Independent by Design
Sartory-Billard was founded in 2015 by Armand Billard, following a career in industrial design. From the outset, the brand has operated independently, prioritizing creative control and direct relationships.
Early models (SB01, SB02) explored accessibility. With the SB04, Sartory-Billard defined its core approach: proportion, material, and dial execution, combined with close collaboration with clients.
This foundation expanded over time. The SB06 introduced proprietary movement, the SB07 explored a more versatile sport-oriented architecture, and the SB08 pushed the limits of design and complexity.
The SB10 extends this trajectory with a jumping hour display derived from the SB08, translating a complex concept into a more focused and wearable watch.
Today, Sartory-Billard operates through two complementary approaches: bespoke pieces developed through dialogue, and edition models defined by strong authorship. This is not a shift, but a clarification.
Each watch is designed as a coherent object, shaped by intention rather than trends or marketing cycles.
The founder
Designer. Visual thinker. Engineer by instinct.
An industrial designer self-taught watch maker who merges artistic intuition and technical precision.
Every creation is shaped through dialogue — with the material or the collector.
“I truly believe that everybody has a creative part inside himself, but sometimes it’s difficult to express and I will take them by the hand, help them, expand their creativity, and I will make a watch for them.”
A former independent designer and director of his own design agency, Armand Billard began his adventure in watchmaking in 2015. His goal was to bring his own vision to the world of watchmaking, while opening new doors for the creativity of his customers. After selling his design agency, Armand immersed himself in his new profession, steeping himself in the techniques of watchmaking, which were totally unknown to him up to then.
Armand Billard
With a strong entrepreneurial drive, he decided to surround himself with talented craftsmen, while focusing on learning new skills. His ultimate goal? Offer high-quality unique watches, combining the use of premium materials and advanced techniques, with all watches finished and assembled in France. Thanks to his cross-functional skills and numerous conversations with collectors from around the world, Armand Billard is now able to harness the imagination of his customers’ creativity, helping them manifest their horological dreams into highly-personalized Sartory Billard watches. Armand ensures that the customer is at the heart of his work, and ensures that they are intimately involved in the process, making them a true co-creator of their watch.
A story of improvement
Sartory Billard took its first steps into the world of watchmaking in 2015 with the creation of the SB01, a model initially intended to be a personal project to celebrate a milestone birthday, which Armand Billard developed with Ludovic Sartory.
The following year, the SB02 took over from the brand’s inaugural model. This new model aimed to offer a “do it yourself” customization opportunity with bezels that could be changed by the customer with the use of a simple tool, and straps with quick change springs that could be changed by hand. Assembled in France, the SB02 was offered at a truly affordable price.
Sartory Billard then launched the SB03 in 2019, a new model that once again aimed to satisfy his customers’ quest for personalization. This watch position itself as an exceptional timepiece that reflects the personality of the wearer.
SB04 & SB05
In 2020, after extensive experimentation, the SB03 evolved into a more resolved vision of bespoke watchmaking with the SB04 — combining personalization with high-quality materials in a classic round case focused on clarity and material expression.
Over the years, Sartory-Billard has maintained this approach, allowing broad creative freedom within a controlled framework. The success of the SB04 led to the SB05 in 2021, featuring a more refined construction, an upgraded movement, and higher overall execution. This step forward was supported by a partnership with Comblémine in Switzerland, known for collaborating with leading independent watchmakers. The SB05 “Black Mother of Pearl and Dark Grained Titanium” was later selected for the GPHG 2022.
More recently, the SB10 introduces a new direction with a jumping hour display. Derived from the SB08 research, it translates a complex concept into a more focused and wearable watch, extending Sartory-Billard’s pursuit of clarity and design coherence.
Our philosophy
We believe form follows intent.
Each watch begins with something that stirs us: a material, a sketch, a memory.
That spark becomes a conversation. The conversation becomes a design. And the
design becomes a watch — one that speaks with clarity and soul.
With a maximum production of few hundreds watches per year, the amount of orders is deliberately limited. The very small team allows to remain close to customers and have real discussions with them, enabling them together to achieve unique creations that poetically reflect their story and personality.
Thanks to its independent manufacture status, Sartory Billard has the freedom of time and creativity, allowing the production of exceptional timepieces that stand out in a market where industrialization is increasingly present.
Our process
• One by one – No shortcuts.
• In-house artistry – Dial design and finish developed internally.
• Built for resonance – Each piece must strike a chord.
The client is kept informed of the creation process in real time, which allows him to actively participate and add some details to his watch if needed.
The watchmaker encourages the customer to play with colors and materials, and also gives them the possibility to add a personal phrase to the back of the watch, once again pushing the customization process to its peak.
Once the customer is happy with the design, it takes between 6 and 9 months to bring his creation to life. In a world where everything goes faster and faster, Sartory Billard gives meaning back to the purchase of an object such as a high-end bespoke watch, making patience an admirable value again. There is, finally, a real satisfaction in waiting for such a personal and exceptional piece.
GPHG: Recognition from the Watchmaking Establishment
The story begins in 2020, when Sartory-Billard submits its SB04 “Blue Titanium”, a minimalist yet powerfully graphic timepiece with a mirror-polished titanium dial — a technique mastered by only a handful of workshops. Though the watch was not nominated that year, its presence on the GPHG’s (Grand Prix de l’Horlogerie de Genève) official entry list marked the beginning of a long and steady climb toward recognition.
Two years later, in 2022, the maison returned with the SB05, this time featuring a dark mother-of-pearl dial encased in grained titanium. Entirely customizable by the client yet framed by a precise design language, the piece stood out in the Challenge category. It was nominated and exhibited as part of the GPHG’s world tour — a turning point that confirmed the legitimacy of Sartory-Billard’s approach: artisanal, tailored, and sincere.
In 2023, the brand entered the fray again, this time with a bespoke SB07, adorned with lapis lazuli and meteorite. Despite being a one-off piece made for a private client, its nomination in the Sports category underscored the GPHG jury’s growing openness to personalization — and to non-Swiss players capable of merging creativity and robustness.
But it was in 2024 that the brand delivered its most technically ambitious entry to date: the SB06-24HM “La Nuit”, a poetic flying tourbillon with a 24-hour complication. Entirely powered by Sartory-Billard’s in-house movement SBTV01, the piece was nominated in the Tourbillon category, one of the GPHG’s most competitive. The watch — whose dial evoked a celestial arc where a golden sun and luminous moon alternately crossed — symbolized everything the brand had become: emotional, technically bold, and quietly confident.
More Than a Competition
For Armand Billard, the GPHG has never been a finish line, but rather a mirror. “It’s not about validation,” he often says, “but about showing what independent design can bring to watchmaking when it’s free from conventions.” Each nomination was not only a recognition of skill, but also of vision — of a brand that had never sought approval, but won respect by staying true to its voice.
Crafted with Intent
