ANTOINE PREZIUSO

Founder

Antoine Preziuso Genève

Your time restoring historical masterpieces at Antiquorum must have been deeply influential. How did that experience shape your creative philosophy and approach to design?

Restoring an antique watch is a dialogue with time and with the craftsmen who created it. Each piece tells a story; every detail reveals the hand and spirit of its maker. Working on these masterpieces taught me humility: one realises how deeply watchmaking is a chain of transmission, a collective art shaped by the knowledge of entire generations.

This has profoundly influenced the way I create. When I design a watch today, I am always thinking of the continuity of the mark it will leave a hundred years from now. I want my watches to remain alive, to be understood, repaired, and passed on. Restoration taught me that beauty does not lie solely in what is new, but in the permanence of a gesture.

Your watches are often described as combining Latin artistry with Swiss precision. How do your Italian roots influence your creative expression and design identity?

My Italian origins are an essential part of who I am and, consequently, of my work.

Italy is passion a taste for beauty and the search for emotion in every shape and detail. Switzerland, on the other hand, represents precision, discipline, and reliability. I have had the privilege of inheriting both cultures: one encourages me to dream, the other teaches me how to bring those dreams to life with exactness.

In my watches, I always strive to preserve this dialogue between the heart and the hand. A design must move you first, but it must also be correct, balanced, and technically impeccable.

This balance is the soul of my watches.

You’ve chosen to limit production to only a few dozen watches each year. Is this a deliberate choice to preserve exclusivity and artisanal craftsmanship?

Absolutely. This choice has nothing to do with a commercial strategy, it is, above all, a question of respect. Respect for time, for well-executed work, and for the relationship I maintain with each watch I create.

I want to remain close to the material  to feel every component, to oversee each step of the process. Producing more would mean delegating, industrialising, and therefore losing part of that artisanal soul which is the very essence of my craft.

Limiting production is also a way to ensure that each collector receives a truly unique piece, born of living savoir-faire. I would rather create few pieces, but with a level of finish and emotion that only the hand can convey. It is this sincerity which, I believe, resonates with people.

The Tourbillon of Tourbillons stands as one of your most remarkable achievements. Could you share the inspiration behind this creation and how three tourbillons came to “beat as one”?

The idea of the Tourbillon of Tourbillons was born from what may seem like a slightly mad dream: to make several tourbillons speak to one another not in opposition, but in harmony.

A tourbillon is already one of the most fascinating complications, conceived to counter the effects of gravity and enhance precision. By bringing three together, we wanted to go further to create a mechanical symphony in which each regulating organ influences and balances the other two.

Technically, the challenge was immense. We had to rethink the transmission of energy entirely, the synchronisation of the movements, and the stability of the system. But beyond the feat itself, there was a profound technical and philosophical pursuit: the search for a collective heartbeat, a shared breathing in which the three tourbillons enter into resonance, bringing greater regularity to the watch.

I created this watch with my son Florian, and that, without doubt, gives it even deeper meaning. Three tourbillons beating in unison become a metaphor of transmission, of the bond between generations, of time that flows and is shared: past, present, and future.

What were the main technical and conceptual challenges you and your son Florian faced during its decade-long development?

The main challenge was to achieve true chronometric stability on the wrist, where the watch is in constant motion. With Florian, we developed a completely new architecture:

Three independent tourbillons.

Each tourbillon completes one rotation in 60 seconds.

All three are mounted on a 10-minute orbital rotating platform.

Their rates are averaged and stabilised by a triple planetary differential, enabling the phenomenon of acoustic resonance between the regulators.

The most demanding aspects were the micrometric tolerances, the precise balancing of masses, the control of friction, and the overall energy efficiency of the system. It took ten years of research, calculations, and prototyping for the three tourbillons to vibrate in harmony and form a stable, reliable, patented construction.

How did it feel when the Tourbillon of Tourbillons received two awards at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in 2015?

It was an incredibly intense moment. Receiving not just one but two awards, including the Public Prize, moved me deeply. And the Innovation Prize, in particular, was a true honour: to be recognised by my peers by those who understand the same discipline, the same pursuit of excellence, the same obsessions that define our craft.

After ten years of relentless work, doubts, sleepless nights, and countless experiments, I didn’t see these awards as a personal victory but as a validation of what independent watchmaking stands for: passion, freedom, and uncompromising creativity.

