There is no doubt that independent watchmaking is in a very different zone than when Rémi Maillat founded Krayon back in 2013. The brand, who refuse to follow trends, are staying true to form with the new release of a rose gold version of niche watch collection, the Anyday.
Collectors will have recognised a stylistic language that lends structural clarity to Krayon, setting it apart from the usual codes of haute horlogerie. At first glance, you might sense an emphasis on metiers d’art and decoration, but there is a deeper, underlying philosophy to the brand, the singular vision of Monsieur Maillat and his team.
We visited the independent Swiss atelier in Nêuchatel in late 2025 and found that Krayon operates less like a traditional watch brand than you might imagine. Maillat’s team work on a base of three main models, the named Anyday, Anywhere and Everywhere. et in gold cases, the brand’s low-volume production focuses on the idea of turning complex calculations into wearable mechanical art. And wearable is a keyword, with Rémi Maillat’s creations staying within a goldilocks 39mm case size for the Anyday and Anywhere, with short, sculpted lugs and less than 10mm thickness.
This is slim for any watch, and especially considering the inherent complexity of the Anyday in its new rose gold guise, a watch based on the brand’s Calibre C032, a fully in-house movement with 378 components and two cams guiding an innovative calendar mechanism with a weekly planner. But what inspired Maillat to introduce a wrist-worn feature that a simple iPhone already offers?
'With Anyday, I recognised a need,' Maillat said. 'It's really useful to know the dates for the whole month, and it's a pity we cannot have this information on a mechanical watch instead of using our cell phone with an agenda.' At first glance, the watch appears deceptively simple, with Krayon’s trademark design of a brand Y-guilloche centre and a recessed outer ring, plus a charming complication.
'We never know what day of the week it is, so we don't know if we are available, so I started by recognising this need,' Maillat says. 'I first tried to find a clever way to display it, because it can be quite confusing, because a lot of information has to be displayed at the same time.'
The new release features a warm-toned 18K stepped-lug case framing a dial defined by clarity. But, as with all Krayon pieces, the Anyday reimagines the annual calendar as a practical tool. The understated two-hand centre dial is framed by a peripheral overview of the days of the month, marked as an adjustable planner for the working week, thereby separating the weekend from the mundane. 'It really looks like a very simple two-armed watch with a date display,' Maillat told us. 'But to achieve this simplicity of the display and the simplicity of operation of the watch, to adjust all with a crown, the movement has to be complex to achieve it.'
'Before founding Krayon, I studied micro-technology engineering. and worked six years for Cartier in La Chaux-de-Fonds,' Maillat adds. 'I was among the team of engineers working with Carole Forestier, and I developed some of the most complex movements Cartier has ever produced.' At the very beginning, Maillat told us, Krayon was only an engineering studio that developed movements and complications for other brands, before utilising Maillat’s otherwise analytical language to create a brand with a limited output of high five-figure priced watches. What sets the brand apart, underlined by the new Anyday, is the contrast between technical concept and hand-crafted details that offer an unusual interplay of engineering and art.
Krayon’s understated elegance is also defiantly modern in its language, and Maillat places great importance on being independent. 'Each watch I produce is a source of joy,' says Maillat with a big smile. 'I remember a few weeks ago we had a customer who came in, we sat together in this room, and he got a delivery of his watch, and I was happy to see his reaction. A few hours later, he called me, not with a problem but just to say that the watch was beautiful. That is what makes me happy every day.'
Krayon’s singular focus is at the root of the brand’s charm, and Maillat does not pursue complications for the value of spectacle. He reframes it with a deft hand guided by an inquisitive nature. In a category often driven by traditionalism, avant-garde futurism or decorative bravura, Krayon has carved out its own modern, slightly eccentric, and unmistakably self-contained niche.