Interview

Franck Muller’s 2026 Novelties: Jean-Loup Glénat on Engineering, Skeletonisation and High Complications

Written by: Allyson Klass

07 Jul 2026

Franck Muller’s 2026 Novelties: Jean-Loup Glénat on Engineering, Skeletonisation and High Complications - Cortina Watch

What does it take to reimagine Franck Muller’s tri-axial tourbillon, triple-jumping complication and Mystery display? Jean-Loup Glénat, the maison’s Head of Design, reveals the ideas and challenges behind some of its most technically ambitious novelties this year.

In Franck Muller’s hands, a complication is never just a mechanism. It becomes a canvas for experimentation, where engineering and design come together to create new ways of experiencing time. This philosophy was clear at the maison’s 2026 World Presentation of Haute Horlogerie (WPHH) in Genthod, Geneva, where three novelties stood out for the way they revisited some of Franck Muller’s most technically ambitious ideas.

The Vanguard Aero Revolution 3 Skeleton, Master Jumper Skeleton and Round Triple Mystery each reinterpret one of the maison’s signature complications through transparency, skeletonisation and motion. Speaking at WPHH, Jean-Loup Glénat, Franck Muller’s Head of Design, shared how these watches came together and why their greatest challenges became their defining features.

Long Island Evolution and Curvex CX Master Jumper Skeleton

First introduced two years ago, the Master Jumper returns in skeletonised form, making the maison’s triple-jumping complication even more dramatic. Here, the hours, minutes and date snap instantaneously into place via five jumping discs arranged in perfect symmetry across three equidistant apertures.

Instantaneous jumps demand a precise and consistent power solution, especially when multiple indications advance at once. Franck Muller’s answer is an in-house, manually wound movement with a dedicated double-barrel system: the first powers the movement and the date mechanism, while the second drives the minute discs and hour disc.

What’s new this season is the decision to open it all up. The watch’s five discs and the wheels that drive them are all visible through the front of the watch via a supporting bridge with machined cut-outs. An inner sapphire crystal at the level of the inner bezel also gives three-dimensional depth to the watch. This also allows the movement to be openworked.

“With the Master Jumper Skeleton, we wanted to show more of the mechanics because it’s really spectacular,” Glénat says. “When collectors see the five discs inside, they can better understand how singular and complex this complication really is.”

This complexity is amplified by the compactness of the design. Everything fits within a tight space, while remaining legible, balanced and wearable. Housed either in the angular 35.3mm by 48.1mm Long Island Evolution or the slightly larger 38.2mm by 55.4mm Curvex CX, the Master Jumper Skeleton reveals two distinct personalities. In the former, the complication takes on a more technical character through a layered construction, black PVD-treated titanium outer case and rose gold accents. In the latter, the same mechanism appears more fluid and expressive, framed by Franck Muller’s hallmark curved case in either rose gold or brushed titanium.

But the collection is not without its playful side. A Curvex CX Master Jumper Skeleton iteration incorporates Franck Muller’s signature Color Dreams palette, bringing flashes of colour to the display, while retaining the watch’s overall elegance. “We wanted to bring our spirit of colour and happiness into the dial, but still keep it elegant,” Glénat explains.

The result captures a tension Franck Muller has long mastered: serious watchmaking delivered with a sense of joy. “First you see the elegant case shape, then you discover all the animation inside,” he says. “It’s fun yet serious at the same time and that’s quintessential Franck Muller.”

Round Triple Mystery

The Mystery collection for ladies is arguably one of Franck Muller’s most unconventional interpretations of time. The original Mystery watch, which replaces traditional hands with rotating discs to display the hour, evolved into the Double Mystery with an added minute disc. The Round Triple Mystery completes the story with a third rotating disc for the seconds, transforming the dial into a mesmerising choreography of perpetual motion.

The watch is driven by an in-house bidirectional automatic movement, which powers three independently rotating discs for the hours, minutes, and seconds. Integrating the rapidly rotating seconds disc required significant technical development, with engineers creating an ultra-light skeletonised central structure to minimise weight, while maintaining stability and precision.

