Franck Muller Watches
While the Franck Muller manufacture has only been in existence since 1991, the man behind the name himself has been working on watches his entire life. The end product of a collaboration between Muller and watchcase designer Vartan Sirmakes, the company now produces around 40,000 exquisite timepieces a year from their "Watchland" headquarters in Genthod, Switzerland, not too far from Geneva. Emerging as they did during the quartz revolution of the early nineties, Franck Muller introduced new cases -- their Cintree Curvex case, meticulously crafted to curve in three dimensions -- and began using brighter colors on their dials, another industry first, that kept them on the leading edge of watch design and kept clients returning for new pieces. Added to their use of complex movements, these changes lent themselves to a more modernized style and kept the brand's name at the forefront of the mechanical watchmaking industry. The company introduces new lines each year in their annual World Premiere; past premieres have included the Evolution 3-1, the first three-axes tourbillon; the Aeternitas Mega 4, which, at 36 complications and 1483 components, is the most complicated wristwatch in the world; and the Giga Tourbillon, a timepiece that contains a 20mm tourbillon and four 16mm paired barrels, giving it a power reserve of 10 days. These, along with other lines like Secret Hours, Vegas, the Conquistador series, and Color Dreams, attest to Franck Muller's well-earned title of "Master of Complications."