Farer Brings Back the Stratton With a Laser-Etched Moon and an Iron-Veined Stone Dial

Farer’s Moonphase collection, launched in 2023, pairs stone dials with an unusually large moon display, and the Stratton has been its most popular model. And when Farer has a watch sold out, you can bet they'll bring it back soon, likely with major improvements. Now, the Stratton is back in gold, with a new moon disc made in Switzerland by AJS Production. AJS uses lasers to etch through layers of paint and Super-LumiNova, and the result is a detailed lunar surface under 6mm across that also glows. I can’t think of a better moonphase disc at this price.

The case is 39mm wide and 11.8mm thick including the crystal, with a lug-to-lug of 45mm. It’s made out of 316L steel with a gold PVD coating, the first gold-toned watch in Farer’s moonphase line. Most surfaces are polished, with a brushed chamfer on the bezel and a twisted grain texture on the flanks. The crown is steel with a bronze cap stamped with Farer’s arrow “A”. There’s a curved sapphire crystal on the front, anti-reflective coated on the inside, and a sapphire caseback. Water resistance is 50 meters.

The dial is cut from black Eisenkiesel, a quartz whose German name means “iron pebble”, with golden-brown iron veins running through it. No two dials will look the same, which is always cool. The applied markers mix batons and numerals in Lumicast, Farer’s ceramic blended with lume, so they glow well. Polished gold lance hands carry lume too, and the seconds hand ends in a small gold “A”. A white minute track runs around the edge, and the date sits at six o'clock. The stone suits the gold case, and the veining keeps the black from feeling flat.

Inside is the Sellita SW288-1 M a in Elaboré grade, manually wound, running at 4Hz, with 45 hours of power reserve and 18 jewels. It’s regulated in three positions, has Incabloc shock protection, hacking seconds and a quickset date. Farer decorates it properly: its arrow pattern engraved on the bridges, blued screws and perlage, all visible through the caseback. Manual winding fits this kind of watch, and 45 hours is enough if you wind it every morning. Farer is also very well known for having a whole bunch of strap options, and this is no exception.