Villemont- write up from Europa Star

ASTON R ALARM
18 carat pink gold case (43 mm) equipped with a VM 105 Calibre self-winding movement, circular graining decoration, bidirectional oscillating weight decorated with Côtes de Genève pattern. Ebony-toned 18 carat gold dial with ‘Clou de Villemont®’ guilloché, hours, minutes, seconds functions, date calendar at 12 o’clock, GMT at 6 o’clock, central small seconds. 42-hour power reserve, sapphire crystal front and back, black alligator strap with gold buckle, water-resistant to 30 metres.



ASTON R
18 carat white gold case (43 mm) equipped with a VM 101 Calibre self-winding movement, circular graining decoration, bidirectional oscillating weight decorated with Côtes de Genève pattern. Ebony-toned 18 carat gold dial with ‘Clou de Villemont®’ guilloché, hours, minutes, seconds functions, date calendar at 3 o’clock, dual time at 6 o’clock, small seconds at 9 o’clock, 30-minutes sub-dial at 12 o’clock. 42-hour power reserve, sapphire crystal front and back, black alligator strap with gold buckle, water-resistant to 30 metres



May 31, 2005
By D. Malcolm Lakin

After much brainstorming, Oliver Müller, the founder and President of this very new and exciting brand decided that the Villemont name perfectly evoked what he was trying to do in watchmaking … classical looks with a contemporary interpretation, traditional craftsmanship with modern techniques and viable and functional complications that are also aesthetically pleasing. In short, Villemont is a stylish new brand that is totally coherent in both concept and appearance.

V for Villemont
The V of Villemont is a part of the brand’s logo, but it is also incorporated into design features on the crown of the watches and the buckle and shaping of the straps. However, the definitive innovation is to be found on the dial as a guilloché V-shaped pattern that has been specially created and also patented: it’s called the Clou de Villemont®.
Having worked with such leading names as Omega, Metalor and Chopard, Müller has an insider’s knowledge of the watch industry and from the outset his objective has been to create a stylish brand with its own identity that incorporates perfection in each and every component. For example, the various coloured gold cases are superbly crafted and although they have a classical feel about them, creative thought and workmanship has imbued them with contrasting finishes and refined crowns and pushbuttons. The dials, which are also in gold, have a galvanic colouring (silver, ebony, slate-grey or cognac), appliqué numerals and indices and the exquisite V-shaped Clou de Villemont guilloché – even the ladies’ watches with their mother-of-pearl dials bear an engraved version of the Clou de Villemont pattern.

The Collections
There are three basic collections: the Aston R - round watches, the Aston T - tonneau-shaped and the Lady V collection. Aston R comes in two sizes, 39 mm and 43 mm. The smaller sized watch indicates hours, minutes and seconds with a Big Date window at 3 o’clock. The standard-bearer in the larger size is the GMT Alarm that features a double time zone, a date indicator and an interesting strike mechanism. Other complications are a Dual Time with date and small seconds and a Split-Seconds Chronograph, activated by a coaxial crown, with a power reserve indicator.
Aston T is also in two sizes: 46 x 32 mm and 51 x 35.5 mm. With the exception of the GMT Alarm mechanism, the tonneau-shaped watches offer the same complications as the Aston R.
The watches in both these collections are equipped with a self-winding mechanical movement and have a sapphire crystal caseback with Côtes de Genève decoration on the oscillating weight and fine circular-graining on the bridges and bars.
The Lady V collection comes in two tonneau sizes – 33 x 25 mm and 42 x 33 mm – and are not simply scaled-down versions of the men’s models, but specially designed, refined feminine creations. Again, extensive design work was undertaken to ensure that Lady V was different from any other watch on the market. The dials are in white, pink or grey mother-of-pearl with a finely engraved V motif and the jewellery versions are set with diamonds or coloured sapphires in an original manner. The self-winding movement in this collection come with a diamond-set oscillating weight and a sapphire crystal caseback. A quartz movement is also available. Prices start at around 17,000 Swiss francs and increase to 45,000 for the gem-set watches.

Distribution
Oliver Müller has no illusions about the development of his brand. He anticipates producing between 700 and 1,000 watches a year over the first three years and his distribution objective is to have 100 to 150 quality points-of-sale around the world. Initially, his priorities will be limited to just three outlets in Switzerland and the development of the Middle East and Russia, but sees difficulty for a small independent about opening up the Asian countries.
Given the fine workmanship and the attention to detail combined with the coherent concept of producing only practical complications, Villemont watches may well have developed its own high quality niche.


Source: April-May 2005 Issue