AOS emanates from a desire for beauty. And a dream to create artisan watches.

More prosaically, TAOS is the encounter of three talents: Olivier Vaucher, the founder of Atelier Olivier Vaucher which since 1978 specialises in artistic dials, his wife Dominique, a painter, and watchmaker Olivier Gaud. “We met outside of work,” Olivier Gaud explains. “I was employed by Cartier at the time. We began chatting about watchmaking, the métiers d’art and what it is to do something with passion. From there, we discussed the possibility of a project for artisan watches, something Olivier had always dreamed of. When my second child was born in 2021, I decided to quit Cartier and start my own brand of minimalist watches, OLIGO. Then I called Dominique and Olivier, and suggested a parallel project for artisan watches.” The genesis of TAOS can be summed up in these few lines.

Olivier Vaucher, Olivier Gaud, Dominique Vaucher

The name of the brand has several origins, as Dominique Vaucher explains: “Taos is the Ancient Greek word for ’peacock’ and also the name of a town in New Mexico that is home to an important community of artists. It’s a very visual, short name that’s pronounceable in all languages.” “We were going to call the company Montres d’Atelier,” Olivier Vaucher adds, “but that’s not a great name for a brand. Finding a name isn’t easy.”

The concept is both simple and complex. Every TAOS watch is one of a kind. They are all fitted with the same movement, developed by Télôs Watch in Switzerland and engraved at Atelier Olivier Vaucher. Each dial is a canvas for multiple métiers d’art. The complexity lies with the beauty of the finished piece and the skill required to achieve such a result. It takes more than 200 hours to create each dial and 100 hours to engrave the movement, which arrives in its “raw” form at Atelier Olivier Vaucher where its components are engraved, chamfered and satin-finished by hand. The delicate rosettes and swirling motifs are inspired by the movement’s inner workings.

Envol Rouge

Olivier Vaucher and Dominique Vaucher are two highly respected names in the watch world. The most prestigious brands call on them to embellish certain of their most complex timepieces. Grand feu enamel, engraving, miniature painting, mosaic, gem-setting…. the Atelier, which employs 40 artisans, is at the head of a vast repertoire of more than 15 specialisations and doesn’t hesitate to develop original techniques whenever a project requires.

Olivier Gaud, CEO of TAOS, carries the project thanks to family investments. He chose Télôs Watch to produce the exclusive VOP318 automatic movement, which delivers approximately 72 hours of power reserve. “Specifications were fairly simple. Hours and minutes, no complications and automatic winding. However, the surface of the bridges had to be large enough for engraving. The dial showcases the métiers d’art and the movement had to echo this by being similarly decorated. We concealed the oscillating weight under the back of the case. An automatic movement is more suited to regular wear than a hand-wound one.”

All the watches are equipped with the automatic VOP318 movement by Télôs

“The movement is equipped with two barrels,” Olivier Vaucher continues. “This provides more power which opens up possibilities for the future. Who knows, maybe later we’ll decide to make a complication.”

The case measures 38mm in diameter. “We imagined it, with the designer, as a frame for the dial,” says Olivier Gaud. “There are versions with diamond-set lugs and bezel and versions without diamonds.” Every part of the watch is crafted in Switzerland. “The cases are machined in Geneva by Manufacture Horlogère Genevoise (MHG); the gem-setting is by Diatheke SA; the movements are from Télôs Watch in La Chaux-de-Fonds; the hands are by Waeber HMS in Fleurier and the cases are finished by Picube. As for the straps, they’re made by Peaulux, 300 metres down the road.” All the métiers d’art, whether the engraving, the grand feu enamel or the paillons, and all the sub-techniques are the work of Atelier Olivier Vaucher.

Kaléidoscope

“The idea was to showcase and combine all the wonderful métiers d’art we have at the Atelier,” Dominique Vaucher explains. “Six years ago we hired Emma Bertrand, a designer who had just graduated from Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD). For the first TAOS watches, we asked her to imagine designs inspired by fireworks, radiance and euphoria. We wanted certain watches to be unisex and others to be more feminine, and these patterns lend themselves to that.”

Broderies d’Email

The most striking model has to be Broderies d’Email, which means “enamel embroideries” and what at first glance looks like silk thread is indeed strands of enamel. Dominique Vaucher explains the technique: “We fire enamel at 800°C then, as soon as it comes out of the kiln, we draw the finest possible threads. You have to work fast to cut the strands and position them on a pre-fired enamel base. The piece is then fired again so that the enamels bond, but not for too long otherwise the threads, which are no thicker than a hair, would simply melt.”

Floréal

Floréal is equally stunning. A circle of micro-relief engraved flowers in mother-of-pearl are painted in soft shades of pink then delicately positioned on a background of paillonné enamel, surrounded by blue cloisonné enamel petals. “The finished dial had to be laser-drilled to make the settings for the diamonds. There was a very real risk of causing irreparable damage, but it was worth it. It’s details such as this that give the piece extraordinary value,” says Dominique Vaucher.

Envol Bleu and Envol Rouge suggest Native American headdresses. Enamelled and engraved feathers fan out across the dial with, at the centre, a silver-leaf paillon in the shape of a flower, hemmed with diamonds.

Euphorie is a deceptively simple piece: an explosion of gold and silver paillons in a multitude of enamel layers for an almost three-dimensional effect. As for Kaléidoscope, it highlights the techniques of Roman micromosaic and hardstone marquetry with an Arab-Andalusian motif in turquoise, lapis lazuli and tsavorite. Lastly, Ondes reveals layer upon layer of engraved mother-of-pearl with a design that echoes the decoration of the movement below. The second series of TAOS watches will be unveiled in 2025. After such a magnificent debut, we can look forward to more things of beauty.

Ondes