At home in the carefully curated watch boxes of hardcore collectors, as much as a gallery – the Anoma founder channels art, architecture, and interior design into his form-over-function horological gems.
Watchmaking and architecture both bridge design with meticulous engineering. The latter has embraced technology, visibly, at every step of the way, bookmarked by movements like Classicism, Baroque, and Modernism and the advancements they allowed. Watchmaking has, in some ways, welcomed change more conservatively. There is often a rigid focus on heritage and a tendency to circle back to the technical advancements of years past. You just need to look at the enduring presence of tourbillons and chronographs – the spoils of innovators from the 19th century – not to mention the rollcall of yearly anniversary releases, to understand high-end horology’s reverence for legacy.
That’s not a bad thing. In fact, it’s a testament to the enduring strength of the aforementioned complications. But Matteo Violet-Vianello – the Paris-hailing, London-based watchmaker and founder of Anoma – wants to cast the net wider. His microbrand’s name is itself inspired by the word anomaly, mirroring its presence in the horological landscape, appealing to design heads by channeling the high-yield creative risks seen in disciplines like art, design, and architecture in the 20th century.
It’s a lens that positions the watch less as wearable technology and rather as an art form akin to sculpture, exemplified through asymmetric form and case design inspired by natural elements.
Anoma A1 Optical
Being an independent watchmaker means you’re vying for attention in an industry filled with behemoths like Rolex, Audemars Piguet, and Cartier, who dominate the market and boast boutiques all over the world. But it allows for an innovative freedom and intimate level of connection between maker and enthusiast. And there’s a healthy appetite for those operating on a smaller scale. Just this year, Oscar-nominated actor Timothée Chalamet wore the UJ-2 by Danish Maison Urban Jürgensen (an independent that was revived and relaunched last year) at the BAFTAs, Golden Globe Awards and the 2026 Oscar Nominees Luncheon. Basketball legend Michael Jordan celebrated a Daytona 500 win for his NASCAR team wearing a Greubel Forsey Double Tourbillon 30° Technique. Whether Chalamet or Jordan, indie watch brands speak to a certain collector whose navigation of the market is less driven by hype, the kind whose wrist checks earn kudos from those in the know over those taking their cues from noise alone.
But Anoma isn’t looking for a slice of Greubel Forsey’s tourbillon pie or Urban Jürgensen’s movement sorcery. The 29-year- old’s philosophy of looking outside his craft to create something different was brought to life with the brand’s establishment in 2024 – a milestone that followed stints cutting his teeth as a watch specialist at Sotheby’s and later working closely with independents at A Collected Man. Yet his introduction to horology came earlier, upon the discovery of old, broken vintage watches in his parents’ drawers, around the age of six or seven.
Matteo wears Anoma A1 Optical
“Anoma was born from this feeling that there’s a lot of experimentation in watchmaking, but it tends to be along very set paths,” he tells me. “It tends to be very mechanical, focused on how complicated we can make a watch, or what kind of finish we can pursue.” Violet-Vianello’s all-time grails span a time-only Patek Philippe Reference 96 Calatrava and a Gérald Genta Gentissima Oursin. “But I always felt that on the design side, things were very conventional, and people were always pursuing incremental gains in the same design language.”
Violet-Vianello contrasts traditional watchmaking with the experimentation seen in the chairs of the early-20th-century, where designers worked to revolutionise everyday objects via industrial and artisanal methods. He identifies the likes of Charlotte Perriand, Jean Prouvé, Le Corbusier, Carlo Scarpa, and Oscar Niemeyer as figures he looks up to for challenging the notions of their medium by incorporating influences from outside it. They inform his approach, where “the watch is a bit more of a sculpture, more a piece of jewellery, but always with that link or starting point outside of watchmaking.”
Of course, Anoma’s approach is not entirely new. Louis Cartier was inspired by a military tank when designing the Cartier Tank. The BVLGARI Octo Finissimo was inspired by the harmonious proportions of Roman architecture. And the legendary watch designer Gérald Genta, the brains behind the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and Patek Philippe Nautilus, took inspiration from the ocean. Both of these Genta-designed watches were met with scepticism when they initially released, and have since earned a revered status among collectors, setting the standard for what a luxury sports watch can be, where stainless steel makes for a high-end timepiece. By looking outside of watchmaking and disrupting the status quo, these models were able to push the bounds of creativity.