And sharing this moment with my son Florian gave it even more profound meaning. Seeing the three tourbillons beating in harmony on stage, then hearing the applause rise, felt as if time itself was thanking us.

On that day, I realised that what we had created went beyond mechanics it had become a universal emotion.

Your brand is truly a family enterprise  with your wife May, your son Florian, and your daughter Laura all contributing. How does this family dynamic influence the brand’s creativity, values, and vision?

Working as a family is an immense gift. It creates a particular energy a climate of trust and complete sincerity. Each of us brings our own sensibility: May has always had a keen eye, an instinctive understanding of what touches people. Florian is the engineer of the future he dares, he experiments. Laura brings a sense of aesthetics and communication that connects our work to the world.

This synergy allows us to remain authentic. We share the same values: respect for time, a passion for work well done, and the belief that every watch must carry a touch of humanity. In a world that moves ever faster, our strength lies in choosing to go against the current together.

Within the family, we are not simply making watches; we are trying to transmit an emotion  a trace of what time has that is most beautiful: continuity.

Do you see the next generation continuing the Preziuso legacy in new and innovative directions?

I am convinced of this: watchmaking is not static it lives, it evolves with those who wear it. Florian grew up in the workshop; he watched, he learned, and then he brought his own vision  more contemporary, sometimes more technological, yet always faithful to our roots. He understands that innovation has value only when it respects the soul of the craft.

I deeply believe that the new generation should not merely preserve a heritage but reinvent it. That is how art survives by remaining alive, by renewing itself without betraying its essence.

Seeing my children involved, each in their own way, is my greatest pride. It proves to me that what we have built is not merely a brand, but a story one that will continue to beat, to evolve, to dream, long after me.

As an independent watchmaker in a world dominated by major luxury groups, what are the key advantages and challenges of remaining independent?

Independence is, above all, a form of complete freedom — the freedom to create, to follow one’s instinct, to take risks and explore ideas that would have no place in a larger structure. I can follow my intuition, experiment with complex mechanisms or bold designs, without any commercial constraint dictating my choices.

But that freedom comes at a price. One must be extremely versatile, sometimes taking on every role at once: designer, craftsman, entrepreneur, communicator. The pressure is constant, for we do not have the resources of a large group to absorb errors or scale production. Every decision matters; every watch carries the full weight of the brand and of its creator.

For me, however, it is worth it. Independence allows the soul of watchmaking to be preserved and to remain faithful to the artisanal values and the passion that have always guided my work. It ensures that every watch, every complication, every finishing gesture tells an authentic story, the story of a watchmaker who creates with the heart, not with mere strategic calculation.

Collectors often admire independent brands for their authenticity and personal touch. What kind of relationship do you strive to build with your clients?

For me, the relationship with collectors is at the very heart of independent watchmaking. I am not simply trying to sell watches; I want to share a passion, to tell the story of each creation, and to listen to what each person seeks in the object they choose to wear.

It is a dialogue. Some come for the technique, others for the emotion  but all share the same respect for craftsmanship and for time. I strive to remain accessible, to explain the mechanism, to show the handwork, and sometimes even to involve collectors in the process through personalised adjustments.

This closeness transforms a watch into an experience  into a lasting relationship. It is this human connection, this direct bond, that defines the singularity of independence and that, in my view, gives true value to the watchmaking we create.

In your view, what defines true luxury in modern watchmaking?

True luxury, for me, is not something one displays, but something one feels and passes on. It lies in the time devoted to creation, in the attention to detail, in the finesse of each artisanal gesture. A genuine luxury watch tells a story the story of its makers, of its movement, and of the person who wears it.

In a world that moves quickly and where mass production tends to make objects uniform, luxury is patience, precision, and emotion. It is the privilege of owning a unique piece, created with integrity  where every gear, every finish, every complication has been conceived and executed with care and love.

It is this authenticity, this human closeness, and this mastery of time that, in my view, distinguish a watch as a truly luxurious work of art.

After more than three decades of innovation and artistry, what continues to inspire and drive your passion each day at the workbench?

What drives me every morning is the moment I return to the workbench and find myself with the same curiosity I had as a child that blend of wonder and challenge. What can I imagine today? What can I refine tomorrow? As long as this passion remains intact, the work retains its sense of play, and each watch becomes a small universe that tells its own unique story.

There is also the question of transmission. I can already see certain qualities emerging in my grandchildren. Who can say where that will lead them? Perhaps time simply continues its course through us.