Some brands thrive outside of the eye of the general public. This is a great benefit for the in-group supporters who love the brand, but can also be a missed opportunity for those on the outside. One of these brands is Vault. It was back in 2013 when founder Mark Schwarz started to think about the essence of time. Ultimately, he reached three conclusions; time was personal, precious, and implacable. Based on this, he created a concept for a watch that shows the passing of time in a way that is always different.
The challenge was to ultimately make the watch so great that it tempted some of the greatest names in (independent) watchmaking to work on it. The team includes, among others, AHCI member Andreas Strehler, former AHCI member Marc Jenni, engineer Philippe Schmid, and renowned designer Laurent Auberson. Vault can even count Albert Zeller, owner of RC Tritec AG, the company making Super-LumiNova®, among its supporters. As Vault considers time to be a personal affair, the vast majority of its watches are bespoke and tailored to the specific wishes of its future owner, as they did with the Vault V3+Onyx.
While staying true to the brand’s DNA, the newest model is perhaps the most sportive Vault to date. It is the first to feature a crown guard, and brand designer Laurent Auberson has completely redesigned the case to integrate this in the most natural way. It is crafted from Grade 5 titanium and given a black coating of Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC). The Vault V3+Onyx is powered by one of the most unique manufacture calibers currently available. This automatic movement turns around its axis, while displaying the time by a unique circle of gears on the dial side. With the current hour visible through a mesh dish, its location will always change. This gives the wearer a new way of interacting with the watch and forces consciousness of the ever-changing power of the passing of time.
Both the front and back sapphire crystal of this Vault have a double anti-reflective coating so that it is almost like there is no crystal at all. As this watch expresses the sportier side of the brand, the decorations are subtle and industrial. The center plate is sandblasted and joins in the monochrome color theme with the rhodium-plated gears and bridges, which are hand-bevelled. The five-minute markers are solid blocks of Super-LumiNova®, a material that can be found on the centrally placed minute hand, as well as on the Arabic numerals displaying the hours.
Measuring 40mm wide and 46.7mm in length, the Vault V3+Onyx sits comfortably on the wrist. The titanium case keeps the weight down, but also the shape of it proves to be perfect. The high-tech nylon strap with rubber lining complements this perfectly and is most suitable for the most sportive Vault to date.
To learn more, visit Vault, here