Franc Vila's journey in horology is one of intellectual curiosity and artistic rebellion. From 1990 to 2000, his university studies in biochemistry, art, and philosophy laid the foundation for a watchmaking approach that would challenge industry conventions. Unable to find watches that resonated with his vision, Franc boldly decided to create his own, transforming a personal quest into a revolutionary horological venture.

His debut at Baselworld 2004 with the FV01—a perpetual calendar minute repeater and four other complicated references—immediately announced his arrival as a disruptive force in watchmaking. The avant-garde designs that followed, characterised by the distinctive upside-down figure 8 silhouette and pioneering use of materials like carbon fibre and aluminium-lithium, established Franc as a watchmaker unafraid to blur the boundaries between traditional craftsmanship and contemporary art.

In 2017, Franc launched FVF Genève as an independent Geneva-based brand, marking a new chapter in his pursuit of artisanal watchmaking excellence. The 2022 introduction of the FVF1 calibre—visible within the FVF1 Tourbillon Superligero DAY—represented a significant milestone in his vision: a lightweight, architecturally striking movement that embodies his philosophy of horological disruption. With the recent launch of the FVF2 calibre, we spoke with Franc about his transition from scientist to horological artist, the philosophy behind his unconventional designs, and how FVF represents his purest expression of independent watchmaking as he expands his in-house capabilities.

HOW DID YOU DISCOVER THE MAGIC OF WATCHES?

I came from Valencia, Spain and had nothing to do with or be related to anyone in the watch industry. Before creating watches under my name, I was always on the other side, buying watches.

My love for watches came from my father; it's quite the typical story. There exists a tradition of receiving a watch from your grandfather or father. It's an interesting story because it is the most emotional object you can own. Especially for men. We are attracted to things that move and look like they have their own life. This is why we are attracted to cars, planes, watches, and even the movement of the sea. I don't know where the fascination comes from, anthropologically or biologically—but it's true that deep down, we have that deep affection for moving things, for mechanical things that look like they have their own independent life.

My father was a historian with a deep affection for old things: art, books, objects, and especially fountain pens. As a child, I’d sit at his desk, drawing with his pens and pencils. I loved spending time in his office, surrounded by these beautiful tools. One day, I noticed a sports watch lying there, but the time was wrong. I asked him, "Why is the watch not telling the correct time? Why do you wear a watch that's lying to you?" He responded in a way that was both poetic and moving. He told me the watch was special and only worked when it was in contact with a human. I didn't believe him. "Come on," I said, "that's not possible." But he handed it to me and said, "Put it on your wrist and watch it come to life." And it did. The seconds hand started to move. It felt magical like the watch was alive because of me. Of course, I later understood it was just an automatic watch that had stopped, waiting to be activated. But in that moment, it was a revelation!

Watches come to life through us, powered by our presence. This was in the early 1980s, not long after the Quartz Crisis. My father already understood the quiet poetry of mechanical watches—their soul, dependence, and enduring beauty. From that moment, I started to read, find information, and ask questions about watches. Then, my father began to give me watches for my birthdays. I remember the first one was quartz with a moon phase. I was fascinated by moon phases and how my watch could predict the moon.

I started to understand how a watch is more emotional than a fountain pen because you wear it all day; it is in contact with you and your energy all day. I understood the emotional power that allowed the watch to be passed from generation to generation with that symbolic power because it was living thanks to your father's life, of a person who suddenly one day will not be with us. That is the poetic origin of a little boy falling in love with watches in Valencia.

WERE WATCHES YOUR FIRST MECHANICAL LOVE?

Yes, of course. I love cars, but I couldn't drive them as a child. I also loved fountain pens; even today, when I travel and find a stationery shop, I love to buy some as I love to draw. I have thousands of pens. I especially love Japanese pens. But my first love was watches.

YOU TURNED YOUR PASSION INTO A CAREER. HOW?

After finding success at work, I decided I wanted to buy myself a special watch. At the time, the internet wasn’t a thing, so I read many books and magazines about watches. I realised I was gravitating towards increasingly complicated watches. My favourite complication at that time was a minute repeater perpetual calendar. Around the year 2000, there were many classically styled watches without many complications, which was the taste of my father and my grandfather. But not to my taste! The classical style of Breguet was popular then, but it was not for me. My taste in watches was similar to my taste in cars – I'd rather have a contemporary Bugatti than one from the '40s. I prefer to use and appreciate mechanical things that represent the spirit of the time. Contradictorily, when it comes to art, I love the 19^th century and the old masters the most.

Anyway, after unsuccessfully searching for the watch I had in mind, I started to dream about making my own designs. I made one in Valencia with some friends; it was a straightforward watch based on an ETA 2892 because I couldn't get any complicated movements. I then convinced ETA to sell me movements directly and bought five 2892 calibres per month. I had to sign many forms to demonstrate I wouldn't make counterfeit watches, haha!

