Interview

Franck Muller’s 2026 Novelties: Jean-Loup Glénat on Art, Inspiration and Creative Watchmaking

Written by: Allyson Klass

10 Jul 2026

Franck Muller’s 2026 Novelties: Jean-Loup Glénat on Art, Inspiration and Creative Watchmaking - Cortina Watch

Art Deco elegance, organic forms and contemporary art collide in a trio of Franck Muller's latest creations. The watchmaker’s Head of Design, Jean-Loup Glénat, talks about how storytelling and design remain at the heart of the maison’s identity.

Franck Muller’s design language has always been instantly recognisable, yet difficult to distil into a single idea. Unafraid of the bold and audacious, its watches move between the technical, playful, flamboyant and elegant – sometimes within a single timepiece. The curves of a case, shape of a numeral or choice of colour are beyond purely decorative; each plays a role in defining the watch’s character.

That is especially true of the maison’s design-led novelties for 2026. The Cintrée Curvex Gatsby introduces a brand-new Art Deco-inspired typography. The Curvex CX Silhouette draws its lines from the natural veining in stone and wood, while the Vanguard Kelly Dabbah brings the kaleidoscopic work of a contemporary artist into the world of fine watchmaking.

Together, they reveal a different side of Franck Muller: not the maison of complex mechanisms, but one of artistry, creativity, emotion and visual storytelling. At WPHH in Genthod, Geneva, Jean-Loup Glénat, the maison’s Head of Design, explained how these ideas were translated into watches.

Curvex CX Silhouette

While many jewellery watches draw inspiration from flowers, leaves or animals, the Curvex CX Silhouette looks to something more enduring: the natural patterns formed over millions of years within stone and wood.

The statement timepiece traces its origins to the 2025 Year of the Snake timepiece, whose asymmetrical Curvex CX case appeared to be gently “pushed” out of shape by the serpent coiled within. Instead of a one-off creation, Glénat and his team saw its potential and decided to explore a broader visual language inspired by nature. He explains, “The case had developed a very organic language, so we started looking at nature itself. For the new creation, the inspiration comes from the veins you see when stone or wood is split open, revealing a story that has been written over millions of years.”

That idea flows throughout the automatic watch. The asymmetrical 27mm by 32.15mm Curvex CX case frames a black lacquered dial traversed by sweeping lines that echo the organic patterns found in stone and wood grain. Creating the final composition was far from straightforward. Glénat reveals that his team explored around 50 different variations before arriving at the design with the right balance of movement and elegance.

The dial’s “veins” alternate between polished metal and diamond-set channels. In place of diamonds in uniform size, Franck Muller employs progressively sized stones that swell and taper along each curve, giving the lines a more organic rhythm. “We wanted the lines to feel sinuous and natural, rather than rigid or graphic,” says Glénat.

Available in stainless steel and rose gold, the Curvex CX Silhouette is also offered in diamond-set variations. In its fully adorned execution, the case, inner bezel, and dial are set with 360 brilliant-cut diamonds. The standard stainless steel and rose gold versions feature 47 brilliant-cut diamonds on the dial only, with no diamond setting on the case or inner bezel. Every element, from the curved hands to the flowing dial architecture, follows the contours of the asymmetrical case. “When we design a ladies’ watch, we always try to add something poetic. The goal here was to create something feminine yet timeless,” he explains.

The result is one of the maison’s most unexpected novelties of the year. “This watch isn’t what you’d usually associate with Franck Muller,” says Glénat. Perhaps that’s why it’s another one of his favourite women’s watches this year.

Cintrée Curvex Gatsby

Expressive, oversized and distinctive numerals are a big part of Franck Muller’s visual identity. With the Cintrée Curvex Gatsby, that signature is reimagined through an entirely new typography inspired by the elegance of the Art Deco era.

