Hands-On: The Retro Furlan Marri Disco Volante
For some reason, Furlan Marri caught fire with its first release in 2021. That watch, a meca-quartz Patek 1463 homage for a few hundred bucks, seemed to be just what many enthusiasts wanted during those frothy pandemic years. At the time, I was a simple enthusiast sitting in Chicago and even had a healthy bit of skepticism about this new Furlan Marri brand – after all, why on Earth would a meca-quartz homage that costs 300 bucks resell for like $1,000?
Not that any of this was Furlan Marri’s fault. As we now know, it was the product of a confluence of things that we need not repeat again here, except to say that I don’t think it’ll happen again soon, though these last few crazy weeks might portend otherwise.
In the three years since that first release, Furlan Marri has come into its own. While still nominally an homage brand, its more recent releases have evolved from 1:1 interpretations of classics to modern takes on vintage favorites.
Furlan Marri’s latest release, the Disco Volante – “flying saucer” in Italian – plays on 20th century watches dating back to the Art Deco era that you can find in catalogs from Omega, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Vacheron, and others. Perhaps the most notable Disco Volante was Audemars Piguet’s ref. 5093, which I coincidentally (I swear!) just wrote about last week. While my hands-on time with that vintage AP was purely coincidental and not some plot by the Disco Volante Complex (at least I don’t think), it did provide a helpful reference when thinking about Furlan Marri’s modern take on the flying saucer. The Furlan Marri Disco Volante is a well-executed, modern take on the old-school idea.
The Furlan Marri Disco Volante is larger than most vintage interpretations, measuring 38mm in diameter and 8.95mm thick (I love when brands will round to hundredths to make sure we know it’s under 9mm, but I confirmed the dimensions with my calipers). The lugs are hidden under the overhanging bezel and measure 32mm lug-to-lug, though I’m not sure L2L matters on a watch like this.
Havana (above); Verde (below, left), and Celeste (below, right)
The Disco Volante comes in three colors: Havana (salmon/brown), Celeste (blue/white), and Verde (green/cream). The sector-style dial has four parts with applied markers at the quarter hour, interrupted by the small seconds at 6 o’clock. The outer tracks have a metallic brushed finish, while the center of the dial is matte. The hands are polished and elegant, and might be a touch short, though the dial is already a bit busy and might look cluttered with longer hands.
Discos Havana and Verde use Old Radium SuperLumiNova to match their old-school vibe, while the blue Celeste uses extra-powerful white BGW9. You don’t notice until you dim the lights, but in addition to filling the hands, lume lines each of the dial’s tracks. It’s a cool effect and probably the biggest modern take on a classic detail of the Disco Volante.
The stainless-steel case has a multi-stepped bezel, and the lugs are tucked underneath, invisible when looking at the watch from above. The crown is hidden inside the bezel – good for symmetry but bad for functionality, making it a bit of a hassle to wind. Each model comes with two straps that have curved lugs to fit flush against the case, all with quick-release spring bars. This strap integrates nicely with the case, their attachment completely hidden and the strap seemingly appearing out of nowhere from below.
Visible through the caseback is Furlan Marri’s take on the manual wind Peseux 7001. It’s a pretty standard movement, but the brand has reworked the bridges and added some handsome finishing, including Geneva stripes, black-polished screws, and hand-polished bevels. The Peseux 7001 measures 2.5mm and has a 42-hour power reserve, beating at 3 Hertz. Furlan Marri’s motto “Crafted with Care / Designed for Details” adorns the case band and is a little corny but otherwise unobtrusive.
The lugs are hidden under the wide bezel.
In part, the stronger lume on the blue Celeste makes it my favorite of the trio. Taken together, the Celeste is the most modern of the three. While the Disco Volante is a play on its vintage predecessors, it’s this modern take that feels most in line with the original ethos of the Disco Volante – forward looking and a bit daring. The other two colors lean more heavily into their classic inspiration.
I thought the Disco Volante might wear more like a curiosity or novelty than it does. After all, it’s still a round watch, just one without visible lugs. In that way, it’s at least a familiar experience. The case is thin and the lugs are designed to make sure the strap curves around the wrist. It’s not really a fair comparison to that vintage AP Disco Volante. That watch is 50 years old, gold, half as thick, and has a strap (impractically) screwed directly into its case.
It wears just about right on my 6.3-inch wrist:
As you can see, the hidden lugs prop up the thin case just a bit on my 6.3-in. wrist. It can handle wrists a bit larger than my 6.3-in. wrist, but at some point I’m sure it’ll start to look more like a quarter than a flying saucer.
The Furlan Marri Disco Volante costs $2,780 and joins the brand’s permanent collection, available for pre-order now on its site. It’s a step up in pricing for Furlan Marri, comparable in price to Furlan Marri’s latest chronograph and nearly 2x the Sector. But if you want a disco volante, you’ve now got exactly one modern option.
Beyond that, the fit and finish of the Disco Volante seem to live up to the price increase. While the Peseux 7001 is a common movement, Furlan Marri’s take on it is not, and it seems to be building to even more exciting things inside its watches with the redesign and finishing flourishes here. For example, I’m excited to see what comes of the innovative perpetual calendar mechanism seen in its Only Watch.
Havana, Celeste, and Verde.
While Furlan Marri launched as a brand making strict homages, it’s used its initial excitement to build something more. Its last few releases have taken vintage cues, but remixed them in ways that are distinctly Furlan Marri.
The Furlan Marri Disco Volante has a stepped stainless steel case measuring 38 x 8.95mm. Available in three colors: Havana (salmon/brown), Celeste (blue/white), and Verde (green/cream). The Disco Volante uses the manual-wind Peseux 7001 customized by Furlan Marri, including redesigned bridges hand-finished edges, and hand-beveling in Geneva. Delivered on two leather straps with curved spring bars. Price: $2,780 (pre-order).
Hodinkee
