A Visit to Geneva's Newest Independent Watchmaker

The wrong lesson to learn from the indie boom; the return of the desk clock; Chicago events; a visit to Gregory Proz.

Good morning. I helped organize a small get-together in Chicago last week. We didn’t promote it much, and I got a bunch of messages after posting about it asking how to attend the next one. If you’d like to hear about future events, send an email to tony[at]unpolishedwatches.com with the subject line “CHICAGO.” I’ll add you to a separate list just for future events.

Thanks to my buddy Nino for hosting us. A few highlights included this solid-gold Omega Constellation on its flat-link bracelet, a midsize tantalum Royal Oak from the 90s (this automatic version is much rarer than the quartz), and a Jaeger-LeCoultre ‘Ultra Slim.’

In today’s newsletter: The wrong lesson to learn from the indie boom, a visit to watchmaker Gregory Proz, hands-on with the Ming Polymesh, and is Rolex about to introduce a new desk clock? I’m not sure it can beat Jaeger-LeCoultre’s latest effort.

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Subcribers can find my 15 rapid-fire takeaways from Watches & Wonders here, full Geneva Dispatch here, or scroll through the Geneva photo dump and Q&A here.

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A Visit to Geneva's Newest Independent Watchmaker [Audio]

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The newest independent watchmaker in Geneva

Gregory Proz at his new workshop in downtown Geneva.

On my last day in Geneva, I visited a watchmaker most people at Watches and Wonders hadn’t heard of.

That can be a good or a bad sign. The world of independent watchmakers is crowded. Render drops, deposit lists, and $100k price tags for watches that don’t even exist yet. Some of these guys are extremely talented. Others went to school, learned to file some nice angles, and figured out that “independent watchmaker” is a good business if you can find the right collectors.

I was put onto watchmaker Gregory Proz by a couple of collectors who have made deposits for the Genese, his first independent watch.

Proz is in his late 30s—older than most first-time independents. He won the GPHG Best Young Student award nearly two decades ago. After that, he worked at BNB Concept, the complications maker that eventually folded and was acquired by Hublot. It’s where Rexhep Rexhepi got his complications chops. Gregory and Rexhep have been friends for nearly 20 years. Proz later went back to get a master's degree in engineering before setting off on his own.

A working prototype—with unfinished components—of Proz’s first watch, the Genese. Below, you can see where the moonphase indicator will be at 6 o’clock (left) alongside some finished components (right):

The Genese (French for genesis) is a limited run of 20 pieces, with an exposed movement and moonphase indicator on the caseback. The front is very much on trend: an independent watchmaker playing with symmetry and obsessing over finishing. But the movement architecture and caseback complication—complete with a hand-painted moonphase disc—is a genuine twist. It wasn’t finished when I visited, but the concept is more considered than most in this genre.

Proz says he can rely on his old friend Rexhep if he needs certain parts.

“If I need a screw, I just walk over and ask Rexhep,” is how he put it to me.

Proz currently has one watchmaker, Fabian, working with him. He’s looking to hire another, but said it’s not easy to find someone with the skills needed to finish and assemble the Genese.

Geneve Genese

Fabian, the one watchmaker who works with Proz.

Proz was born and raised in Geneva. I briefly met his dad on the way in. He manages the theater at the Fairmont hotel, currently under renovation but usually home to the annual GPHG awards. A few of the old theater seats are sitting in Proz’s workshop, waiting for visitors. It feels fitting that Proz is one of the few watchmakers you’ll see working in the windows while walking through Geneva, along with Rexhep and Xhvedet Rexhepi.

As for the Genese: It’s 39x9mm with a triple-stepped bezel and caseback. On the prototype he showed me, Proz has also added stepped lugs that weren’t in the original render. I sent photos to two collectors I know who have made deposits. One loved the lugs; the other didn’t. I’m with the skeptic—it starts to feel ornamental, one flourish too many. But that’s a matter of taste. Proz told me he also wants to refine the crown. This iterative process is exactly what you sign up for when you put a deposit on an idea. It’s patronage in the most literal sense.¹

The Genese is CHF 73k, or close to $100k by the time it clears U.S. customs. He quickly sold all 20 slots after after posting the first render last October. Off the popularity of the Genese, he also has limited-edition versions in the pipeline for Seddiqi and The Hour Glass, two of the most important retailers in the world.