Inside the Future of Time: A Conversation with Vanguart’s Thierry Fischer

by Brent Robillard

Forward to the past

In the Antoine de St-Exupéry Penthouse Suite at the Beau Rivage, we sit down with Thierry Fischer. Thierry is the Creative Director of Vanguart Watches, and along with Axel Leuenberger, Jérémy Freléchox, and Mehmet Koruturk, he is also Co-Founder. The opulent old-world setting—with its enchanting view of the Jet d’Eau—is a juxtaposition, and maybe even a startling collision, with the watchmaker’s two mechanical marvels: the Titanium Black Hole Tourbillon and the brand’s latest creation, The Orb.

Vanguart Watches and Thierry Fischer — ^{Thierry Fischer, Co-Founder and Creative Director, Vanguart Watches @calibre321}

Thierry speaks softly. His modesty is striking, but it doesn’t hide the warmth in his smile or the bright-eyed enthusiasm that emerges when he talks about watches. He is reverent—almost devotional—in his language, but as he begins to walk us through the details of Vanguart’s creations, his excitement becomes contagious. He takes his time, unhurried, patient, but deliberate. It feels like he’s opening a door and inviting us to step inside the future.

The Black Hole Tourbillon

We begin with the Titanium Black Hole Tourbillon, the piece that first established Vanguart as a voice in the evolving conversation of modern haute horlogerie.

The design is astonishing. The sweeping lines of the case flow seamlessly, as if grown rather than machined. Complex geometries are expressed with such grace and fluidity that the case feels like a sculpture more than a shell. There are no visible screws or pins—nothing interrupts the organic silhouette. This is not just design for the sake of aesthetics; it’s the result of a philosophy where form and function evolve together.

At the center of it all is caliber T-1701, an in-house movement composed of over 750 components, featuring a central flying tourbillon that levitates above a futuristic animated dial. Instead of traditional hands, time is displayed via a linear, concentric ring system—one for hours, one for minutes—that encircle the tourbillon like rings around a celestial body.

But what truly makes the Black Hole Tourbillon feel like it belongs to another era—or perhaps another planet—is its joystick-style setting system. In place of a crown, Vanguart has engineered an ergonomic controller that allows time to move forward or backward with the subtlest of pressure. It’s a user interface that feels more like piloting a spacecraft than setting a wristwatch.

Every element of the Black Hole has been hand-finished with a degree of detail that recalls the masters of traditional horology—but here, it serves a different god: one of engagement, flow, and the future. Thierry notes that this watch is not just a machine—it’s an experience. It’s mechanical art with intelligent interaction built into its very core.

The Orb

Then we turn to The Orb, the brand’s newest creation. We are shown the Titanium iteration, and the first thing that strikes us is the purity of its symmetry. Where the Black Hole is cosmic and flowing, the Orb is architectural—layered, structured, precise.

The movement is fully openworked, revealing a stage-like design where every component plays its role in view of the wearer. At its heart is a newly developed flying tourbillon movement, again designed and finished entirely in-house. But what sets the Orb apart is its ability to shift between manual and automatic modes—a duality that feels as philosophical as it is mechanical.

And then comes the magic trick: When set to automatic mode via the crown, a 2mm diamond-set orbital mass animates into motion, gliding along a sloped, PVD-coated titanium track. It appears to float—weightless, almost dreamlike—revolving around the movement like a moon around a planet. Switch back to manual mode, and the mass locks into place, hidden in plain sight.

Despite its sophistication, the Orb maintains a svelte 10.5mm height, but within that space Vanguart has created layers of discovery—depths that only reveal themselves over time, with attention, and with curiosity.

The Legacy of Tomorrow

Vanguart doesn’t operate in isolation. Thierry acknowledges the brand’s spiritual kinship with other experimental horological maisons like Greubel Forsey and MB&F—not in imitation, but in ambition. These are brands that view the wristwatch not as a nostalgic relic, but as a platform for invention. Vanguart is proudly walking this evolutionary path, where technology meets narrative, and where mechanical creativity serves not only precision, but wonder.

We close our time with Thierry overlooking Lake Geneva. It is our final appointment in a frenetic day, at the end of frenzied week. The Jet d’Eau is lit by a sinking sunset, and for a moment, everything but time is still. There is something poetic about discussing these watches—these futuristic machines—in a setting so steeped in European tradition. But that’s the paradox at the heart of Vanguart: crafting the future with the hands of the past.

And if Thierry Fischer’s eyes are any indication, we’ve only just begun to see what Vanguart is capable of.