Cvstos

Cvstos was born in 2005 in Geneva from the meeting of Sassoun Sirmakes, then barely in his twenties and son of Vartan Sirmakes (who, together with the Muller family, heads the Franck Muller Watchland group), and Antonio Terranova, a designer and technician from La Chaux-de-Fonds with experience at manufactures such as TAG Heuer and collaborations with brands including Breitling, Ebel and Zenith. The name chosen for the brand, from the Latin "custos" (guardian/keeper), reflects the two founders' declared ambition: to preserve and reinterpret Geneva watchmaking know-how in a contemporary key.

From its very first collection, presented in 2005 with a chronograph, a dual time-zone indication and a tourbillon, Cvstos adopted the tonneau (barrel-shaped) case as its recognizable stylistic signature, a profile chosen for its ability to sit better on the wrist than a round case, as well as for the larger surface it offers for dial and movement design. In 2009 the brand consolidated its structure by bringing boutique, production workshop and offices together under one roof in the center of Geneva, reinforcing a vertical integration that still characterizes how the company designs and assembles its watches today.

Over the years Cvstos has built a relatively broad catalogue for an independent manufacture of this size, experimenting with materials such as titanium, carbon, ceramic and cases in colored sapphire machined from a solid block, and pairing its men's Challenge line with collections dedicated to different themes — from the nautical inspiration of Sealiner to the more feminine Re-Belle — while keeping a constant stylistic thread running through the tonneau case, semi-skeletonized movements and open dials that reveal the mechanics beneath.