I decided to come to Geneva to find a way to make my dream watch, a minute repeater perpetual calendar with a contemporary style. Step by step, I assembled a team to create a unique piece—using a Lemania minute repeater and then adding a module for the perpetual calendar. Of course, purchasing an existing watch would have been cheaper, but my creation was to my own taste at that moment.

My idea was to create more watches because some friends said they loved my watch and asked if I could make one for them. However, I learned that you could only produce watches on an industrial scale at the time, and it was challenging to create a few by hand.

Creating a movement at that time was extremely difficult; as you know, everyone who created movements used ébauches. It was extremely difficult to make a movement that works well and manufacture your own pinions and wheels. So, I started a collection of four complications and began approaching manufacturers, but my supplier said they would only take a minimum of 100 orders. But they were willing to make an exception; as I had started with four movements and four references, they agreed to supply 25 of each, thus reaching the 100 minimum order. I understood I needed to scale up and create a brand to make the watches I had dreamed of.

The industry wasn't ready; I had to wait almost 16 years as my current project started in 2016 to create my watch with my own in-house movement. Nowadays, many young watchmakers enjoy the freedom of creation that is now possible. It's not just them; us veterans are also enjoying this moment! In the end, we all have our moments.

DID YOU CHANGE PERSONALLY THROUGHOUT THIS JOURNEY?

You can see in the design of the FVF1 Tourbillon Superligero that I'm calmer, quieter, and more rational. I'm passionate, but this is mixed more with rationality. I'm an older man now; I have more experience and can better understand the details of watchmaking. Don't forget that when I started in 2004, it was my first experience in the industry. I arrived in the industry knowing nothing; I didn't have a clue or even know what went into pricing the watches. I was losing money initially because I didn't know I had to do this or that. I didn't know how expensive it is to create a company with engineering costs, salaries, etc.

I needed partners and suppliers because, during the crisis, all the big groups took the suppliers. But then, when you start to go down this path, you have to be careful because not everyone understands your vision. You only have to look at what became of the original brand to understand this. By 2007, we were making over 1,000 watches per year, but when the crisis arrived, my partners started to lower the quality and began producing quartz-based watches. I felt that neither the designs nor the philosophy represented who I was, and I decided to leave.

When I finished working with the Franc Vila brand, I started to think about its evolution and what it became. I couldn't identify with the watches and stopped wearing them. Then, I began to appreciate the beauty of simple watches. I was obsessed with complications and still am, but also, because of my age, I became more rational, quieter, and more meditative; I can better appreciate details.

Then, I decided to create the watches that I had always wanted to produce, with my own movements that really fit my personality and taste.

AND HOW DID THE INDUSTRY CHANGE?

The industry has evolved over the past 20 years; my generation grew what we now call industrial independent watchmaking. Machinery is smaller, cheaper, and easier to use, enabling more innovation and experimentation. However, the most interesting thing is how consumers' tastes have changed. Back then, we were all happy with industrial finishing; I remember going to BNB Concept and saying I wanted my tourbillons finished by hand, and they were saying no one was doing it; it would be too expensive. Philippe Dufour was already doing that but making very few watches.

It's the same in the art world; we are so used to something that when something is so evident, most see it not as an opportunity but as something strange. My good friend Rexhep Rexhepi was one of the few in the 2010s who dared to make a watch with a highly modified and beautifully finished ébauche. Rexhep opened the eyes of everyone, including myself. Everyone was used to a more industrial style of finishing. Of course, it wasn't easy for Rexhep, but that was pace of consumer taste changing. From that point of inflection, the independent watchmaking scene changed. He succeeded in changing the taste of collectors and deserves it!

After the Quartz Crisis, François-Paul Journe opened our eyes in the early 2000s, creating his own top-quality movements and designing beautiful dials and cases to host them. Rexhep Rexhepi did it again a decade later. Both are of the same school of thought, as Rexhep learnt a lot while working under François-Paul. François-Paul Journe, and later on Rexhep, showed us that it is not enough to have a good movement to have chronometric performance; it must also be beautiful! Symmetry, harmony, and the small details contribute to his aesthetic vision.

REGARDING AESTHETICS, WHAT DO YOU NOW SEE AS CONTEMPORARY?

It's a complex concept, but it includes the culture at that moment, the spirit of the time, and what is in the collective mind. Today, we are more unified because we are all connected. To do something contemporary, you must do new things connected with the latest technology and keep it rooted in tradition because nothing is truly created from scratch. Everything has a relationship with the past. You can see this with contemporary painters and trace their inspirations back to the evolution of art.

