FVF
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DETAILS
Watchmaking in the early 2000s was a unique phenomenon, characterized by extravagant designs and complex mechanical watches from small, creative brands, each offering a distinctive perspective on the craft. Franc Vila, a designer and entrepreneur from Valencia, Spain, entered this dynamic environment. He had been interested in watchmaking since childhood. His journey began in 2002, when he started developing his own designs, and by 2004, these projects became reality as Vila created his first watch, the FV01 – a highly complex mechanical timepiece combining a minute repeater with a perpetual calendar. To establish his watchmaking art in the market, he founded the brand that bore his name and presented it, along with its first collection, to great fanfare at Baselworld 2005.
From the beginning, the brand’s watches were known for their distinctive, recognizable Esprit Unique design, featuring a dial and bezel inner contour shaped like an inverted figure eight. This naturally drew attention to the lower part of the dial, where the important complication indicators were usually located. In 2015, he stepped down from his original brand due to disagreements with co-owners over its direction. Two years later, in 2017, he launched a new brand, FVF (short for Franc Vila Founder), through which he aimed to realize his vision of modern luxury watches by combining classic design with cutting-edge movements, innovative technical ideas, and a striking appearance.
The first development of the FVF brand was the skeletonized FVF1 Emotional Horology No.1 Superligero watch, launched in 2018. It features a classic flying tourbillon, a decorative spherical day/night indicator, and an extravagant day-of-the-week indicator in the form of a roller, adjusted by a button with a spring-loaded stem of equally extravagant appearance. Reports indicate that, in developing this watch, Franc Vila collaborated with a celebrated independent Geneva watchmaker known for a neo-classical aesthetic, Breguet-like symmetrical movement construction, and flawless hand-finishing. This collaboration naturally drew even closer attention from connoisseurs to the FVF1 project.
REASONS TO BUY
The FVF2 Time-Day series is designed for collectors, and the appeal of this FVF2 Time-Day Intrepido ARTedition is heightened by its limited production of only eight pieces. According to Franc Vila, the in-house FVF2 caliber will be limited to a total of 100 pieces across all editions and customizations. This watch’s tricolor palette of rose gold, satin-brushed titanium, and deep black onyx creates a captivating classic timepiece with touches of military and Art Deco style. Franc Vila skillfully blends his natural temperament with an intelligent design approach, resulting in a distinctive, eye-catching, and memorable classic watch for the 21st century.
The retrograde day indicator is mainly a technical choice for design purposes, as it justifies a slight disruption of the dial’s symmetry by offsetting the central axis upward to accommodate the retrograde scale and enlarge the small seconds subdial. This gives the watch a distinctive character and suggests that turning it over will reveal an extraordinary movement. This design recalls the style of certain pocket watches made by Abraham-Louis Breguet, who pioneered the regular use of asymmetry to create a captivating classical aesthetic. However, the FVF2 Time-Day Intrepido ARTedition goes even further, leaning toward the technical or, if you prefer, military side of Art Deco, with a deep black polished onyx background and copper-colored (rose gold) powder markings. The inspiration – perhaps not for Franc Vila himself, but for us – comes from the very rare Oyster Perpetual Ref. 1008 ‘Black Zephyr’, which features a black dial with a central crosshair and gold-colored markings, introduced in the 1950s and produced until the early 1970s. The military feel of the FVF2 Time-Day Intrepido ARTedition is further enhanced by the “axis-free” small seconds hand and gunsight-style scale markings.
ABOUT THIS WATCH
Launched in early 2025, the FVF2 Time-Day is the second model in the FVF collection. It embodies Franc Vila’s vision of a classic watch and, in a sense, serves as the opposite of the FVF1, which features a complex tourbillon movement with a geometric, skeletal design. True to Franc Vila’s style, the FVF2 reveals its character at first glance – it’s a visually simple watch with a classic dial layout featuring hours, minutes, and seconds, a practical day-of-the-week indicator, and a traditional hand-wound movement, yet it unmistakably displays an explosive temperament.
It is important to note that the FVF2 Time-Day is designed for those who prefer to wear a watch on the right wrist, with the crown and day-of-the-week setting button positioned on the left. This FVF2 Time-Day Intrepido ARTedition features a striking combination of rose gold and titanium with a deep black onyx dial. The case is well-proportioned, with a diameter of 39.5 mm and a thickness of 9.75 mm – just under a 1:4 ratio – making the watch very comfortable to wear. It does not feel thick and bulky or too delicate. The gold components add some weight, but not excessively, thanks to the predominance of titanium in the case components and the mainplate, which is integrated into the caseband. This integration is one of the technical highlights of the FVF2’s design.
The FVF2 Time-Day’s functionality is minimal: in addition to the hour, minute, and small seconds hands, the watch features a retrograde day-of-the-week indicator and a stop-seconds mechanism with a separate bridge at the bottom of the movement. Both mechanisms are distinctive.
The stop-seconds mechanism in this watch is noteworthy not only for its presence – in modern watches, it is more the rule than the exception – but even more because Franc Vila made the well-justified decision to expose it, while other movement designers typically conceal it. The FVF2 Time-Day takes a different approach and even features the special small bridge of this mechanism, mounted below the balance wheel cock.
Overall, the movement’s structure resembles a pocket caliber with a clearly defined geometric design dominated by vertical and horizontal axes. The main bridges are made of nickel silver plated with rose gold, echoing the color of the case side parts, while the stop-seconds bridge, escapement bridge, ratchet wheel click bridge, and balance cock cape are crafted from steel and finished with black polish. This rare and elaborate hand-crafted decoration is complemented by wide, smoothed bevels on the bridges, featuring unusual geometry and rectilinear chamfers, creating a unique appearance that clearly reflects Franc Vila’s sense of contemporary fine mechanics.
Condition report
| Box: | Yes |
| Papers: | Yes |
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