Artisans de Genève

Modern Swiss watchmaking with a unique twist every time.

Customisation and timepieces are two things that have always gone hand in hand. From their humble beginnings, wristwatches were in fact just customised pocket watches. Fast forward over 100 years, and customisation remains just as relevant today as it always has been. Be it engraving a case back, swapping out a dial, or just putting your watch on a different strap, people like to change their watches so that they reflect their own sense of style, their personality and better reflect who they are as a person. As people have recently begun to search for more exclusive timepieces, we have seen an upsurge in brands offering limited edition collections and the popularisation of micro-brands. But what it all boils down to is that we want our watches to be an extension of ourselves and our individuality as a person, and no workshop in the world understands that better than Artisans de Genève.

History and Services

Founded in 2005, Artisans de Genève is an independent watch customisation workshop based in Geneva, Switzerland. They offer a bespoke service for their private clientele that are seeking to make their watch a truly 1 of 1 piece, designed by themselves and the best in the business. By blending every aspect of their customer's specifications with modern cutting-edge engineering and traditional watchmaking techniques, they can personalize timepieces that treat the DNA of the original brand's design with the level of respect that only artisans such as themselves could achieve.

The Process

The customisation itself is a 6 to 8-week long process made up of consulting with the client, designing and planning what the timepiece will look like, and finally the modification and assembly itself. The modification process includes disassembling the watch to its constituent parts and working on each of them individually, often mostly done by hand. From customising dials with the most desirable of tropical patinas such as the dial of the "Tribute to the Tropical 6240", to skeletonising movements by hand, such as the movement of "La Montoya" – a project undertaken in collaboration with racing legend Juan Pablo Montoya, Artisans de Genève quite literally know no bounds.

Photo credit: watchfalcon @Instagram 

Limited Capacity

As mentioned, their services are offered on an extremely limited capacity so that they can guarantee that the work they do complete is done with the utmost level of respect for the timepiece that they have been entrusted to customise. While finding examples of their artistry is rare to come by in the wild, we here at The Watch Stand are lucky to have customers that are only more than happy to store, display and share their incredible Artisans de Genève timepieces with us as they sit upon our watch stands when they aren’t on their wrists.

Photo credit: watchfalcon @Instagram 

Barrichello Gold Project

The two Rolexes pictured here on display atop one of our watch stands are based on the famous Barrichello Gold Project that Artisans de Genève undertook for Rubens Barrichello, the Brazilian F1 racing driver. The theme of the Barrichello project was to stylise his Rolex Daytona after the mechanical world of F1. To achieve Barrichello’s specifications, his Daytona had a considerable amount of work done to it. It’s Rolex 4130 movement was skeletonised and bevelled by hand and given a 21ct gold rotor. The finishing of the movement, rotor and dial was done in black DLC, as Barrichello felt black and the rose gold of his timepiece would give his timepiece a sophisticated allure. The Daytona’s dial was also skeletonised by hand to best display the mechanical excellence of Rolex’s 4130 movement. The hand-painted inscriptions on the dials are done in white paint to have them clearly stand out, allowing the piece to remain perfectly functional. To top everything off, the tachymeter inscription of black Barrichello’s Daytona’s ceramic bezel was painted in white with the word ‘Tachymeter’ in red, to complete the sporty look of his timepiece.