Franck Muller

Franck Muller
Private company
Industry Watch manufacturing
Founded 1992
Headquarters Geneva, Switzerland
Key people
 Franck Muller
Products Wristwatches
Jewelry
Website www.franckmuller.com

Franck Muller (born July 1958) is a Swiss watchmaker[1] and the company of the same name. The brand of watches carries the slogan "Master of Complications". Franck Muller's watches are worn by various celebrities, among them Demi Moore,[2] Elton John, 50 Cent, and José Mourinho. Franck Muller timepieces are famous for their fusion of "modern" style, mostly inspired by American watches from the thirties, like "Elgin tonneau", and traditional Swiss watch manufacturing.

Biography

Franck Muller was born in 1958. He spent his childhood in La Chaux-de-Fonds with his Italian mother and Swiss-born father. When 15, he enrolled in a watchmaking school. In the early 1980s, he graduated from the Watchmaking School of Geneva (French: Ecole d'Horlogerie de Genève). Afterwards, he began repairing top-quality pocket watches. Close to an independent watchmaker by the name of Svend Andersen, Franck Muller became responsible for handling watches from the collection of Patek Philippe. Most of the clientele were private individuals and museums. While he was working with complicated timepieces, he became passionate about their mechanisms and began to think of building his own workshop.


Soon after, in 1984, Franck Muller designed his own tourbillon wristwatch.[3] In the 1980s, few watchmakers were capable of creating such complicated timepieces, among them Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin. The private clients of Franck Muller continued to come for new timepieces, and thus his business started growing. The House of Franck Muller opened in 1991,[4] and his ultra complicated timepieces instantly became famous in Europe and the United States. Today, his factory, which is also the headquarters of Franck Muller, produces a limited number of watches for private clientele. Franck Muller's collections include a variety of designs and price ranges. Now the company has five sites (Genthod, Lajoux, Les Bois, Plan-les-Ouates, Meyrin) and 570 official retailers.

The company's estimated total sales (in 2010/2011) were €290 million in watches with an average unit price of €38,000.[1]

World premieres

Franck Muller is also known for its "World Premiers". Each year, the manufacturer launches at least one new line of timepieces, featuring something special and exclusive, that has never been seen before in the watchmaking industry. The first such world premiere was launched in 1993. The watches had split seconds chronograph, minute repeater, and a perpetual calendar. In addition, the watches included an indicator showing the internal temperature.

Notable products

Notable timepieces include Revolution2, Revolution3, Crazy Hours, and Colour Dreams. Further examples of Franck Muller's watches include the Endurance, which is a simple chronograph, the Master Banker, which is a tonneau-shaped watch capable of multiple time zone indication, and the Curvex Minute Repeater Tourbillon, whose production is limited to 25 pieces.

References

  1. 1 2 Chevalier, Michel (2012). Luxury Brand Management. Singapore: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-118-17176-9.
  2. ↑ "Who Says Time Has To Be In Order? The Franck Muller Crazy Hours: A Study In Being Unique". Hodinkee.com. 2008-10-29. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  3. ↑ "Franck Muller". Hourology.com. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  4. ↑ FRANCK MULLER Archived July 13, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
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