I know one thing about CVSTOS: you’ve never seen anything quite like it.

Luxury meets innovation.

Sleek lines meet tourbillon.

Sapphire cases and sophisticated complications. 

Like I said, unique.

CVSTOS has something for the businessman and the yacht sailor; for someone who simply needs a watch to wear to the driving range and for the avid timepiece collector. But once you gaze upon the gorgeous design or feel the astounding quality of a CVSTOS, you may be surprised to know that the brand is just under 20 years old.

In 2005, watch industry aficionados Sassoun Sirmakes and Antonio Terranova started a small but mighty watch company called CVSTOS.  They saw a gap in the luxury timepiece niche and wanted to show that luxury doesn’t have to mean doing the same thing that’s always been done.  Instead, luxury can coexist with innovation, avant-garde style, and surprising creativity.

Sassoun and Antonio could have brought the style and mechanics they wanted to some other big watch brand easily.  Antonio spent years working with some of the biggest names in the watch industry and developed strong design and technical skills.  Sassoun is the son of Vartan Sirmakes – owner of Frank Muller Group, so Sassoun grew up in the watch industry.  Each had multiple connections within the watchmaking niche.  But luck favors the daring, so the two business partners decided to blaze their own trail.

CVSTOS (pronounced kOO-stoh-s) is Latin for Guardian. And their motto – “The Time Keeper” is in line with that imagery of a guardian, keeping and protecting time.  The brand does not just appeal to the eye; it’s also a Swiss-made powerhouse of quality and mechanics. 

CVSTOS has an amazing business model that allows them to continually create new timepieces without spending decades and millions of investor dollars on movement design and manufacturing equipment. CVSTOS identifies and obtains the Swiss movements that are of the highest quality.  Their master watchmakers then disassemble the movements to add visual and complication flair.  Then they reassemble the movements within the distinct CVSTOS cases.

And CVSTOS is an open book about their watchmaking process. Check out their headquarters, watch workshop, and showroom in the city centre of Geneva, Switzerland, and you’ll get a taste of their watchmaking in-person.  Or journey just outside the city to the CVSTOS manufacture atelier, for an open-concept dive into the production of watch cases, movement parts, dial parts, etc. on their 10 CNC machines.

CVSTOS has several collections in their lineup: Chronograph, Sealiner, Complication, Jetliner, and Metropolitan.  They also have a women’s line, Re-Belle.  While each collection shares some common threads, each is cut from its own cloth.

Chronograph, as the name implies, includes a chronograph and contains elements akin to speed and racing.

Sealiner are dubbed “a yacht for your wrist.”  They are nautical masterpieces and some include complications like moon phase and perpetual calendar.  Look closely and you’ll also catch glimpses teakwood through small “portholes” in the dial.

Complication is a subset within the other collections, wherein the basic design of a Sealiner or Chronograph is then enhanced with the use of a single or double tourbillon (yeah, I said double tourbillon).

Jetliner is to aerospace what Sealiner is to sailing.  It incorporates a design that pays tribute to the wonders of flight and space.

Metropolitan is the metaphorical new kid on the block; as the newest member of the CVSTOS family, it attempts to answer the question of whether the brand can step outside its typical design flair and deliver an elegant simplicity.  And it delivers powerfully.

With quality, style, and innovation – CVSTOS is ready to take the luxury timepiece industry by storm.  You’ll be seeing more of them in the coming years as they partner with legendary athletes like Brazilian soccer/football star Cafu.  Whether you’re looking to take the boardroom by storm with a Metropolitan or challenge the limits of what’s possible with a Challenge double-tourbillion, CVSTOS has the watch for you.  Check out all their collections here.