It’s not often that the launch of a new watch brand creates a lot of buzz in an already very competitive and crowded industry. Many brands usually make promises of innovation and disruption when they come onto the scene, but only a few deliver on that promise.

A new brand that certainly caught our eye is MUSE - and that’s saying something since the industry is largely focused on the upcoming Baselworld trade show taking place in a few weeks’ time.

MUSE – or to be more precise MUSE Swiss Art Watches - is the product of two experienced watch engineers that have over 20 years of experience in the business. The independent brand is based out of St-Cergue, near Lake Geneva in Switzerland, and it looks like they’ve made a promising start to their venture.

As the name suggests, the watches are meant to inspire the wearer. More specifically, inspire them to focus on the present. As the brand suggests, “the present is the only reality that counts: the past is over and the future remains to be written.”

I’ve always thought of the present like a horizon out in the distance - a thin line whose purpose is to separate the past from the future. Without getting too deep into discussions about the space-time continuum (you’re welcome), it’s true that while telling the time on a MUSE watch one can appreciate the beauty of the present movement, however fleeting it is.

MUSE watches: A graphical way to tell the time

That’s because the brand uses a unique way to display the time. The traditional hands have been replaced by artistic patterns that allow for a graphic display of the time. The method is not entirely new, but it’s still impressive and you really need to see it to get a better sense of it.

Looking just at a still photo, it’s hard to figure out how to tell the time: the disc closest to the sapphire glass displays the seconds, below it is the minute disk, and closest to the dial is the hour display.

While these “hands” are impressive, the five collections by the new brand have much more to offer. The dials, for instance, are made of semi-precious stones, including onyx, aventurine, mother of pearl, and various types of jasper. They provide a perfect backdrop to the geometric patters on the dial.

MUSE watches feature semi-precious stone dials

The watches are packaged in futuristic looking titanium cases, which range in size from 37mm to 44mm in diameter. They encase a Swiss automatic movement, which the brand calls the MU 01, but it is in fact based on the classic ETA 2776 movement.

The MUSE collection hovers in the mid-2,000 Swiss franc range, which seems reasonable considering everything on offer. The brand is taking the direct-to-consumer approach, which should also help with the final price tag. Odds are, all that will help MUSE get off to a flying start.