Drawing inspiration from the glamorous world of the Roaring Twenties, the automatic watch translates vintage aesthetics into a contemporary expression. The Art Deco-inspired design is housed in a 29mm by 39mm Cintrée Curvex case, whose curved profile lends the watch its distinctive elegance. “Designers at Franck Muller like us are fortunate because we get to play with various elements, such as case shapes, guilloché patterns and the numerals as well. We wanted to explore something that was Art Deco-inspired and the Cintrée Curvex case complemented the theme perfectly.”

The most remarkable detail is not immediately obvious. Rather than applying each numeral individually, the entire display is laser-cut from a single brass plate to create an ultra-delicate frame that sits above the dial. Every numeral is connected to the next, forming a continuous structure that follows the curvature of the dial and tonneau-shaped case. “When I received the first technical drawings, the numerals were too thick and heavy. We worked closely with the technical team to make them thinner, more elegant and more feminine, while retaining rigidity to manufacture and assemble,” Glénat explains.

That pursuit of refinement extends throughout the watch. Beneath the graphic numerals lies a stamped sunburst guilloché dial finished with 25 layers of lacquer. The collection is offered in six dial colours – pink, red, black, turquoise, white and blue – across rose gold and stainless steel references with or without diamond-set cases. Glénat’s personal favourite? “The black dial is classic and very true to the Gatsby inspiration.”

Vanguard Kelly Dabbah

Franck Muller’s latest artistic collaboration brings together its iconic Vanguard case and the work of Geneva-based multidisciplinary artist Kelly Dabbah. A graduate of New York City’s Parsons School of Design before joining Anna Sui as a fashion designer, Dabbah transitioned into installation and digital art. Today, she is known for vibrant collages that balance strength and delicacy, fantasy and symmetry – a sensibility Glénat sees as naturally aligned with Franck Muller. “She creates art that’s powerful yet delicate, feminine yet childlike,” he says. “Her compositions are also highly symmetrical, which connects with Franck Muller, where symmetry is central to what we do.”

A challenge of any artist collaboration is that of scale: translating a larger art format to the miniature canvas of a watch dial. The solution for the Vanguard Kelly Dabbah? Sublimation, a technique borrowed from the art world and reinterpreted for fine watchmaking using eco-friendly inks. Each design is printed onto a polymer transfer film, then applied to the pre-lacquered dial under heat and pressure. At around 160°C, the ink pigments transition from solid to gas, penetrating deep into the lacquer layer itself to create a permanent, high-definition image embedded within the material like a tattoo.

The line comprises three automatic references in distinct expressions. The 50-piece limited edition in Candy Mint is an ultra-feminine iteration. Its 32mm by 42.3mm case is built from superimposed layers of mint green and pink glass fibres – a material that, like carbon, begins as a layered block and reveals its character only after machining. Dabbah’s colourful collage, dominated by a tiger surrounded by intricate floral details, covers the dial entirely. A bejewelled version of the same design, limited to just 25 pieces, is offered on a fully diamond-set rose gold case hand-set with 308 brilliant-cut diamonds.

In the Electric Feel version for men, also limited to 50 pieces, the 42.5mm by 52.7mm watch takes a subtler, technical turn. Its case is crafted from Bauxite, Franck Muller’s proprietary aluminium alloy that boasts exceptional scratch resistance and the ability to take on strikingly vibrant colours. Instead of a collage rendered on the dial’s entire surface, Dabbah’s artwork is featured on the numerals, which are machined from solid brass and meticulously applied individually by hand. Set against black carbon detailing, they are punctuated by flashes of electric blue that inject energy and contrast, reinforcing the watch’s contemporary character.

Discover the latest Franck Muller watches at our boutiques today.

Franck Muller’s 2026 Novelties: Jean-Loup Glénat on Art, Inspiration and Creative Watchmaking

Art Deco elegance, organic forms and contemporary art collide in a trio of Franck Muller's latest creations. The watchmaker’s Head of Design, Jean-Loup Glénat, talks about how storytelling and design remain at the heart of the maison’s identity.

Curvex CX Silhouette

Cintrée Curvex Gatsby

Vanguard Kelly Dabbah