I came across Soleilhac the way I come across most of the independent brands that end up on my radar and make it to WCL—not through a press release or a fair booth, but through a conversation. Samuel Soleilhac reached out to me through Instagram a few weeks ago, and this week we finally connected. Samuel told me about his first collection, the Harmonie, which is the kind of story I find genuinely compelling in this industry.
Soleilhac is the kind of brand I know will go far in this industry. Founded in Geneva by Samuel Soleilhac—a self-taught watchmaker whose career took him from electrical work to cybersecurity consulting before landing, with apparent inevitability, in horology. The brand's first collection, Harmonie, is built on a subscription (souscription) model—much like horologists from the past, like Breguet or even Philippe Dufour or F.P. Journe in modern times—collectors commit before the watch exists in final form, with first prototypes expected before the end of 2026 and production pieces following in 2027. Eighteen pieces in total.
This is not unusual at the highest levels of independent watchmaking. It is, in fact, how some of the most serious horological projects have come to life. But it does require a level of transparency and conviction from the maker that most brands—established or otherwise—simply cannot offer. Samuel Soleilhac is offering it. That's not a launch strategy. That's a statement of intent.
About the Harmonie Watches
Now, let's talk about what he is actually building. The Harmonie is powered by a bi-rotor automatic movement—a dual micro-rotor system in platinum—with the mechanical architecture deliberately visible rather than hidden. The movement runs at 28,800 vph (4 Hz) with a 50-hour power reserve and comprises 183 components and 31 jewels. The case measures 40 x 35 mm in either Grade 5 titanium or 18K rose gold, with a slender 9.3 mm profile that puts it firmly in the category of watches you actually want to wear.
Three dial options are offered: titanium sand, titanium aventurine, and rose gold aventurine. Each watch requires over 150 hours of hand-finishing. In terms of design, the non-round case geometry—with its curved, almost tonneau-inflected proportions—brings to mind the early work of Daniel Roth, whose signature asymmetrical cases blended round, rectangular, and tonneau shapes in a way that felt simultaneously architectural and organic. The Harmonie carries a similar spirit: a case that refuses to be simply round, and is better for it.
Over 150 hours of handmade work per piece in an 18-piece edition is not a production strategy; that is a personal commitment. The finishing vocabulary here is serious: anglage on the bridges, traditional côtes de Genève, mirror-polished steel components, guilloché on the ratchet wheel, snailing on the platinum rotors. These are the same techniques you find in watches costing multiples of what Soleilhac is asking, applied by a team of two—and this is the part that fascinates me—who are doing this entirely on their own terms.
What makes Soleilhac worth watching at this stage isn't the price or the pedigree. It's the disposition. Samuel Soleilhac built the first version of what would become Harmonie in 2023—then called Pendule—and spent the following year reworking it into the form it is now approaching for its prototype presentation. This is a new brand that understands that credibility in independent watchmaking is built piece by piece, not announced.
My Honest Opinion
This is not like Fleming coming out of nowhere, hiring some badass watchmakers like Jean-François Mojon and his team at Chronode, and the skilled artisans at Comblémine, owned by master watchmaker Kari Voutilainen, and producing watches expecting to sell over USD 50K, just because.
This is not marketing; this is pure watchmaking at its finest by a team of two.
The prices reflect the ambition: CHF 49,000 for the titanium sand version, CHF 52,000 for the titanium aventurine, and CHF 59,000 for the rose gold aventurine. These are not entry-level numbers for an unknown brand, and I will be watching closely to see whether the prototypes, when they arrive before year's end, justify that positioning.
At 18 pieces total, the collectors who do commit are not just buying a watch; they are funding a vision and betting on a constructor. That is a bet worth paying attention to.
For more info on Soleilhac click here.
