What are British brand Farer best known for? There are actually several answers I would accept. Their striking use of colour, awesome GMT watches or their popular monopusher chronographs are all valid – all of which they’ve combined together to create what could be described as the ‘most Farer’ watches they’ve ever produced. We’re talking about the new Farer Monopusher GMT, available in both Cobb and Segrave editions.
If you have a good memory, you might recognise the names Cobb and Segrave from Farer’s 2021 collection. The Segrave was a dark monopusher chronograph with a big eye display and the Cobb was a blue and yellow monopusher with a pulsometer scale. Their new incarnations follow the same colour schemes but feature completely reimagined dials.
Starting with the Cobb Monopusher GMT, it has a sky blue dial with sunray brushing accented by white subdials at 9 and 12 o’clock with a yellow sector on the 30-minute timer at 12. Previously, on the pulsometer version, the Cobb had a symmetrical bi-compax display with the date at 6 o’clock which is a more traditional arrangement. However, the new display feels off-kilter and quirky in a very British fashion.
The Segrave by comparison is more traditional and serious. It has a black, grained dial with a vertical bicompax display featuring the small seconds at 6 and the 30-minute timer at 12. The more symmetric layout feels a lot more reserved than the Cobb, although there’s still at least a sense of fun through the bright colours of the chronograph seconds, small seconds and 24-hour GMT hands.
While we’re dwelling on the differing style of the two watches, the peripheral 24-hour scales are also different. The Cobb has a white background with numerals in dark blue for the day, red for the night and light blue for the twilight hours. Then the Segrave has black or white numerals with an inverse background in, once again, a more traditional day/night display. A GMT scale works in conjunction with the GMT hand to tell the time in a second time zone, making the watches ideal for those who frequently travel across time zones, hence the GMT’s associate with pilots.
Despite all these differences, the two watches share the same case design. It measures 41mm in diameter with a 14.5mm thickness including the sapphire crystal. In terms of shape, the sweeping arc of the case from lug to lug means that this is technically a tonneau wristwatch, despite the strong circular design of the dial and bezel. The flanks of the case are further embellished by the hobnail pattern across both sides that draws attention to the barrel-like curve.
The casebacks of both watches reveal exhibition windows that showcase the movements housed inside. They each house a different movement due to the different placement of the subdials and resulting adjustments to the mechanisms and number of jewels.
On a practical level, the Cobb and Segrave are more or less identical with the same 62-hour power reserve with manual winding and the same suite of functions. Getting into specifics, the Cobb uses the unusual Sellita SW530 M MP with 25 jewels and the Segrave uses the Sellita SW536 M MP with 29 jewels.
Normally at this point in an article I’d summarise the watches and pick a personal favourite but there are so many subtle differences and small details that describing them succinctly feels impossible. Initially I preferred the Segrave because the bicompax display feels safe and trusted, but I do also like the colours of the Cobb more. It’s a tough decision. Particularly because at a price of £1,995 you’re unlikely to buy both.
Price and Specs:
Blue (Cobb)
Sellita calibre SW530 M MP a, manual winding, 25 jewels (Cobb)
More details at Farer.
