The 1910s and 1920s were pretty sweet in the everyday elegant horological design department. Right at the cusp of when watches were about to become too classic, before that the first and second world wars would put a halt to independent creativity in favor of standardization which wouldn’t come back until the early 1960s. It seems that these two decades defined an age of refined but not too classic timepieces, when brands allowed themselves some liberties to try out new things whilst ensuring that their watches would still look good on the wrists of everyday folks. Articulated lugs, oval cases, sector dials, it was time for gentle experimentation and some of the models that were born in that era became iconic. And this style of timekeeping devices are making a slow comeback through micro and independent brands which revere that period of watch design and wish things could come back to that eventually. 

These brands had to be patient for the latest trend to run out of steam so that we could give their ideas the attention they deserve. Enter Ferro once more, the Canadian brand we discovered a few months ago through the Time Master 70 Silver, a watch made in 2025 but which appeared to have been designed in the 1970s. A delicate and bold design work the brand has repeated recently through another vintage-inspired collection, this time drawing from art deco aesthetics from the beginning of the 20th century: the Paramount. The latter is intriguing as it combines old aesthetics with modern manufacturing techniques, a super vintage design language paired with contemporary sized case, and some of the best dial work I’ve seen in a while. It comes in three colors—Gold, Silver, and Vino—and we’re taking the latter for a spin today. It currently retails for $1,050 USD on sale with a full retail price of $1,150 USD. 

Specifications 

These days whenever we speak about modern dimensions for a watch we invariably aim at diameters between 37 to 41mm, lug-to-lug’s between 46 to 48mm, and 20mm lug widths. The “modern” dimensions were larger a decade ago and they seemed to have almost gone to much smaller starting two years ago but nah, we stuck to the aforementioned measurements for the most part. So the first point of interest with the Ferro Paramount is how the brand decided to go about adapting the art deco inspiration to the 2025 wrist by opting for a 37mm diameter case, a 46mm lug-to-lug, an 8.35mm thickness and a 20mm lug width. The sweet spot for men and women and amateurs of elegant, everyday, and comfortable watches. A brand cannot go wrong by offering these dimensions as they are indeed commonplace nowadays and aid in making any watch attractive to anyone. Paired with a German-made Italian suede strap, the Paramount wears like a dream on my 6.50”/16.5cm wrist. 

Who says modern dimensions might always say modern technology and one would be right to say so. The Paramount is equipped with a manual-wind Swiss Made Sellita SW210 caliber which beats at 4Hz and comes with 42 hours of power reserve. This movement is handsome and easy to look at through a sapphire case-back, as it is decorated with perlage and Côtes de Genève stripes and blued screws, a type of decoration which perfectly matches the classical and elegant design ethos of this model. Sapphire is also what we find on the front of the watch, a flat piece of it with inner anti-reflective coating, plus a reasonable 50 meters of water resistance thanks to a screwed-in case-back, a small recessed push/pull crown measuring 5.2mm in diameter but endowed with robust knurling to make its operation pretty easy. (One has to apply a little bit of pressure when rolling the finger on the crown to wind it which one quickly gets used to.) 

Design

Through his release, Ferro is celebrating its 10th anniversary of being around as an independent watch brand and that is cause for celebration. Most of the most popular micro/indy watch brands we know of and hear about on a daily basis haven’t been around for that long, and probably won’t be around for much longer, so having survived a decade in this saturated market is an exceptional accomplishment which deserves an exceptional celebratory release. Even though Ferro tends to create elegant watches even when dipping into the sports genre, the brand went the classic route of doing something a bit more upscale for the occasion, digging through the best of the art deco horological designs to create the Paramount—an aptly named collection as it is indeed the most important release for the brand to date. And the most striking visual feature of this model is the dial which demonstrates that it is possible to do something unusual and bold and elegant all at the same time in equal measures. 

In fact, I was drawn to the Paramount by the juxtaposition of the vino red and silver colors of the dial, the bold handset, and the absence of a few hour markers, which is not something I thought I would see myself type in a review before. At the risk of sounding egocentric, the fact that Ferro designed an elegant watch which seduced a hardcore tool watch enthusiast such as myself indicates that it is so unique and tastefully executed that many wouldn’t be able to resist its subtle vintage charm. What we are first met with is the grainy red disc which occupies almost half of the dial on which are applied the art deco numerals for the even hours. The numerals have an extremely fine matte sandy texture which is barely noticeable which helps in making them easy to read. Their texture also works invisibly really well with the coarser finish of the red disc which appears like sandpaper. In the middle, a coarsely brushed silver central section with the brand logo applied on it. 

The juxtaposition of the two sections of the dials, each coming with a different finish and each reflecting light in two different ways, create depth and gently dynamic light plays which are stunning. The handset for its part is not deprived of visual interest either, as the Dauphine-shaped hands are covered with a glossy green paint which shimmers ever so lightly, adding a third layer of visual interest to the dial. On the furthest edges of the latter we find an ultra classic railroad minute track framing everything inside of it. Ferro also worked its magic on the case—showing that ten years of watch design paying off—by marrying the thinness of the caliber with a thin case made mostly of a narrow mid-case which curves down at the lugs and a relatively tall fixed bezel which has a rounded profile. Although it will be hard to see in photos, the lugs are made extremely elegant for they are endowed with polished chamfers, difficult to see indeed as the whole case is polished. 

The Heart of the Matter

Reviewing the Ferro Paramount was eye-opening for me in two ways. First because it is simply exquisite, both in the way it was designed and put together. Second because it forced me to get outside of my comfort zone by exploring an elegant watch of classic proportions and art deco soul. I like Ferro and I was smitten with the Time Master 70 Silver as it is a thoughtfully designed watch inspired by the 1970s which came across as having indeed been designed during that time period. The Paramount is no different as it was inspired by that sweet spot of everyday elegant horological design of the beginning of the 20th century and appeared to have been imagined then. Ferro successfully distilled the visual essence of the 1910s/1920s, which it paired with a fully polished and contemporary-proportioned case, a multi-level and multi-texture dial, and good mechanics. 

The result is an elegant everyday watch through which we can travel back to the past and strike a thoughtful conversation with contemporary watch enthusiasts. A very tasteful 10th anniversary celebration indeed, bravo Ferro.

Conclusion

From a practical standpoint, and what is neat about the Canadian brand, is that the Paramount in all three colorways is readily available on the brand’s website for the price $1,050 USD on sale and $1,150 USD full retail. Most, if not all, of Ferro’s models are actually available to purchase which is rare for a micro/independent brand even for one which has been around for a decade. This to me indicates that the brand doesn’t intend to create media waves with its collections, however nice and tastefully done they are, but to make it possible for each and everyone of us to get a nice watch right now. And this matters to many of us and certainly to yours truly. 

Thanks for reading.