According to Merriam-Webster, to be “on the vanguard” means to be at the forefront of a movement or development. Vanguart, a luxury watch brand emerging from the Swiss valleys, embodies this perfectly. From inception, it has focused on pioneering horology and harnessing the diverse skill sets of its founders.
Formed in 2017 by Axel Leuenberger (CEO), Mehmet Koruturk (Chairman), Thierry Fischer (Creative Director), and Jeremy Freléchox (CTO), Vanguart combines elite watchmaking, in-house prototyping and design, and deep links to technology and finance. Its name fuses “avant-garde” and “art”, mirroring the founders’ vision.
Within the watch world, Leuenberger and Freléchox are veterans of Audemars Piguet Renaud et Papi (APRP), while Freléchox also spent six years at Girard-Perregaux. Fischer previously designed watches for Audemars Piguet, Jacob & Co., and Harry Winston.
Korutürk met Leuenberger and Freléchox while overseeing a collaboration between HYT and Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose. He quickly saw they wanted to establish a brand to control their creative direction, but they needed backing and business structure. After a year of discussions, all four left their roles to launch Vanguart.
“We want to bring something fresh and new to the watch industry. We think outside the norms.”
– Mehmet Koruturk
Initial fundraising was challenging. “We only had computer designs,” says Koruturk, “so we raised some money from friends and family to build partial prototypes.” A second round, post-COVID, relied on a higher company valuation and found support outside traditional channels – from NBA star James Harden, commodity traders, and figures in the automotive sector.
Still, valuations remained low. For the third round, Korutürk again approached investors outside the watch world. “We never looked at people from the industry,” he explains. “We want to bring something fresh and new. We think outside the norms.”
His time at Genii Capital – owners of the Lotus F1 team – had already introduced him to the crossover between high-end watchmaking and motorsport, where Richard Mille was a sponsor. He recognised that the precision and materials of haute horlogerie had applications in superyachts, aerospace, and other high-tech fields.
“That’s why I like to talk about Vanguart as an engineering company,” Koruturk notes. “I don’t know if my partners do that, but I think of us as engineering luxury.” Though they’ve only subcontracted within watchmaking so far, he dreams of expanding into supercars, yachts, and even aviation. “Some of our investors are in those industries, so maybe one day.”
Left: The architecture of the Vanguart Black Hole Tourbillon stands out with its three concentric discs.
Right: the movement gears and regulator, and the dial with the concentric discs and flying tourbillon.
Vanguart currently produces two watches with original movements. The Black Hole Tourbillon, launched in 2021, features a unique digital display where the two discs for the minutes – one for tens, one for units – move in opposite directions via a semi-jump function.
It features entirely in‑house, hand‑finished Calibre T‑1701 – 775 components in just 7.2 mm. Its feather‑light titanium flying tourbillon floats above three concentric, semi‑jumping time discs (“automaton”) powered by dual barrels, while a patented “joystick” crown sets time forward or backwards.
The Vanguart Orb is even more futuristic. It houses a hand-finished, skeletonised flying tourbillon movement (395 components, 60‑hour power reserve, 3 Hz) with a crown‑selector for winding or time-setting.
Left: Vanguart Orb rose gold with openworked dial showcasing its intricate mechanics; framed by a sandblasted, satin and mirror-polished case.
Right: Caseback of the Orb showing its Vanguart Calibre T-1601, a flying tourbillon movement with a distinctive orbital winding system.
Encased in a symmetrical 41 mm, 10.5 mm titanium (or rose gold) case featuring sandblasted, satin and mirror finishes, it reveals Super‑Luminova hands over a PVD-coated bezel. When switched to automatic, a diamond‑set 2 mm orbital oscillating mass glides along a sloped titanium track, appearing to float; in manual mode, it locks precisely at the 12 o’clock position.
Selectivity is central to Vanguart’s ethos. The brand has been steadily gaining recognition among collectors. When the one-off, hand-engraved Yas Edition of the Black Hole sold for 750,000 CHF ($852,000) at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in 2024, the watch community took serious notice.
Koruturk’s client base, cultivated through his financial networks, includes A-list royals, heads of state, sports stars, and elite collectors. Vanguart timepieces are available at top retailers like Material Good in the U.S. and Ahmed Seddiqi in the Middle East.
Vanguart’s first sponsored race team, Rossa Cars. From the left: Harrison Newey, Nikita Mazepin and Roman Rusinov at the Dubai 24 Hours.
The company is also making inroads into the world of high-tech motorsport. It recently hired Dylan Stewart — grandson of Sir Jackie Stewart and former head of social media for Formula One — and sponsored its first race team, Rosso Racing, at the Dubai 24 Hours in January 2025. Furthermore, Vanguart was the official timing partner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2025 and sponsor of Ziggo Sport Tempesta Racing.
This summer, Vanguart is moving into a larger facility to increase output from 40 to approximately 100 watches per year. Alongside the Black Hole and Orb, new models are already in development.
To reach new audiences, Koruturk is leveraging personal relationships across sport, film, fashion, and retail. He advocates a more tailored, contemporary approach to marketing. “The marketing side of watchmaking is a little antiquated,” he observes. “Growth should still be organic – through word of mouth and collector recognition.” As an example of his approach, just two days ago, Vanguart announced its partnership with Johnny Depp’s highly anticipated film, Modigliani: Three Days on the Wing of Madness.
To the question, “Who is Vanguart for?” Koruturk is quick to reply: “Vanguart watches are for the sort of people who have everything in the world and want something very different.”
Author: Andrew Hildreth
If you are curious about Vanguart watches, you may want to read our full review of its latest timepiece, the Vanguart Orb and find out more about the jumping mechanism of the Vanguart Black Hole.
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