Each Majesté is conceived around the life of a single person — their faith, their family, their tastes, their wrist. A skeletonized tourbillon set within a fully transparent sapphire case. The architecture is the mechanism.
The Sultan of Brunei is a known collector of Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and Richard Mille. For his Golden Jubilee in 2017, he chose to wear an Avantist.
The brief came in 2016 from a small group of Bruneian business leaders. They wanted to present His Majesty Hassanal Bolkiah with a watch worthy of his Golden Jubilee — and worthy of one of the most demanding watch collectors in the world.
Eighteen months later, the piece was delivered. The Sultan wore it throughout the celebrations of 5 October 2017, attended by world leaders.
Every detail was studied. The Sultan's existing collection. His biography. His faith. His family. His wrist size, his preferred case feel, the way he wears a watch.
The Majesté Tourbillon is co-developed with three of Switzerland's most respected independent partners — a design house, a movement maker, and a case maker — each chosen for the part of the watch they do better than anyone else.
The Geneva design house of Sebastien Perret and Guillaume Tripet, responsible for four GPHG award-winning watches before the Majesté. The Majesté case architecture, the sapphire torus, the proportions on the wrist — all theirs.
A specialist independent movement maker, well-regarded by industry insiders for the quality of its work. The Concepto cal. 8100 powers every Majesté — a 72-hour skeletonized tourbillon with sapphire baseplate, co-developed with Avantist.
The case maker behind the Majesté's defining feature — a single-piece sapphire crystal torus that serves as the entire watch body. Queloz is regarded as one of the most exacting Swiss specialists in sapphire and precious-metal cases.
The second piece in the Majesté series was conceived for a private owner who, like the Sultan, chose Avantist over the most established houses in horology. We say no more.
The Majesté process is, by design, discreet. Each piece carries the story of its owner. Some of those stories are public. Most are not.
Variants of the Avantist La Majesté Tourbillon have been presented for the consideration of the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève — the international honour for excellence in independent watchmaking.
Every Majesté begins with a conversation. The process below is the same one that produced the Sultan's piece — eighteen months, six considered stages.
Every commission begins with a meeting — in Geneva, Singapore, or wherever the conversation needs to be had. We learn the story you want the piece to contain. There is no minimum brief; some commissions begin with a sentence, others with a half-finished idea, others with material already in hand.
Within four to six weeks, we return with a written proposal: the concept, the materials, the movement, the case architecture, the initial sketches, and the quotation. The proposal is yours to take. Most clients spend two to four months considering it before proceeding.
Once the commission is confirmed, the design progresses through formal renderings with Etude de Style. Every detail — dial layout, tourbillon cage shape, engravings, indices, case finishing — is iterated until you sign off. We commit nothing to metal until the final design is approved.
The piece is then made — in Geneva, with Concepto for the movement, Queloz for the case, and our finishing partners by hand. Manufacture typically takes six to nine months. Periodic photography of the work in progress is sent to the owner; some commissions visit the workshop.
Engravings, hidden details, lume signatures, customised tourbillon cage — the last stage before assembly. The Sultan's children. A family crest. A date. A line of poetry. This is where the piece becomes irreducibly the owner's.
The finished piece is delivered personally, by Keeran, to the place of your choosing. Every Avantist bespoke piece comes with the founder's phone number — and the standing assurance that he remains available, and connected to the piece, for the duration of your ownership.
For initial discussions regarding a Majesté commission, or to inquire about the Avantist process in confidence, please write to us directly. Every serious inquiry receives a personal response.
excellence@avantist.ch