LONDON — Brands often talk about inspiring their communities, helping them to dream and feel a sense of belonging. For Vanguart, an indie brand that produces highly complicated, limited-edition designs, the relationship flows both ways.
Some high-profile fans, including tennis champs Elena Rybakina and Andrey Rublev, are a source of inspiration for the brand. Both players asked Vanguart if they could wear their watches on the court, and Rybakina even won the women’s singles title at the 2026 Australian Open wearing a titanium model.
“We don’t design the watches for sports, but we tried our luck. And now we’ve seen them tested on the field by high-level professionals,” said Mehmet Koruturk, chairman and cofounder of Vanguart, which was founded in 2017 and makes all of its movements in-house.
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“I took the risk myself — without asking the watchmakers beforehand. They would have been afraid of the watches being smashed. There is a huge G-force created when players hit the ball, but now we know the watches can withstand it,” he added.
Last year a different sort of inspiration came from the world of professional soccer. Vanguart received a private commission from the owners of Manchester City, who wanted 40 ceramic watches made in the team’s signature shade of light blue.
“It was the first ceramic watch we ever did. We developed all the R&D for the commission, so we thought why not do a collection ourselves?” he said. The result, The Vanguart Orb Pink Ceramic Titanium and Vanguart Orb Blue Ceramic Rose Gold, will be on show in Geneva this week.
The Orb, which first came out in 2024, has a flying tourbillon movement and, unusually, allows the wearer to switch between automatic and manual winding modes.
While ceramic can be difficult to work with — it’s brittle and inflexible — the new material allowed Vanguart to introduce color into the collection, and create a watch that’s more playful, casual and in tune with fashion trends.
Both ceramic watches are limited editions. The U.S. retailer Material Good will serve as the exclusive global outlet for the Orb Pink Ceramic Titanium and each of the 25 timepieces will have the “MG” monogram engraved on the case back.
The Orb Blue Ceramic Rose Gold will be available through Material Good; Seddiqi, Vanguart’s exclusive partner in the Middle East, and directly from Vanguart in all other markets.
Koruturk said the U.S. is currently Vanguart’s largest market, followed by the Middle East and Europe. He said demand is coming from across the U.S. and customers come from different backgrounds, including tech, film, sports, finance and energy.
Demand in the Middle East is thriving despite the conflict there. Koruturk said that because distribution is limited and prices are high — the (non-ceramic) rose gold Vanguart Orb costs more than $200,000 — demand remains strong.
Looking ahead, Koruturk said Vanguart will continue to cultivate its fan base — customers include collectors and celebrities such as Ed Sheeran and Michael Jordan — and forge ties with different industries.
In February, Vanguart partnered with Warner Music to host events during the Brit Awards weekend in Manchester, England. The brand has other sports and lifestyle-related events planned for later this year.
“It’s all about creating a little community. We don’t ask people to wear the watches, we don’t put out displays. We want to gather artists, athletes, clients and editors, and if they’re interested we’ll talk to them about the watches, but that’s not the main goal,” he said.
Asked about some of the trends he’s seeing in the market, Koruturk believes there’s been a shift in attitude among collectors.
“We’re seeing a tremendous amount of interest in independent watchmakers. Mainstream products are everywhere, and clients want something different. When we launched the brand in 2017, we foresaw this trend with the big collectors. Now we’re also seeing newer collectors interested in independent watch brands,” he said.
