Sam Altman has reportedly commissioned seven bespoke Vanguart watches carrying OpenAI branding and references to scaling and AGI. Based on a model priced from around $180,000, the watches were made in a tiny run, with roughly a third of the Swiss watchmaker’s staff reportedly involved in production.
Sam Altman has reportedly commissioned seven bespoke Vanguart watches carrying OpenAI branding and references to scaling and AGI. Based on a model priced from around $180,000, the watches were made in a tiny run, with roughly a third of the Swiss watchmaker’s staff reportedly involved in production.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has reportedly commissioned a tiny collection of custom Swiss watches featuring the company’s branding and references to its long-term ambitions in artificial intelligence. The seven-piece order was made with independent Swiss watchmaker Vanguart, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The watches are based on Vanguart’s Orb, an unusually high-end model whose standard editions reportedly begin at about $180,000. According to the WSJ report, rather than simply adding a company logo, however, the bespoke pieces appear to have been designed around OpenAI’s technology and research culture, with phrases tied to ideas such as scaling and artificial general intelligence.
The order also offers a glimpse into Altman’s personal interest in watches. He has previously been seen wearing a Greubel Forsey timepiece reportedly valued at about $650,000. The OpenAI executive has therefore developed a reputation among collectors as someone who takes an interest in high-end mechanical watches, rather than treating them simply as accessories.
OpenAI branding goes beyond the dial
Details of the Vanguart watches suggest that the company wanted the customisation to be highly specific. The OpenAI logo appears on the dial, while other elements reference concepts associated with the company’s approach to developing AI systems, reports the WSJ.
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One inscription reads “COMPUTE IS DESTINY”, while “SCALING” also appears among the design references. The caseback carries an even more direct nod to OpenAI’s ambitions: “if AGI.aligned: deploy().”
The project is not the first time OpenAI has turned to watches for a company-specific gift or commemorative item. The company previously commissioned customised Tudor watches featuring the phrase “Good Research Takes Time”.
Vanguart’s small scale makes the latest project particularly unusual. The watchmaker has produced fewer than 200 watches in total and focuses on limited, highly customised work rather than large-scale production. Its watches are sold in the US through a single watch and jewellery retailer.
That approach also appears to have shaped the OpenAI commission. According to the WSJ, around one-third of Vanguart’s 33 employees were involved in making the seven watches, underscoring how labour-intensive a project of this size can be for a small independent manufacturer.
A seven-watch edition that may never be sold
There is currently no OpenAI edition listed in Vanguart’s public catalogue. Given that only seven examples were reportedly produced, there may never be a publicly available version of the watch.
The reported commission also highlights the difference between mass-market corporate merchandise and bespoke luxury goods. Rather than producing a large run, OpenAI appears to have ordered a handful of individually customised pieces from a manufacturer whose business is built around rarity and specialist craftsmanship.
The exact amount paid for the seven watches has not been publicly disclosed. The starting price of the regular Orb provides some indication of the level of luxury involved, but the bespoke nature of the OpenAI order means its final value could differ substantially.
For now, the watches remain a private project rather than a product OpenAI or Vanguart is publicly selling. Their significance may lie less in their commercial value than in the ideas incorporated into their design — from computing power and scaling to the eventual goal of aligned artificial general intelligence.