Violet-Vianello’s credo bears lineage in those predecessors, but the twist? It’s the 21st century, and his offerings no longer need to be function-first, allowing yet greater experimentation to ensue. “When you remove this idea that it’s a tool and when you remove this idea that you need a watch, you accept that it is all emotion, it’s all meaning, and it’s all story,” says Violet-Vianello. “And that’s wonderful.”
The brand’s debut timepiece, the Anoma A1, exemplifies this. Its rounded triangular shape is inspired by a free-form table designed by Perriand in the 1950s – a design treasure encountered by Violet-Vianello at an antiques gallery in Paris. Upon release in June 2024, the watch was promoted on social media with the rounded case stacked between pebbles, more akin to something you’d find in a gallery or well-heeled creative’s loft apartment than an asset from a watch brand.
Despite being inspired by modernist designers and architects, who created on the principles of form following function, Anoma is revelling in the watch’s unbound status in modern life, where time can be tracked on the go in more places than our wrists. “The A1 was a sculpture in the sense that it is form-first. It’s this polished triangular pebble with an offset dial. I made a conscious effort to remove the lugs and crown,” says Violet-Vianello. The watchmaker has since expanded the line with the A1 Slate, released in March last year, which replaced the original blue dial with a darker grey. Then there was the A1 Optical line, inspired by the Optical Art movement’s distorted geometric patterns, designed without the presence of any logo or indices. And, now, he’s gearing for the release of the A1 Prehistoric this summer, further bringing the watch in line with sculptural practices, inspired by prehistoric tools made from natural materials. “I made a conscious choice to work by hand. Each case is essentially hand-engraved over the course of five hours by an engraver in France with the purpose of recreating the roughness of a chisel,” says Violet-Vianello.
Audemars Piguet Royal Oak 67650ST
There are plans to expand beyond the A1 in the not-too- distant future, with future core A2 and A3 models serving as canvases for later experimentation. But the development of the brand’s first watch further into the realm of wearable art, while maintaining the design ethos of its flagship timepiece, proves the strength and singularity of Anoma’s vision. He is building on the foundations he has set, and his standing is being carved out over time, with one timepiece taking between 12 and 18 months to design.
Each watch is a reflection of Violet-Vianello’s tastes – nurtured with dedicated hours in his schedule to read, research and develop them. It’s the personality that gives the brand an edge and appeals to collectors. “I think an increasing number of people are getting disillusioned with the big brands. Independents are a breath of fresh air in the same way an indie musician is a breath of fresh air. The same way a disruptive filmmaker breaking the Hollywood blockbuster system is a breath of fresh air,” says Violet- Vianello. “It’s just people coming at it saying, ‘I have a different point of view. It’s going to be more niche. It’s not going to speak to as many people.
But this is what I want to say. And, typically, I want to say it because I feel really strongly about the medium.’ It’s commercial consideration second, and wanting to say something first.” This singularity seems to be working. Watch presenter, writer and founder of podcast The Enthusiasts Justin Hast connected with Violet-Vianello during his time at A Collected Man and previewed the A1 ahead of launch. He has always considered him to be a man of discernment, he tells me. “I knew that he would be doing things the right way, which is taking his time. He’s very considered. Not only does he have great taste, but he also understands the industry as a collector himself and as a buyer.”
Anoma counts members of the watch establishment as fans, including Emmanuel Gueit, the architect of the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore and personnel on the design teams of watch Maisons like Cartier and BVLGARI. But he’sparticularly proud of the compliments of a furniture designer in Japan, whose identity he declines to disclose, but describes as “one of the coolest guys I’ve ever met. He bought one because one of his friends sent it to him, and he liked what it was about,” Violet-Vianello shares. “And that was even cooler, because you’re then bridging into a world that is entirely not your own, that you don’t know, and both are equally satisfying in that sense.”
Watches are entirely Violet-Vianello’s world. He knows the rules, he knows the tradition, and the fusion of engineering and craft is his bread and butter. Could he have made a chair or a sculpture? Possibly. But making a watch that simultaneously acknowledges this legacy in its own way is much more exciting.
