Franck Muller

Upstart watchmaker Franck Muller proclaims himself the "Master of Complications" and upon examining several of his finest masterpieces, one quickly understands why watch lovers around the world concur with this brash statement.

At a young age, Muller had firmly accomplished his Geneva based company as one of the world's most prestigious and fashionable watch brands. Celebrities such as Elton John, Demi Moore, and Robin Williams are often spotted wearing Franck Muller watches. Muller mixes contemporary styling with state-of-the-art traditional Swiss watchmaking. Unlike the CEOs of other watch houses, Muller is a watchmaker himself and he designs every single movement himself, no matter how simple or complicated.

Italian by birth, Muller graduated from the highly prestigious Swiss watchmaking school Ecole Horolgerie de Geneve in the early 1980s. From there, Muller obtained a job repairing fine quality pocket watches for museums and private individuals. It was during this period that Muller came in contact with some of the finest, complicated timepieces ever produced and was thus inspired to eventually produce his own masterpieces.

In particular, Muller grew fascinated with the tourbillon, soon building his own tourbillon wristwatch, which found a new home immediately upon its completion. Keep in mind that this was the late 1980s, when only a few companies such as Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin were still even capable of producing extremely complicated watches. Muller continued to produce unique complicated watches for private clients, but as his business continued to thrive, Muller sensed there existed an untapped market for sporty contemporary watches with a mechanical artistry to match their unsurpassed modern design. In 1992, the House of Franck Muller was born and the watches were an immediate sensation in the U.S. and Europe.

Today, Muller continues to produce a highly limited number of watches per year from the quaint farmhouse that serves as both his headquarters and factory. Within the Franck Muller collection, one can find everything from the Endurance, which is a simple chronograph, to the Master Banker, a tonneau-shaped watch capable of multiple time zone indication, to the Curvex Minute Repeater Tourbillon, whose production is limited to a mere 25 pieces. Needless to say, Muller offers a very wide range of watches, and at many different price points.

While he does not ignore the movements, Muller has always known that the design cosmetics of a watch are what first "grab the eye," and since the introduction of his famed oversized Curvex Tonneau case Muller watches are instantly recognizable on any wrist.

While the ultra-complicated watches can be quite costly, there are at the same time a number of Franck Muller watches which can be acquired for a surprisingly affordable price, especially given the high quality involved. Thus, for watch lovers who want to live on the cutting edge fashion-wise without sacrificing one iota of mechanical hand-finishing, the Franck Muller watch is a perfect choice and one that will continue to serve its owner faithfully, to say nothing of the future generations to come.

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