Valbray is a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

watch A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by ...

company co-founded by Côme de Valbray and Olga Corsini in 2009. The brand's collection is based on a

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

ed, camera-shutter-like dial system called Oculus that enables indications, mechanisms or art on the dial to be displayed or concealed by rotating the bezel.

History

Côme de Valbray and Olga Corsini founded Valbray near Lausanne, Switzerland in March 2009. de Valbray had a background in microtechnology and business and experience in watch manufacturing and an interest in photography."Valbray Watches on Independent Watchmakers
Valbray Watches on Independent Watchmakers
/ref> Corsini had a degree in

jewelry Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a western ...

design and experience working for

Gucci Gucci (, ; ) is an Italian high-end luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty, Inc. for fragrance ...

Bulgari Bulgari (, ; stylized as BVLGARI) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1884 and known for its jewellery, watches, fragrances, accessories, and leather goods. While the majority of design, production and marketing is overseen and exec ...

, and

Chaumet The House of Chaumet (), founded in 1780, is a jeweller based in Paris. Chaumet is a jewellery and watchmaking designer founded in 1780 by Marie-Étienne Nitot. Fourteen artisans ply their trade in the workshop on Place Vendôme under the dire ...

. The premise of Valbray's collection was to incorporate an element into the dial of a watch that was similar to the shutter of a camera. Valbray invented and designed the mechanism over two years and called it the "Oculus". It was patented in 2010,Valbray dial patent dial
/ref> the same year that the Valbray brand first exhibited four prototypes at the

Baselworld Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Show is a global trade show of the international watch, jewellery and gem industry, organized each spring in the city of Basel, Switzerland, at the Messeplatz. The last Baselworld was held March 21–26, 2019. In 2 ...

watch fair. In May 2013, Valbray opened a factory in Romanel sur Morges, Switzerland. By 2014, Valbray employed 12 people. They manufacture watch cases, hands, dials, and shutters and straps.

Watches

Valbray main products are the Oculus V01

Chronograph A chronograph is a specific type of watch that is used as a stopwatch combined with a display watch. A basic chronograph has an independent sweep second hand and a minute sub-dial; it can be started, stopped, and returned to zero by successive ...

in a 46 mm case and Oculus V02 Grand Dateur in a 43 mm case./ Valbray Opens its Shutters
/ref> All of Valbray's timepieces use

Swiss Made Swiss made is a label or marking used to indicate that a product was made on the territory of Switzerland. It is also a geographical indication protected under different Swiss and international laws and treaties. According to the Swiss Federal Ac ...

Automatic watch An automatic watch, also known as a self-winding watch or simply an automatic, is a mechanical watch where the natural motion of the wearer provides energy to wind the mainspring, making manual winding unnecessary if worn enough. It is distinguis ...

movements. in 2014 Valbray worked with

Leica Camera Leica Camera AG () is a German company that manufactures cameras, optical lenses, photographic lenses, binoculars, Telescopic sight, rifle scopes and microscopes. The company was founded by Ernst Leitz in 1869 (Ernst Leitz Wetzlar), in Wetz ...

to create the Valbray EL 1 Chrono.Leica Celebrates 100 Years: A Factory Tour In Wetzlar, Germany on Quill & Pad
/ref>Very Special Limited Edition EL 1 Chrono With Valbray on Quill & Pad
{Dead link, date=July 2018 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes EL stands for

Ernst Leitz Ernst Leitz GmbH was a German corporation based in Wetzlar, a German centre for optics as well as an important location for the precision engineering industry, now divided into four independent companies: * Leica Camera, manufacturer of camera a ...

, who was one of the founders of Leica. One hundred of the watches were produced: 50 in a titanium case and 50 with a black DLC (diamond-like carbon) finish.The Valbray EL1 "100 Years Of Leica Photography Edition" (Details & Pricing)
/ref>

References

Watch brands Luxury brands Watch manufacturing companies of Switzerland Swiss companies established in 2009 Manufacturing companies established in 2009