De Grisogono Watches

de GRISOGONO: Diamonds, Drama, and Watches That Weren’t Afraid to Be Loud

Some brands chase heritage.
Some chase innovation.
de GRISOGONO? They chased pure, unfiltered luxury — with all the sparkle, swagger, and scandal you’d expect from a brand that once ruled both Baselworld and the Cannes red carpet.

This wasn’t “quiet luxury.” It was louder-than-life, velvet-rope-only wristwear, often dripping in stones, odd case shapes, and wild materials. And behind the glam? A real watchmaking effort that often got overshadowed by the flash.

Today, the brand is defunct — but the watches still exist, and some of them are far better than collectors give them credit for.

Brand History: Geneva by Way of St. Tropez

Founded in 1993 by Fawaz Gruosi, de GRISOGONO started as a high-jewelry house specializing in black diamonds — a stone few luxury brands even touched at the time. The vibe? Pure hedonism. Deep-cushion settings. Exotic stones. Dramatic design.

Then came the watches — and that’s when things got interesting.

  • Oblong cases

  • Retrograde displays

  • Offset time indicators

  • Dials where the hour numerals played hide and seek

In the mid-2000s, they were everywhere: Baselworld, fashion shows, A-lister wrists. You couldn’t open a luxury magazine without seeing one.

But by the late 2010s, after years of expansion, lawsuits, and financial pressure? The lights dimmed. de GRISOGONO officially filed for bankruptcy in 2020 — leaving behind a vault of wildly original watches that now exist purely on the pre-owned market.

Collector Highlights: Glamour, Guts, and Gloriously Weird Design

  • Instrumento Uno / Due / Tondo – Signature rectangular or cushion-shaped cases with double time displays, retrograde seconds, or micro-rotors. Often featured bold numerals and gemstone accents.

  • Meccanico dG – A true watchmaking flex: analog AND mechanical digital displays, with visible mechanics and dual-time functionality. Extremely limited. Insane wrist presence.

  • Otturatore – One of the most unique complications ever made: a rotating window that reveals different displays (date, seconds, power reserve) at the push of a button. Weird. Smart. Collectible.

  • FG One / FG Eight – Named after Fawaz Gruosi himself. Complicated, quirky pieces that came and went fast — but are sleeper hits for indie collectors.

  • Ladies’ Jewelry Watches – Tons of wild-case creations with exotic materials, sapphires, black diamonds, and creative lug systems.

Most models used base ETA or Dubois-Dépraz modules, but the higher-end pieces (like the Meccanico) were full-on mechanical marvels.

Why Collectors Should Care

  • Design originality – Nobody else made watches that looked quite like these.

  • Underrated complications – Otturatore and Meccanico were seriously creative pieces.

  • Jewelry-watch crossover – These hit a sweet spot for collectors who like artistry as much as horology.

  • Rare and discontinued – With the brand gone, these watches are finite — and only getting harder to find.

  • Pre-owned value – Let’s just say you’re not paying Baselworld 2007 prices anymore. Smart buyers know what to look for.

If you like your watches with a story, a little scandal, and a whole lot of design guts, de GRISOGONO delivers.

What’s Happening Now: Lights Out, Inventory Left Behind

The brand shut down in 2020 after years of financial instability and ties to international scandals. No new models are being made. No comeback in sight.

That said, pre-owned de GRISOGONO watches are floating around, often in excellent condition, and often at a fraction of what they originally sold for.

This is the definition of neo-vintage fashion-meets-horology collecting — and for the right wrist, the right occasion, or the right collector? They still absolutely hit.

Fed’s Take

Let me be clear: de GRISOGONO was never about subtlety. It was about presence, drama, and a very specific kind of luxury — the kind that drinks Cristal before noon and owns too many leather jackets.

But underneath all that flash? There were genuinely cool watches, made in limited numbers, with unique complications and real attention to design.

I’ve handled a Meccanico in person — and it was wild. Heavy, smart, technically impressive. The Otturatore? One of the most satisfying case-pushers I’ve ever tried. Even the Tondos have a charm that’s hard to deny.

If you’re hunting for a high-end piece that isn’t trying to be a Royal Oak or a Daytona knockoff, de GRISOGONO deserves a second look.

Bold, Brilliant, and Gone (But Not Forgotten)

The brand might be history, but the watches are still out there — and if you know what you’re looking at, you can find true collector gems hiding behind the sparkle.

Delray Watch has a rotating selection of pre-owned de GRISOGONO watches — pieces you won’t find sitting in mall boutiques or flexing on billboards.

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