With a surname that translates as “precious”, Antoine Preziuso was destined to create objects of great beauty. The son of a watchmaker, born in Geneva in 1957, he showed an early interest in mechanisms and in 1974 followed in his father’s footsteps by enrolling at the city’s École d’Horlogerie, from where he graduated top of his class in 1978: newly qualified in an industry plunged into crisis by quartz movements. The future of the mechanical watch was uncertain to say the least and so, after stints with Patek Philippe then Antiquorum, Antoine Preziuso set up as a restorer of antique watches in Geneva. Weekends were spent with old friend Franck Muller browsing flea markets for components they could transform. In fact the first watches of his own making were built from second-hand parts, rummaged in boxes during these Sunday strolls. One such creation is his very first perpetual calendar minute repeater, completed in 1991 using a movement picked up on a flea-market stall.
Antoine Preziuso
Celebrities
Antoine Preziuso expresses his talent for innovation in technically refined mechanisms combined with advanced aesthetic research.
Imagination is not something Antoine Preziuso lacks; nor the patience to bring his ideas to fruition, patiently coaxing them into being over a period of years. His watches speak for themselves. Some are monumental, many are extravagant, few are round. They come as one-offs, bespoke or very limited runs: Antoine Preziuso doesn’t think in terms of collections. What they do share are refined mechanisms combined with advanced aesthetic research. From the very first watch to the impressive Tourbillon des Tourbillons, unveiled in 2015, one need look no further than their maker’s extraordinary inventiveness to see their common denominator. As early as the 1990s, Breguet, Harry Winston and de Grisogono were among those putting his talent to the test. Antoine Preziuso can turn his hand to anything, but the tourbillon is where he excels. From the first piece in his landmark The Art of Tourbillon collection in 2002 to the Tourbillon Meteor Gibeon in 2003, the T21 in 2004, the 3Volution Tritourbillon Resonance 3 in 2005, the reversible B-Side Tourbillon in 2007… the list is as long as his years of experience, culminating in the Tourbillon des Tourbillons whose three tourbillons resonate with each other on a rotating plate.
Getting to grips with the enormous technical challenges of this watch, not least the development of a central planetary triple-differential, took Antoine and his son Florian a full ten years. Because watchmaking is a family affair for the Preziusos. Antoine’s wife May manages the business, daughter Laura makes mechanical jewellery and Florian heads a production unit in the canton of Geneva, producing between 60 and 80 Antoine Preziuso watches a year, as well as consulting for other brands. Each member of the Preziuso clan is independent but they are all united around a certain idea of horological creation and the freedom this implies.
1978
Graduated from École d’Horlogerie de Genève.
1978-1979
Spent two years at Patek Philippe’s complications workshop.
1980
Set up the first restoration workshop for Antiquorum auction house.
1981
Opened a restoration workshop in Geneva.
1986
Signed his first watch, the Sienna with a dial in Carrara marble.
1991
Completed his first complication watch: a perpetual calendar minute repeater with bezel winding.
2002
Presentation at Baselworld of six original tourbillon watches including the first use of meteorite fragments. Created the Opus 2 for Harry Winston.
2004
The first Antoine Preziuso store opened in Geneva, followed by boutiques in other cities including Kiev, Osaka and Dubai.
2005
Launch of the 3Volution triple tourbillon for the brand’s 25th anniversary.
2011
Relocated from Plan-les-Ouates to a manor in the Geneva countryside.
2015
Creation of the Tourbillon des Tourbillons with three tourbillons in resonance on a rotating plate. Winner in two categories at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève.
2020
Awarded the Prix Gaïa in the Craftsmanship-Creation category for his “systematic approach to horological mechanisms.”
