Watches of the Week: The Vanguart Orb in Pink Ceramic Titanium and Blue Ceramic Rose Gold.
Vanguart’s extraordinary flying tourbillon gets a colourful new look, without losing any of the mechanical theatre that made the original so compelling.
- Words by: Harry Jarman
There is a tendency in haute horlogerie to take itself rather seriously. And when a watch contains almost 400 components, a flying tourbillon and the sort of hand-finishing usually reserved for pieces destined to spend more time in a safe than on a wrist, perhaps that's understandable. But Vanguart has other ideas.
For this year’s Geneva Watch Week, the independent watchmaker returned to its remarkable Orb with two new versions: the Orb Pink Ceramic Titanium and Orb Blue Ceramic Rose Gold. And, beneath those rather lengthy names, you'll find two watches that manage to make extraordinarily complicated watchmaking feel surprisingly fun.
The Orb first arrived in 2024 and immediately established Vanguart as an independent worth paying attention to. Its party trick was genuinely innovative: a function selector allowing the wearer to switch between automatic and manual winding. Press the pusher integrated into the crown and you can choose between 'M' for manual, 'A' for automatic and 'H' for setting the time. In manual mode, the oscillating mass is locked in position; switch to automatic and it is released to spin freely.
For 2026, however, it's the introduction of ceramic that really changes the character of the Orb. Pink ceramic is paired with titanium, while blue ceramic sits alongside 18-carat rose gold. The colour appears across the case flanks and crown pusher, with matching details continuing through the architecture of the movement. Developing it wasn't simply an aesthetic exercise, either: Vanguart spent a year creating a ceramic capable of following the Orb's complex curves while retaining its strength and finish.
And what architecture it is. At the centre sits the Orb's 3Hz flying tourbillon movement, constructed around Grade 5 titanium bridges and mainplate and finished using everything from micro-blasting and satin-finishing to block-polishing and hand-bevelling. There are 395 components in total and, despite the demands of the tourbillon, a respectable 60-hour power reserve.
What I particularly like about the Orb, though, is that Vanguart hasn't allowed all that mechanical ambition to result in an enormous watch. The case measures 41mm across and, remarkably, just 10.5mm thick. Its curved caseback has also been designed to follow the wrist, making this far more wearable than its appearance might suggest.
That matters because these new Orbs are clearly intended to be worn. The matching rubber straps feature Vanguart's concealed quick-release system, while luminous hands and hour markers ensure that you can actually tell the time amid all the mechanical fireworks.
Only 25 individually numbered examples of each colour will be produced, making them suitably rare.
The result is exactly the sort of watch independent watchmaking should be producing: technically ambitious, slightly eccentric and completely unapologetic. The blue and rose-gold version may be the more conventionally handsome of the pair, but I'd be tempted by the pink. After all, if you're going to wear a flying tourbillon with 395 components on a rubber strap, you might as well have some fun with it.
For more information please visit vanguart.com
