GenevaLive · Swiss time
Geneva & Singapore · Established 2015
Watches that contain pieces of history itself.
scroll
The keystone to every Avantist timepiece is its built-in connection to a real story — not as inspiration, but as substance. String recovered from championship-winning racquets. Fabric from a Sultan's coronation flags. Material from defining moments in history, set by hand into mechanical watches built in Switzerland.
Home to some of the world's most adventurous and sophisticated watch collectors. The founding premise: that the most meaningful watches contain real connections to real stories.
The most important industry trade fair of the year. Partnerships formed with horological partners in Geneva who shared the customer-centric values of the brand.
The first conversation that would become the Legend Series. Martina embraced the idea of sharing her story with people who find her an everyday inspiration.
Avantist receives the commission of a lifetime: build a watch worthy of the world's most famous watch collector, to be presented to him on the occasion of his Golden Jubilee.
The Martina Navratilova Legend Series is unveiled at Wimbledon — the location where she lifted her first championship trophy in 1978, four decades prior.
Avantist presents the Sultan of Brunei with a personalised tourbillon wristwatch designed entirely around his life. He wears it throughout the Jubilee celebrations, attended by world leaders.
Embedded in the dial of each Martina Navratilova Legend Series timepiece is two inches of string, recovered from the racquets she used to win her most memorable championship titles — Wimbledon 1978, 1982, 1987, 1990, and Paris 1982.
Each segment of string is first mounted in a metal ring, then set by hand into the Swiss-made dial. Because recovering viable string from racquets up to thirty-six years old is exacting work, each model is limited to fewer than fifty pieces. The case profile recalls the shape of a tennis stadium; the four exposed screws at the bezel corners reinforce the strength of the form.
Launched at Wimbledon in 2017 — where Martina lifted her first championship trophy four decades earlier.
In 2016, Avantist received what the founder later described as the commission of a lifetime: build a watch worthy of the world's most famous watch collector, to be presented to him on the occasion of his Golden Jubilee.
The dial is composed of fabric recovered from the original flags flown in 1968, during the coronation of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei. The piece carries the colours of the Brunei flag, and the number 50 written in Jawi script by the date aperture.
His Majesty wore the Avantist throughout the Golden Jubilee celebrations of 2017, attended by world leaders.
The brief, internally: what does a watch look like when the only constraint is exceptional craft?
The answer: a 72-hour skeletonized tourbillon movement, set inside a fully transparent sapphire case. Light passes through the watch entirely. The mechanism is the architecture. The case is the dial.
A single piece, designed entirely around the life and personal preferences of its owner. Never to be repeated.
Every piece is the answer to a problem that has not been solved before. The string from a thirty-six-year-old racquet, made stable. Coronation fabric, preserved behind sapphire. A movement, suspended in light.
Manufactured in Geneva with partners that share our customer-centric values. Hand-finished cases, dials set by hand.
Caliber based on the ETA-2892 with the Avantist rotor. Extreme precision, long-term reliability, all to Swiss standard.
Each case made from titanium with a stainless steel bezel, for lightness on the wrist. Toric sapphire crystal at the dial.
Pieces are produced in extremely limited quantities to preserve their meaning. Most series under fifty. The Majesté, one.
Keeran Janin · Founder · Geneva 2018
Keeran Janin was born in the Sultanate of Brunei in 1981, and spent much of his childhood between Brunei and Singapore — communities that strongly valued fine watchmaking and the discipline of craft. As a young adult, he travelled frequently to Geneva, where his family was based at the time, and it was there that his deeper curiosity in horology took root.
His professional background is in technology and jewellery design, the latter prompted by an early childhood obsession with mineralogy. Both disciplines inform his approach today: the wristwatch as a designed object, the wristwatch as a mineral set in motion.
Today, every Avantist piece passes through Keeran's hands before delivery. Most are delivered by him in person.
His position on warranty is, by industry standards, unusual. "Every watch we make comes with a warranty," he says, "but the real warranty is not the card that comes in the box. The real warranty is my phone number, which I give to every customer."
Each Avantist relationship begins with a personal exchange. We respond to every serious inquiry within twenty-four hours.
A small number of pieces from the Legend Series remain available. Each is mechanically certified, archived, and prepared for personal delivery to the new owner.
excellence@avantist.chThe most personal expression of the Avantist process. A timepiece designed around your story, your material, your moment — created in Geneva over twelve to eighteen months.
Begin a commissionFor journalists, exhibition curators, retail partners, and selective business conversations regarding the brand's future.
partners@avantist.ch