Gregory Proz

Gregory Proz is Geneva's newest independent watchmaker — and one whom collectors are being told to remember and keep on their radar. Born and raised in Geneva, trained there, and now 40 — older than most first-time independents — Proz brings a pedigree most debutants can only envy: he won the GPHG's Best Young Student award nearly two decades ago, then cut his teeth at BNB Concept, the legendary complications maker (eventually absorbed by Hublot) that also forged the skills of Rexhep Rexhepi. Proz and Rexhepi have been friends for nearly twenty years, and the friendship remains practical — 'If I need a tool, I just walk over and ask Rexhep,' as Proz puts it. Before going independent he added a master's degree in project management, and there's Geneva watch culture in his blood from an unexpected angle too: his father directed the Théâtre du Léman, the very hall where the GPHG awards are held — a few of its old theater seats now furnish his atelier, waiting for visitors. That spacious workshop, staffed by a team of two and ready for expansion, sits in downtown Geneva just a short walk from the Beau-Rivage, making Proz one of the very few watchmakers you can actually see working through the windows while strolling the city — a distinction he shares with Rexhep and Xhevdet Rexhepi.

His debut, the Genèse ('genesis'), announced in October 2025 as a 20-piece limited edition at CHF 73,000, sold out all twenty slots almost immediately after the first render was posted. Sized at a classical 39mm × 9mm with a triple-stepped bezel and caseback (and newly added stepped lugs still being debated among his depositors — the crown, too, is being refined, in the iterative dialogue that is patronage in its most literal sense), the Genèse makes its strongest first impression through its open-worked front: a translucent central dial of smoked sapphire carries the hours and minutes, a small seconds sub-dial sits at 8 o'clock, and the keyless works, escapement, and mainspring are all visible and thoughtfully arranged. But the genuine twist waits on the other side. Turn the watch over and the caseback reveals finely decorated gears and components arranged around a moon phase indicator at 6 o'clock — complete with a hand-painted moonphase disc — a movement-side complication that separates the Genèse from the crowd of symmetry-and-finishing independents. The movement is fully developed in-house and hand-finished, deliberately designed to be appreciated from both the front and the back.

The finishing is entrusted to a dedicated hand-finishing specialist, Fabian, with a second hire being sought — not easy, Proz notes, given the skills required to finish and assemble the Genèse. The market has already voted: beyond the sold-out debut, limited-edition versions are in the pipeline for Seddiqi, the great Dubai retailer, and discussions are underway with another major retailer in Asia. Visiting collectors and the enthusiast press (Unpolished Watches' Tony Traina paid a visit after Watches & Wonders 2026; WatchProSite urged readers to remember the name) have come away with the same impression: a considered concept, serious complications pedigree, and a Geneva story — from the GPHG stage his father managed to a workshop window on the city's streets — that feels like the genesis of something bigger.