Haute Time, News | March 14, 2012

Haute Time: My Interview With Franc Vila At Basel World

Haute Time, News | March 14, 2012

By Seth Semilof

I was very excited to meet Franc Vila for the first time. I am a huge fan of the watch brand and an owner of the Franc Vila Cobra myself. He immediately realized that I was a client and fan interviewing him to understand his vision and where he planned to take the company in 2012. All of Franc’s pieces are very cool, with some of the best technology I have ever seen. Plus, he himself is very cool with a great sense of style.

He immediately impressed me with a ladies’ tourbillon watch in black and red. Unlike most ladies tourbillon pieces at Basel, the Fvt #1 Planetair is very sporty and edgy. The model retails around $195,000 and is one of the coolest tourbillon pieces I have ever seen, let alone one for a woman. Equipped with a flying tourbillon with a five-day power reserve, this movement made history adopting an aesthetic shape for the first time.