This Affordable Moonphase Watch Borrows a Rare Rolex Feature

Stone dials are all the rage in the watch industry right now, but after a while, they can get a bit repetitive. Turquoise, malachite, lapis lazuli and tiger’s eye are all beautiful materials, for sure, but when every brand starts using them, they get pretty boring.

Enter eisenkiesel.

Eisenkiesel, also known as iron quartz, is a black-brown quartz mineral recognized for its intricate red-gold vein patterns, caused by the presence of iron. It’s gorgeous, but no one ever thought to use the material in a watch dial until Rolex introduced it to the Day-Date in Everose Gold in 2021.

In the four years since, I believe only Formex has crafted a dial from the stone, which was available on an extremely limited (and sold-out online) version of its Essence sports watch.

But now, there is another eisenkiesel watch on the block, and it’s both affordable and readily available.

Farer

Make it vein

British independent brand Farer is bringing eisenkiesel dials to the masses with the latest addition to its lineup of cushion-cased moonphase dress watches, the Stratton.

The watch features the same compact 38.5mm x 43.8mm x 11.5mm cushion case as the rest of Farer’s Moonphase lineup — including its unique engraved hobnail-patterned case sides — but for the first time, the case sports a gold PVD treatment. Like Rolex, Farer has paired its veiny rock dial with rose gold, highlighting the stone’s naturally brown tones.

Farer

As nice as the case is, it’s obviously the dial that’s the star here, and for good reason. A 1mm-thin slab of polished eisenkiesel acts as the dial, with every example boasting its own unique veined pattern. A massive cutout from 9:00 to 3:00 exposes the oversized moonphase indicator, which features a moon with a realistic texture that’s set on a hand-painted starry-skied background.

This is the first time a Farer Moonphase model has featured a gold-colored moon, but that’s only half of the story. The gold color comes courtesy of hand-painted Super-LumiNova that glows green in low light. Farer worked with Super-LumiNova’s parent company, Tritec, to develop the golden lume specifically for this watch.

Farer

The rose gold-toned lance handset is filled with blue-emission Super-LumiNova, which matches the ethereal glow of the hour markers. Those are applied and made of Lumicast, Tritec’s own brand of solid ceramic Super-LumiNova.

The striking eisenkiesel and gold glowing moon ensure that you’ll never grow tired of looking at the Stratton’s dial, but the rear side of the watch isn’t exactly ugly. A sapphire display caseback shows off the hand-wound Sellita Cal. SW288-1 M a Elaboré Grade movement, which features some nice decoration including blued screws and a tarted-up bridge engraved with a repeating pattern of Farer’s arrowhead “A” logo.

Farer

Pricing and availability

With its rose gold PVD case, hand-painted golden moonphase display and Rolex-emulating eisenkiesel dial, the Stratton is easily the most luxurious-looking Moonphase from Farer yet, and arguably the brand’s most luxe-looking watch, period.

But thankfully, it isn’t priced like it. Available on a wide variety of suede and leather straps, the Stratton can be preordered now on Farer’s website for $2,075. That makes it the second most-expensive watch in the brand’s current catalog, but it still feels underpriced to me.

The Stratton is expected to ship to customers in mid-December.

Farer

Farer Stratton Moonphase

Specs

Case Size	38.5mm
Movement	Sellita Cal. manual-wind moonphase
Water Resistance	50m

• $2,075 at Farer

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