CVSTOS Genève, the Tonneau Brand That Chose Victory

Founded in 2005 in the wake of Franck Muller, CVSTOS crafts its tonneau-shaped watches in a farmhouse near Geneva. History, manufacture, pricing, and the white ceramic ARMAN EDITION with Arman Tsarukyan.

It took a UFC fighter for CVSTOS to do something it had never done in twenty years: create a ceramic watch. This summer, Arman Tsarukyan, one of the best lightweights on the planet, traveled to Geneva to discover the first prototype of the ARMAN EDITION, a Challenge Sealiner dressed in white ceramic and rose gold. He wanted a white watch with gold accents on the inside. He got much more than just a signature on a dial, and through him, the brand found the face of its new ambition. To understand why this partnership makes sense, we have to look back at the history of a brand still relatively unknown to the general public, yet born at the heart of one of the most influential families in contemporary watchmaking.

A Brand Born in the Wake of Franck Muller

CVSTOS was founded in 2005 by Sassoun Sirmakes and designer Antonio Terranova. The name Sirmakes is no coincidence: Sassoun's father is the co-founder of Franck Muller, of which he is now the sole shareholder. Sassoun grew up in the group's workshops, working there during summers as a teenager before joining full-time at 17, gaining experience in diamonds, production, and sales. It was there that he met Terranova, a designer gifted in 3D modeling. Rather than hiring him, he proposed they create their own brand around a simple idea: reinventing the tonneau shape, making it sportier and more skeletonized.

This lineage explains a family resemblance that many enthusiasts notice at first glance. In the early 2000s, the tonneau watch was a very exclusive club featuring Franck Muller, Richard Mille, and CVSTOS. The American media outlet aBlogtoWatch also points out that CVSTOS and Richard Mille share common origins, as the tonneau shape popularized by Richard Mille was itself borrowed from Franck Muller's Curvex case. Far from being an imitation, CVSTOS claims historical legitimacy over this shape, which has become the emblem of luxury sports watchmaking, the very same one whose secondary market value is tracked by our Richard Mille index.

A Manufacture in a 250-Year-Old Farmhouse

The brand's other unique feature is its production facility. Just minutes from Geneva Airport, at the end of a gravel path, CVSTOS has transformed the former stables of a 250-year-old neoclassical farmhouse into a modern manufacture, as reported by WorldTempus. Work was completed in 2009 with the first four machines. Today, the facility houses 14 CNC machines, all paid for without bank loans according to Sassoun Sirmakes. Around 800 watches a year are produced entirely in-house, representing 40% of a total production of about 2,000 pieces, managed by a team of around thirty people.

Mainplates, bridges, cases, dials, bezels, and oscillating weights are machined there, while assembly takes place behind the scenes of the Geneva showroom. The aesthetic choice is deliberate: minimal hand-decoration, varied machine finishes, and resolutely contemporary watchmaking.

Positioning Between CHF 12,000 and CHF 40,000

This industrial independence supports a precise market positioning. Entry-level prices start at CHF 12,000, with the core range sitting between CHF 18,000 and CHF 40,000, reaching higher for models like the Sealiner Double Tourbillon. The brand is distributed through around 150 points of sale worldwide and private sales. Sassoun Sirmakes admits that for a long time, they focused too much on the product and not enough on communication. The stated goal is now to become a true brand, and that is where sports come into play.

Sports as an Accelerator

The first bet was tennis. Karen Khachanov wears Challenge Purity models in aluminum or carbon during matches, watches light enough to be forgotten on the wrist during intense play. The success of this partnership convinced CVSTOS to expand its ambassador team, with Sassoun readily comparing the approach to casting Ocean's Eleven. In 2026, the brand also partnered with the IndyCar team Juncos Hollinger Racing, releasing a five-piece series inspired by the livery of the No. 76 car at the Indy 500.

This all fits into a new brand message, “Victory comes with time”, and a reinterpretation of the V in CVSTOS: Victory, Values, Versus, and Velocity. It is within this framework that the brand formalized the arrival of Arman Tsarukyan as its main ambassador, an announcement covered in French by Passion Horlogère.

The ARMAN EDITION, a True Co-Creation

It was Karen Khachanov, a friend of the fighter, who introduced him to the brand. Born in 1996 in Akhalkalaki, Georgia, the Armenian fighter took part in the creation of his watch alongside Sirmakes and Terranova, discussing proportions, materials, and colors, and validating the 3D concepts. An avid collector, he knew that gold and steel scratch easily, he told WorldTempus. Hence the choice of white ceramic, which retains its luster despite an active lifestyle.

The ARMAN EDITION features the tonneau case of the Challenge Sealiner Petite Seconde, measuring 41 mm wide by 53.7 mm long, chosen over the 45 mm version. The exposed screws and crown are in 18-karat rose gold, and the handwritten signature “Arman” appears on the lower part of the bezel. The teak wood that usually adorns the Sealiner's dial, a nod to yacht decks, makes way for an openworked dial.

Beating inside is the CVS410 caliber, built on a Sellita SW360 base running at 4 Hz with a 42-hour power reserve, featuring a skeletonized rotor weighted with tungsten. The watch comes on a white Cordura or Nitril rubber strap, and the brand does not disclose the water resistance of this ceramic version. Limited to 100 pieces, it is priced at $20,000, with orders processed exclusively through the official CVSTOS channel.

Perfect Timing in the Octagon

Following his first-round knockout victory over Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 331, Tsarukyan claims that the UFC is preparing a lightweight title shot for him, which he expects in the first quarter of 2027, according to MMA Sucka. Nothing is official at this stage, but if the belt comes, the white watch from Geneva will be front and center.

With this collaboration, CVSTOS is doing more than just lending its name to a celebrity. It is asserting what sets it apart: a direct lineage to the pioneers of the tonneau shape, an independent manufacture capable of venturing into new materials, and a sports strategy built around athletes who actually wear their watches. For enthusiasts looking for a credible alternative to the big names in sports watchmaking, CVSTOS is clearly worth a second look. To track the market value of major watch brands, visit the Osterman index.