How does this relate to watches? Using myself as an example, newer technologies enable me to create a strong skeletonised titanium main plate. François-Paul always told me he would never work with skeletonised watches because they don't make sense from a stability point of view; why walk on sand if you can walk on concrete? Today, however, technology allows me to make a highly skeletonised unibody baseplate out of grade-5 titanium and still achieve stability and chronometric performance. There was always a trade-off in the past, and one had to compromise strength for skeletonisation. Back then, watchmakers worked with metals that could be machined and decorated by hand. Today's machinery allows us to do what wasn't previously possible.

I always insist on finishing our movements by hand because that's the point of tradition. It isn't easy to decorate titanium, so we produce fewer watches, but it is worth it! It is a fascinating evolution; you can do it without compromising the watch's classical appeal. Combining the classical appeal with innovation is my definition of contemporary. The hand finishing is the link that connects the two.

WATCHES WERE TOOLS; NOW, THEY ARE OFTEN SEEN AS ART. DID THIS EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH TO WATCHMAKING ELEVATE WATCHES IN THE PUBLIC'S MIND?

In all disciplines related to art, there are artisans and artists. With architects, there are two different types: architects who think like engineers to make buildings that you live in and things that don't fall apart, and then there are architects who make art. Watchmakers are the same.

Do you know who liberated watches from being merely tools in my mind? The mobile phone! Do you know why? Not too long ago, the only way to view time was by looking at the church tower. Then we got pocket watches, wristwatches, and clocks in the car, at home, and at work. Suddenly, time was everywhere. But the mobile phone set the watch free to be art! The phone liberates the watch of its obligation as an instrument; it is something most of us carry everywhere and is always in contact with us, like a watch. Once time became a commodity, we could display alternative ways to show the time. You can even make watches that are difficult to read.

I love transitional times and compare the mobile phone with photography and art. Before photography, there were a lot of paintings that were a witness to the time, be it portraits or landscapes. Then, artists were set free because of the camera to talk about their feelings, impressions of the world, and how they see things, unlike a machine that sees everything. It is the same with the phone and the watch. Because we always look at our phones, watches can be more artistic. From then on, watches had so much more personality.

HOW DID THIS INFLUENCE YOUR PHILOSOPHY AS A CREATOR?

During my studies, I was deep into the philosophy of art, the role it plays in shaping the creator, and the influence it has on the creation of an idea, a concept, and a product. I am more interested in the creation than the creator; this is why my name has always been quite small on the dial—on the FVF1, it is actually difficult to see and is engraved, flanking the 12 o'clock marker. In the new FVF2, it is the same, the 'FVF' logo is found very discretely on the dial between the 10 and 11 o'clock hour markers. I don't need a huge logo because the most important thing for me is the product, the creation. Of course, the creator is important because he is involved in the creation process, but what differentiates a creator isn't himself but his creations.

The connection to art is interesting because the concept of authorship in art is quite new. Before that, the most important thing was whether the painting was good. Who cares who painted it. But then artists started to sign their paintings; art was no longer about witnessing an event but about expression! We have a lot of masterpieces that are anonymous, though, because of this. There was a reluctance to sign their art; I can relate to this sentiment. The process of creation is enough for me. Making the watch that I always wanted to make brings me enough satisfaction.

HOW IS YOUR PERSONALITY NOW EXPRESSED THROUGH YOUR CREATIONS?

For me, watches need to be extremely wearable. You should be able to wear a watch all day without feeling obliged to look at it. I want the wearer to gradually discover and be delighted by the details. A watch must announce itself on your terms.

During my childhood, whenever my father had to do something with his hands, he would first take off his watch. Watches couldn't withstand shocks so well. But today, I want my watches worn and enjoyed at work, at the gym, and on my wrist while dancing in the disco! You will slowly discover many elements that activate something emotionally or intellectually in your mind. For example, the lugs on the FVF2 at the 6 and 12 o'clock positions are asymmetrical. This slight difference impacts how the watch is worn and brings me joy.

When designing the FVF1, I considered the possibility of a simple but complicated, mechanical watch that was extremely well-finished. The funny thing about the FVF2 is that it has more parts than the FVF1 because I wanted to efficiently include retrograde days of the week. This complication is very useful because sometimes I don't know what day of the week it is! Monday is easy. So is Friday. But Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday always blur together.

I have a conceptual artistic edition of the FVF1 called 'Today Today'. All days are marked as 'Today' to remind you that you only have today. Each variation of 'Today' is printed in a different font to remind you of each day's uniqueness.

I FIND IT INTERESTING THAT YOUR PERSONALITY EVEN SHINES THROUGH ON A WARRANTY CARD!

Watchmaking is my passion; it is my life, at the end of the day. I handwrite the warranties with an illustration. It is my passion and way of living and creates a personal connection. It is like having a conversation with your client, and you are taking time to appreciate their passion. For everything in life, I am always doing things for a reason.

The whole process makes me happy because I like to see my clients not as clients but as supporters, helping us continue our vision. I love knowing people who are interested in my watches and learning why they decided to wear one of my creations! We are creating feelings and emotions, and I aim to share my personal universe through my watches.