I love the independent scene since it manages to present both wildly experimental and genuinely wearable watches. Vanguart has managed exactly this trick with the Orb Pink Ceramic Titanium and Orb Blue Ceramic Rose Gold, two references that take the brand’s already provocative flying tourbillon and dress it in pastel coloured ceramic.
Short take
Geneva Watch Week 2026 (as it was named the event outside Watches and Wonders) gave the small La Chaux-de-Fonds manufacture the perfect stage to unveil these pieces. Although they didn’t want to make a big fuss about it and invited just a few journalists, the release was a major milestone for them. Vanguart manages to combine sculptural visuals with elevated engineering in the Orb, first appeared in 2024, a flying tourbillon fitted with a function selector. This mechanism lets the wearer choose between automatic and manual winding at will. This provocative idea reshapes the conversations around what a haute horlogerie complication could actually do for its owner rather than just a complication displays. Two years on, the introduction of resistant, hand-polished ceramic into the case flanks and crown pusher signals a technical attempt to widen the Orb’s audience without diluting the technicality and organic architecture that made it famous.
The Vanguart story so far – an introduction
Vanguart emerged in 2017 from the living room of co-founder Axel Leuenberger in Basel, where he joined forces with fellow Audemars Piguet Renaud et Papi veteran Jérémy Freléchox, designer Thierry Fischer and former financier Mehmet Koruturk to build a brand entirely on their own terms. Consequently, the team spent years working quietly behind the scenes, refining prototypes and taking on freelance engineering jobs to fund development before ever showing a finished watch to the public. I met the founders shortly after they released their first creation, the Black Hole Tourbillon. The usual Geneva Watch Days meeting in the restaurant of one of the hotels filled with watchmakers and journalists. I was amazed by how organic the construction felt with superb hand-bevelled edges and overall finishing that rivalled houses many decades older. That debut piece, built around three rotating discs and a suspended flying tourbillon showed besides passion, a solid fundament of knowledge and technical capability. The Orb, launched in 2024 as Vanguart’s second reference, softened the visual language while keeping the mechanical audacity intact. And now, the brand decided to bring some joc and colours to complex mechanics.
Dial layout and colour treatment
Rather than relying on a conventional dial plate, the Orb channels its time telling story through layered mechanics. The composition is exposed to view: the barrel occupies the prominent 12 o’clock position where also hosts the watch’s signature mode indicator, while the tourbillon rotates freely at 6 o’clock. An inner ring around that barrel receives a pink or blue PVD coating depending on the reference, and three small apertures marked M, A and H turn in sequence to confirm whether the watch is in manual winding, automatic winding or time-setting mode.
Both sides of the hour track, the curved réhaut and the concave oscillating mass (that diamond is fantastic) are colour-matched to the ceramic elements through a bespoke micro-painting process borrowed from automotive finishing techniques. This method required months of trials given the difficulty of applying consistent colour across functional three-dimensional surfaces. Legibility has not been sacrificed, the hour track combines several decorating techniques with a inspiration from Art Deco geometries with lumed markers, triangular on the blue model, trapezoid on the pink. Satin-brushed and partially skeletonised hands complete the scene. Despite the visual complexity beneath them, they still read clearly, at a glance.
The movement: a “deep” technical look
The Orb is powered by a 3Hz flying tourbillon movement. The strongest argument is not the elaborate and architectural construction but the exceptional finishes that benefit from the open and multi-dimensional scene. The mainplate, bridges and tourbillon cage are all cast in Grade 5 titanium, a material chosen for its strength-to-weight ratio, and every surface then passes through a sequence of micro-blasting, satin finishing, block polishing and hand bevelling before assembly. The material choice imposes difficulty in finishing, declaring once again the brands’ know-how.
What sets this calibre apart is its function selector – a pusher integrated into the crown that lets the owner physically lock or release the oscillating mass rather than simply switch a display mode. Set to manual, the rotor sits fixed and immobile; switch to automatic, and it spins freely, catching light off a brilliant-cut diamond mounted within it, creating a small but genuinely theatrical animation each time the wrist moves.
This year’s finishing update adds three-dimensional hand-polished bevelling to the sand-blasted central bridge, and the two references diverge slightly here: the pink edition receives a sand-blasted mainplate PVD-treated in a deeper pink before being re-angled by hand to reveal polished titanium underneath, while the blue edition received its barrel bridge and tourbillon cage coated in gold PVD for a gilded finish.
Given the sheer density (pun intended, ode to titanium) of finishing operations packed into such a small footprint, it is fair to say Vanguart treats hand-craftsmanship as a genuine engineering challenge. The brand managed to find solution for an organic architecture with finishes well chosen and executed. The movement, front and back is a feast for finishes hungry eyes. I particularly enjoy the intertwined of machined executed processes and human final touch.
I do wonder whether such elaborate surface treatment and elaborate construction risk becoming difficult to service consistently over decades, a question independents of this scale rarely get asked in year one. Power reserve is a solid 60 hours, a respectable figure considering the energy demands of driving that flying tourbillon.
