BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
Cyrus is a boutique independent Swiss watchmaker which is known for its creative designs. I always like visiting them during Watches & Wonders Geneva as their watches are always worth the time, and the people are also very nice. For 2025, the good folks of Cyrus unveiled two creations.
Dominion GMT
The Dominion is a brand-new collection from Cyrus and strays away from their traditional cushion-shaped watches and into the realm of more traditional watchmaking. Two versions of the Dominion GMT are being made, one in titanium, which is limited to 28 pieces, and the other in 18k rose gold and titanium, which is limited to 25 pieces. The watches measure 42.00mm x 16.73mm, which is partially attributed to the domed sapphire crystal over the dial, and they’re 100m water resistant.
The watches are pretty unique in their display of the GMT function. The 24-hour hand is a retrograde indicator, meaning it doesn’t perform a full rotation; instead, when it gets to the end of its 24-hour cycle, it pings back to the beginning to do it again. The 3 O’clock crown adjusts the time as is usual, including the home time. By pressing the crown at 9 O’clock, the hour hand moves forward in one-hour increments to become the local time. The in-house calibre CYR708 is responsible for all this, and it’s self-winding with a 4Hz beat rate and a power reserve of over 55 hours. In titanium, the price is CHF24,800 pre-tax, and in rose gold, it’s CHF44,800 before tax.
Klepcys Vertical Tourbillon Sapphire Blue
The other watch, new for 2025, is an addition to Cyrus’ Klepcys collection, which is their core collection, although this latest piece is anything but standard. It’s made of sapphire crystal and measures a hefty 44.0mm (excluding crowns) x 19.9mm, although it is 100m water resistant. The domed sapphire crystal shows the hand-wound calibre CYR625, which has a power reserve of over 100 hours. It might be a big and chunky watch, but it has some pretty good specs; the water resistance on a watch like this is very good, as most watches at this level have next to nothing.
The most unique part of the calibre CYR625 is the vertical tourbillon, this unusual placement means the tourbillon is better suited to counteract the effects of gravity on the escapement when the watch is worn compared to the traditional ‘flat’ tourbillon escapement. The time is split to either side of the vertical tourbillon and the power reserve is displayed on the ball at 12 O’clock, which is pretty unique. This unique arrangement is not new for Cyrus, but it’s been designed by their master watchmaker, Jean-François Mojon, who’s done all of Cyrus’ watches to date, I believe. Jean-François also runs his own firm, Chronode SA, which makes exclusive movements for companies like Cyrus and the recently revived BREVA Genève. Limited to eight examples, the new Klepcys Vertical Tourbillon Sapphire Blue retails for CHF255,000 before taxes.
I’m not sure how many watches Cyrus makes annually, or who buys them, but it’s good to see that independent Swiss watchmaking has never been stronger. Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
