In Depth · Farer

Can Farer's Cross II Make a Teal Dial an Everyday Choice?

Farer's Cross II pairs a lacquered, textured dial with compact steel proportions. The appeal depends on whether colour and daily utility can share the same watch.

Hen & Mills Editorial · 4 min read · 24 October 2026

A vivid dial can be the easiest part of a watch to admire and the hardest part to live with. Under a shop light, almost any saturated colour has a moment; the question is whether the rest of the design gives it room to become ordinary enough for Tuesday. Farer's Cross II puts a metallic teal dial inside the familiar dimensions of its Three Hand case, then backs that colour with a practical water-resistance rating and a Swiss automatic movement. Can it be a daily watch, rather than a dial you visit only in photographs?

The texture is doing more than the colour

Farer says the Cross II develops the original Cross made for British Watchmakers' Day 2026. Its dial starts with a pressed texture, then receives several coats of paint while spinning, creating a smoky colour gradient. A clear lacquer goes over that surface and is polished. On the brand's photographs, the result looks less like a flat teal disc than a piece of rippled glass held under water, with a brighter centre and darker edge. That is an observation about the images, not a claim to have handled the watch.

There is a danger in so much surface work: the hands and markers can disappear into the finish they were meant to organise. Farer puts large Lumicast hour markers above the lacquer, while the silver pencil hands carry Grade X2 Super-LumiNova. The orange detail at the tip of the seconds hand is small, but it gives the eye somewhere else to land without turning the whole dial into a colour chart. Farer's separate luminous image suggests those big markers remain the clearest element in darkness, a sensible use of the space occupied by the numerals.

I like that the design does not attempt to make the blue-green quieter by reducing everything around it to anonymous batons. The prominent 12, 3, 6 and 9 give the dial a rhythm that can survive the finish, although they also make this a less discreet choice than a plain three-hander. The boxed sapphire crystal has an internal anti-reflective coating; Farer says it can distort the edge of the dial when viewed at an angle. That distortion may add to the pleasure of the texture, but it cannot be judged fully from a product photograph.

Sensible numbers under the bright face

The steel case measures 39 mm across, 11.8 mm thick and 45 mm from lug to lug, according to Farer. That last number matters here because the colour already gives the watch plenty of presence. A short physical span is more useful to a buyer than a diameter quoted in isolation, even if the actual fit still needs a wrist. The brand describes a 316L steel monobloc mid-case and a screw-down crown, supporting a 100 m water-resistance rating. None of that asks the owner to treat the lacquered dial as fragile jewellery.

Turn it over and a sapphire display back shows the La Joux-Perret G101 automatic movement. Farer specifies its soignée grade, adjusted in four positions, and a reserve of roughly 68 hours when fully wound. That is more than enough margin to put the watch down for a day without making winding the first job when you pick it up again, although the useful question is how it performs over time on a real wrist. Farer also offers a five-year guarantee, which is a more concrete ownership detail than any promise implied by a movement photograph.

The Cross II appears on a sea-green suede strap in the brand's main image, with brown and grey suede, Granolo leather, orange rubber and a Milanese bracelet among the listed choices. A strap change would alter the tone as much as the case or dial: brown could draw out the warm seconds-hand tip, while the green suede makes no apology for the colour. Farer does not need a proprietary case shape to distinguish this watch. Its argument is that texture, legibility and everyday specifications can live inside a conventional steel outline.

Farer Cross II pricing and availability

Farer lists the Cross II on its own storefront at £1,095 in the United Kingdom, €1,275 on its European store and A$1,822 when the rest-of-world store is set to Australia, each on the sea-green suede strap. The product page presents it as a pre-order with dispatch listed for 21 December; availability and the displayed local figure may change. The most convincing part of the proposition is not that this dial will suit every wardrobe. It is that the practical case and movement give someone who loves that colour a plausible reason to wear it often.