Engineering a colour: mastering materials and processes for an uniform look
Both references retain the 41mm round case and 10.5mm thickness seen at the 2024 launch models. I am curious how these proportions were kept, while introducing an entirely new material into the mix. Usually, the ceramic requires a bit more substance, either increasing the exterior dimensions or decreasing the inner volume…
Top and bottom case components come in either micro-blasted, satin-finished titanium or the same treatment applied to 18-carat rose gold, and hand-polished angles throughout the case add the depth that photographs alone struggle to reveal. The true engineering challenge here involved integrating coloured ceramic into the case flanks and crown pusher without compromising water resistance, which remains rated to 30 metres, nor undermining the flowing, organic geometry that defines the Orb’s silhouette.
Ceramic is notoriously brittle, so Vanguart’s engineers spent a year developing a resistant formula that could be sculpted into the sweeping curves the design demanded and then hand-polished to achieve real depth of colour, alongside entirely bespoke tooling to guarantee consistent finishing across every component.
A quick-release strap system, activated by a discreetly concealed pusher on the case back, lets owners swap between the supplied colour-matched rubber strap and additional straps from Vanguart’s palette. This adds a new layer of everyday practicality that supports the “daily-wear flying tourbillon” intention. A special note should be added mentioning the superb synchronisation of colours. Having a colour shade nailed so fine between so many material types is… impressive.
That said, a 30-metre water resistance rating still feels conservative for a watch marketed toward daily wear, and I would have liked to see Vanguart push that figure further given how much engineering effort went into the rest of the package. Maybe also some numbers regarding shock resistance. A watch on a rubber strap is expected by majority to be a rather sports piece, with all bells and whistles…
Final thoughts and pricing
Limited to just 25 individually numbered pieces per reference, the Orb Pink Ceramic Titanium will be distributed exclusively through US retailer Material Good. An “MG” monogram visible on the case back marks the partnership. The Orb Blue Ceramic Rose Gold reaches collectors through Material Good, Middle Eastern partner Seddiqi, and Vanguart directly in all other markets.
Officially, the Orb Pink Ceramic Titanium retails at CHF 170,000, and the Orb Blue Ceramic Rose Gold, carrying more precious metal content, commands CHF 200,000, figures that sit above the CHF 150,000 and CHF 180,000 asked for the original titanium and rose gold Orb launched in 2024. For a brand only nine years into its existence, Vanguart continues to demonstrate that avant-garde design and genuine mechanical substance need not be mutually exclusive. These ceramic editions feel like a confident, considered step, revealing brand’s commitment to high-end horology in this time and age.
Note: during out meeting with Vanguart, we were asked which of two is our favourite. After 4 months, I still consider the titanium pink version the most attractive one. – If it has to be fun, then let it be till the end…
Vanguart Orb Pink Ceramic Titanium and Orb Blue Ceramic Rose Gold Technical Specification
Model
- Vanguart Orb Pink Ceramic Titanium
- Vanguart Orb Blue Ceramic Rose Gold
- Limited edition of 25 individually numbered pieces per version
Movement
- Proprietary in-house flying tourbillon calibre with orbital, peripheral oscillating mass
- Frequency: 21,600vph (3Hz)
- Power reserve: 60 hours
- Components: 395
- Winding: automatic or manual-only, selectable via a function selector integrated into the crown pusher
- Indications: hours, minutes, flying tourbillon, three-mode function indicator (M for manual, A for automatic, H for time-setting)
- Oscillating mass: orbital, colour- and surface-matched to the ceramic case elements, set with a brilliant-cut diamond, engaged or locked depending on winding mode
- Mainplate, bridges and tourbillon cage: Grade 5 titanium
- Finishing: micro-blasted, satin-finished, block-polished and hand-bevelled surfaces, with three-dimensional hand-polished bevelling on the central bridge
- Pink edition: sand-blasted mainplate PVD-treated in deep pink, hand re-angled to reveal polished titanium beneath
- Blue edition: barrel bridge and tourbillon cage coated in gold PVD
- Chronometer certification: none declared
Case
- Diameter: 41mm
- Thickness: 10.5mm
- Orb Pink Ceramic Titanium: Grade 5 titanium case with pink ceramic inserts on the flanks and crown pusher
- Orb Blue Ceramic Rose Gold: 18-carat rose gold case with blue ceramic inserts on the flanks and crown pusher
- Surface finish: micro-blasted and satin-finished top and bottom components, hand-polished bevels throughout
- Ceramic: hand-sculpted and hand-polished, developed through a proprietary, year-long research process for enhanced resistance and colour depth
- Caseback: curved, ergonomic sapphire-crystal caseback that follows the wrist’s topography, with concealed strap quick-release pusher
- Water resistance: 30 metres
Dial / Display
- Openworked architecture built around exposed movement components rather than a conventional dial plate
- Barrel positioned at 12 o’clock, micro-blasted and laser-engraved, hosting the mode-indicator ring in colour-matched pink or blue PVD
- Réhaut and oscillating mass: curved, concave, colour-matched to the ceramic via bespoke automotive-inspired micro-painting
- Hour track: combined micro-blasted and mirror-polished surfaces in an Art Deco-inspired pattern
- Hour markers: triangular (blue version) or trapezoid (pink version), luminescent
- Hands: satin-polished, partially skeletonised, luminescent hour and minute hands
Strap
- Integrated rubber strap, colour-matched to the ceramic inserts
- Quick-release system activated via a concealed caseback pusher, allowing personalisation with additional coloured straps from Vanguart