This year, Franck Muller takes the concept in a new direction with the Round Triple Mystery Skeleton.

“The Triple Mystery opened a new door for us and gave us the opportunity to explore new forms of animation, transparency and colour,” adds Glénat.

The challenge was to create a skeleton watch without sacrificing the illusion that defines the Mystery collection. The solution lies in a delicate interplay between transparency and mechanics. Skeletonised rotating discs reveal the movement beneath, while a sapphire support ring replaces the traditional metal retaining structure surrounding the movement. “Usually there’s metal around the movement to secure it inside the case, but we replaced it with a sapphire ring positioned at the back, so there’s nothing to interrupt the view when you look through the discs,” Glénat points out.

The result: a remarkably light and airy timepiece. Every bridge has been reduced to the bare minimum, with some measuring just 0.3mm wide, while intricate geometric motifs echo across the rotating discs. At the centre, a delicate spirograph-like motif reinforces the theme of continuous motion, with a triangle-cut diamond serving as the seconds indicator. “The objective was to make the watch as delicate and feminine as possible,” Glénat reveals.

The Round Triple Mystery is presented on a 39mm round case in rose or white gold in three distinct expressions. The Skeleton lays the movement bare through openworked discs and is also available with diamonds set directly onto the skeletonised lattice. The Invisible Baguette wraps the watch in an uninterrupted surface of light, with 48 baguette-cut diamonds on the case and 139 more on the dial. The Rainbow brings a precisely orchestrated gradation of sapphires, rubies, amethysts, and tsavorites in round brilliant-cut or baguette cuts.

Vanguard Aero Revolution 3 Skeleton

Leading Franck Muller’s novelties this year is the Vanguard Aero Revolution 3 Skeleton, the latest evolution of the world’s first tri-axial tourbillon – a complication the maison pioneered in 2004. Fully openworked and dramatically sculptural, it strips the watch down to its mechanical essence, leaving only movement, light and space.

Offered in rose gold, blackened titanium or stainless steel, the tonneau case measures 43.4mm by 52.1mm and is open on all four sides. In an unprecedented move for the maison, the pared-down movement is mounted directly onto the caseback rather than the case middle, allowing every bridge, barrel, and gear train to be seen in full, from every angle. The result: a wearable sculpture and conversation starter.

The highlight of the composition is the tri-axial tourbillon, which boasts three concentric cages rotating on different axes every 60 seconds, 8 minutes, and 60 minutes respectively to counteract the effects of gravity from every position. The in-house MVT FM 2031-VS calibre, which took two years to develop and comprises 280 components, delivers an impressive 10-day power reserve via twin barrels.

“For this piece, we asked the engineers to think differently,” explains Glénat. “Instead of starting from an existing case and removing material from it, we wanted them to start from scratch and add only the minimum amount of material necessary.”

The challenge was particularly complex because the tourbillon is thicker than the case. Rather than increasing the case’s overall thickness, Franck Muller incorporated a dome on the sapphire caseback to accommodate the large tri-axial tourbillon. “It began as a constraint,” says Glénat, “but ultimately that became an advantage because it led to something visually unique and offers an entirely different perspective of the watch. Wearers will be surprised that it wears very comfortably too.”

Viewed from the side, the layered movement resembles a miniature skyline, with the twin barrels positioned low within the structure and the tourbillon elevated above them. “This is such a special watch that we are offering only eight pieces per reference worldwide and won’t be producing these three versions again,” reveals Glénat.

Discover the latest Franck Muller watches at our boutiques today.

Franck Muller’s 2026 Novelties: Jean-Loup Glénat on Engineering, Skeletonisation and High Complications

What does it take to reimagine Franck Muller’s tri-axial tourbillon, triple-jumping complication and Mystery display? Jean-Loup Glénat, the maison’s Head of Design, reveals the ideas and challenges behind some of its most technically ambitious novelties this year.

Long Island Evolution and Curvex CX Master Jumper Skeleton

Round Triple Mystery

Vanguard Aero Revolution 3 Skeleton