terms of the watch’s structure, it has a 39.5mm diameter case made from stainless steel with a round crown featuring Farer’s logo in bronze. It’s a design you’ll be familiar with if you know the lovely Lander Midnight GMT, Which makes sense as both watches are technically part of the same collection. Although with the differences in the dials they feel more like cousins than siblings.

Under the surface is housed the SW330-2 Top Grade automatic movement. Between the Incabloc anti-shock system and the 56-hour power reserve it’s a really solid calibre and one that’s well suited to extended periods of travel, which is the GMT specialty. In fact, the watch is named after a famous historical traveller and explorer Edward Henry Palmer, who was known for his exploits in the Middle East during the late 1800s.

The Farer Palmer GMT is a limited edition of just 150 pieces, at a price of £1,225. At that price and availability, I wouldn’t be surprised if it sold out quickly. The minimalist angle is different enough from traditional Farer designs to make it interesting to existing Farer fans while also appealing to collectors who aren’t ready to take the plunge into the glorious colour wheel of Farer’s other watches. It’s a tried and tested methodology, it’s why their naturally subtle models like the Endeavour are constantly sold out.

​Oracle Time 

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