Making a Movement

The Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar, an empiric complication, is manufactured entirely in-house. Beginning with hundreds of technical sheets for all the components, the components are then manufactured, delicately decorated and perfected before being incorporated into this exceptional movement.

Making a Dial

Franck Muller dials are manufactured entirely in house at our factory located in Les Bois, in the Jura. The artistry and talent behind a Franck Muller dial is incredible. Creating a dial is an extraordinarily delicate and time consuming process. Each dial needs 20 layers of lacquer and requires a drying period of one hour for each layer. The emblematic sun burst also makes Franck Muller dials instantly recognizable. Finally, the carefully hand painted Luminova numerals complete the work of art.

Making a Case

Franck Muller cases are manufactured entirely in house. They are stamped at our factory in La-Chaux-De-Fonds and then delivered to Watchland in Geneva for completion. All cases are artisanally polished by hand. Also, diamond cases require an incredible amount of time and mastery to accomplish, particularly with the Cintrée Curvex where it is very difficult to hand-set the diamonds along its curves.

Master of Complications

All the mechanical watchmaking complications invented by Franck Muller are designed and developed at the heart of our own workshops. From the simple sketch of a world premiere mechanism to the execution of the plans, via the construction of a prototype, right through to monitoring the production - every stage of manufacturing a watch is followed to its successful completion.

Thanks to its incredible in-house capabilities, the brand can push barriers of watchmaking even further with innovative complications and great technique whilst fully respecting the Swiss watchmaking tradition. Indeed, producing innovative and reliable complications requires tremendous know-how and teams of highly skilled craftsmen. A Franck Muller complicated movement ranges from between 200 and 1,483 components for the most complicated one, which takes years from its conception until completion.

For more than fifteen years, the Franck Muller patents have played an important role in the company’s international reputation, leading an exceptional and unique career at the heart of the prestigious watchmaking adventure. In October 2002, Franck Muller was granted the first prize, men’s category, of the Genève Watch Making Grand Prix. This exclusive prize was the recognition of the watchmaker’s exceptional talent and the immense expertise of the manufacturer.

Unique Design

Since the 1980s, Franck Muller has become a name synonymous with beautiful finishing and unique designs. Throughout Haute Horlogerie and high complications, Muller has tied his name to a brand that has established a series of exceptional timepieces that, while originally avant-garde, have become embraced and often copied.

From its creation, the Cintrée Curvex case was very unique. Indeed, the Haute Horlogerie was bound by tradition and consequently not very open to innovation, especially in terms of design. At the time, there were plenty of round watches and perhaps a few rectangular ones, but there was nothing like Franck Muller´s Curvex. So it was a bold move to introduce, in 1992, something previously nonexistent on the market; a tonneau curved body in 3 dimensions involving great technical difficulties in manufacturing.

Thus, Franck Muller watches became easily identifiable due to their tonneau shape that is commonly recognized as the brand´s most significant silhouette. For the brand, it quickly became a great success and a way to express its unique identity, assert its DNA and demonstrate its know-how in case manufacturing.

Similarly, Franck Muller timepieces became instantly recognizable for their unique and beautiful numeral design. The dials on our Cintrée Curvex models are also very complex to produce.

Noble Art

In the workshops of Franck Muller Watchland, the watchmakers have the privilege of assembling the movement in its entirety. It is important that each part is given the individual attention it requires so that every wristwatch leaving Genthod workshops passes the test of time with distinction and that the excellence of the art of watchmaking may be passed on from generation to generation.

Many artistic crafts are essential to watchmaking and, in Fine Watchmaking, respect is shown for perfect mastery of them. Franck Muller continually strives to perfect and extend his research into every single watch component, constantly refining the essential link between cutting-edge techniques and traditional craftsmanship.

Every component becomes “the” showpiece of the watch when one contemplates the beauty and precision in the creation and decoration of every part. The degree of hand finishing and hand craftsmanship on Franck Muller watches and their grand complications are exemplary within the industry.

The care, patience and attention given to each component is tremendous. An artisan decorator is sometimes required to work 20 hours on a single component. Even if the components will not be visible, it is very important that the beautiful movement looks as beautiful inside as outside. This level of care is what gives to the Franck Muller timepieces their identity and their infinite value.

World Premieres

Franck Muller showed his gift for creativity from a very young age. As a matter of fact, this watchmaking genius has regularly come up with World Premieres since 1986. These watches were high complications that had never been made in the history of watchmaking.

Franck was working on these marvels in the old way, making and adjusting each component by hand and by himself,therefore the production was limited to three or four pieces a year. Whether it was a Tourbillon with jumping hours in 1986, a Tourbillon with Minute Repeater in 1987, or an inverted Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar with Minute Repeater in 1989, everyone was amazed by these complications.

Until 1992, the year when the brand and the workshop were founded, these marvels were produced by Franck Muller himself and were registered under the Franck Genève brand. Since 1991, these products have been created under the Franck Muller Genève brand. From the triple axis Tourbillon to the most complicated watch in the world, the Aeternitas Mega, Franck Muller created exceptional timepieces that left his hallmark in the story of Swiss watchmaking forever.

Eager to experiment

Thus, Franck was keen to experiment and create new concepts in a conservative industry where tradition was valued over change. Consequently, in 2003, Franck Muller introduced a totally innovative approach to the very notion of time. In fact, the Crazy Hours established a new philosophy and proclaimed independence from the established order.

This extraordinary model displays numerals in complete disorder while still keeping perfect time thanks to a jumping hour mechanism. This emotional complication quickly became one of the most emblematic timepieces of Franck Muller.

In 2004, after years of development, Franck Muller revolutionized the watchmaking industry by making the very first tri-axial tourbillon in the world. The Revolution 3 offers an exceptional technical spectacle as well as emotions only to be found at Franck Muller.

This 3 axis Tourbillon corrects the forces of gravity in all positions, contrary to a classic one which only compensates when the wristwatch is in a vertical position. This stunning complication is the result of one of the most complex creations in Haute Horlogerie. To this masterpiece, we added a Perpetual Calendar, pushing this complication even further, the result being the Evolution 3.1.

The Aeternitas Mega

In 2007, after 5 years of research and development, Franck Muller presented a spectacular masterpiece: The Aeternitas Mega. This unique piece is part of the history of fine watchmaking as the most complicated watch in the world. With 36 complications and 1,483 components, the Aeternitas Mega is a wonder of micro-mechanics and watchmaking know-how.

In 2011 Franck Muller created the Giga Tourbillon, the world premiere featuring the biggest tourbillon ever incorporated in a wristwatch. This Tourbillon is absolutely massive. It is twice as big as a regular tourbillon, its cage measuring 20 mm in diameter and filling half of the watch. This unique achievement was bound by many technical difficulties and is once again the testament of the exceptional in-house capabilities of the workshop.

These unique complications required years of development, tests and adjustments. They testify the incredible know-how of the manufacturer, strengthening its name of Master of Complications. In October 2002, Franck Muller was granted the first prize of the Genève Watchmaking Grand Prix. This exclusive prize was the recognition of the watchmaker´s exceptional talent and the immense expertise of the manufacturer.