Over the past four and a half years since surging onto the market in 2020 like a horological tsunami, Furlan Marri has been an unstoppable force of affordable watchmaking. Establishing themselves with affordable mecha-quartz chronographs with classic, mid-century design language and elegant detailing, they have since expanded to finely finished mechanical movements as well. Now, another classic design is joining their collection – the Disco Volante.

Typified by their diminutive yet distinct disc-like design, Disco Volante-style watches were made throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s (though examples can be found dating back to as early as the 1930s) by many of the grand Swiss watchmaking houses – Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, Patek Phillippe, & Jaeger LeCoultre, to name but a few. While there are certainly outliers, the vast majority of these watches were simple, time only dress watches, typically with smaller 30-34 mm case sizes with guilloche or similar textural detailing around the case.

Disco volante, meaning “flying saucer” in Italian, refers to a style of watches (and a few cars) typified by the mid-century, sci-fi obsession that informed so much of what we now consider the retro-futurist aesthetic. But rather than simply retreading these charming, yet clearly dated designs in a disingenuous attempt at homage, Furlan Marri has taken the basic idea of the Disco Volante and reinterpreted it through the lens of contemporary design and trends.

Sitting at a comfortable and broadly appealing 38mm and a svelte 8.95mm thick, the rounded and stepped case has a dimensionality (or should we say interdimensionality??) befitting its UFO namesake. But that is not where the design details begin and end. The two toned, sectional dials, which feature a 60 minute outer track, are divided by a luminous channel of sorts. Super Luminova, which also graces the hour and minute hands, is color matched to the specific dial variation. The result is an incredibly dynamic dial, which takes on a distinctly different personality depending on the lighting circumstances in which it is viewed.

Contributing to the watches thinness and elegance is the ETA/Peseux calibre 7001 manual winding movement. This simple, reliable, and most importantly thin, manual winding movement  has been found in understated dress and minimalist timepieces dating back to the early 1970s. But, never ones to simply coopt off-the-shelf components, Furlan Mari has taken the extra step to finish the movement with multiple techniques of traditional Swiss fair: Côtes de Genève, anglage, and black polishing.

Such hand applied finishing work, often found on timepieces costing well into the 5 figures, is impressive under normal circumstances. But to see such detail on a watch that costs less than $3,000 USD? Well, that’s simply out of this world… you know, because it’s a flying saucer… Disco Volante… anyway, you get it.

Tech Specs

Movement: ETA/Peseux Calibre 7001 manual winding movement, 42 hour power reserve
Functions: Hours, Minutes, small seconds subdial
Case: 38mm stainless steel case, flush crown, sapphire crystal caseback
Dial: 3 color variations, Havana Disco, Disco Celeste, & Disco Verde, with color matched Super LumiNova, printed and applied minute and hour markers
Strap: Each watch comes with 2 vegetable tan leather straps
Price: USD 2,780

For more information, visit Furlan Marri’s website