ehind Stollenwurm, a brand that surprised almost everyone when it was launched somewhat unexpectedly last year in Geneva, there is neither a brand plan nor a traditional commercial ambition. What there is, is the desire of American biotech entrepreneur Edward Tourtellotte to invest all his energy in a new creative project. And as he likes to say, watchmaking is an exceptional medium in terms of the dimensions of the object, history, expertise and potential. It didn’t matter that the world of watchmaking was unfamiliar to him and that the expertise he needed was located thousands of kilometres away in the Swiss Jura mountains. Watchmaking it was!

As the code name, and ultimately the brand name, for this project unveiled to the world at the Geneva Watch Days 2025, he chose ‘Stollenwurm’, a mythological Swiss animal, in keeping with his desire to explore complex materials: this fire-breathing snake with a cat’s head hides in the caves of the Jura.

In record time – just a few months – he presented his first two collections, in platinum, which never tarnishes, and tantalum, the most enigmatic of all materials, each limited to twelve pieces.

Series 1 reinvents the day-date function through astronomical symbols that stand out on a dial that is both dark and shimmering. Series 2 interprets the major arcana of the Tarot, based on original paintings created in-house and transposed into grand feu enamels combining champlevé and cloisonné techniques. Like its legendary namesake, guardian of treasures and wisdom, each Stollenwurm watch aims to exude ‘a living and mysterious presence on the wrist’.

Before Stollenwurm, Edward Tourtellotte built his career in Boston, notably as co-founder and then CTO of 4G Clinical,, which specialises in clinical trial management. In management positions, he learned to orchestrate projects involving multiple suppliers, various disciplines and high constraints — a school of rigour, but also of human coordination. He now puts these skills to work in watchmaking with Stollenwurm. But also in his family, as several members of the Tourtelotte family are part of the adventure.

At Stollenwurm, Tourtellotte does not seek to put himself forward; this is not a typical ego project of the kind sometimes seen in watchmaking. He applies a logic that has been tried and tested elsewhere: define a clear intention, assemble the teams capable of serving it, then let technical discipline give shape to the idea. ‘I don’t see myself as the creator of Stollenwurm, but as the one who made room for it to happen,’ Tourtellotte sums up. ‘A meeting point for artists, craftsmen, engineers and collectors capable of grasping its significance.’

In the spring of 2024, after leaving his executive position, the idea of Stollenwurm almost imposed itself against the tide. ‘I couldn’t believe I was really going to do it,’ he confides. The company was officially founded in Le Locle in October 2024: it immediately set its sights on the heights of watchmaking, where others, more established in this field, would probably not have dared to launch themselves with such ambitions. Perhaps the timing was right – suppliers were rather eager for work, unlike in the previous period of expansion of the watch business – because doors opened one after another for him in Switzerland.

The first Stollenwurm watch, the Astrological Day-Date, is intended to be ‘a reinvention of celestial time, guided by planetary glyphs’. The date, indicated in numbers, is accompanied by the day, not written out in full, but revealed through the ancestral symbols of the Sun, Moon and five classical planets: the circle of the Sun, the crescent of the Moon, the cross of Venus and the spear of Mars, signs inherited from centuries of astronomy and alchemy. This first collection lays the foundations for those to come: each Stollenwurm series will offer a new interpretation of time.

Astrological Day-Date

Behind these symbols lies another language: that of watchmaking. For Stollenwurm, technology and myth are not opposed: they complement each other. Engineering brings rigour, craftsmanship adds nuance. Together, they transform scattered fragments into a coherent whole, in a union of the symbolic and the mechanical.

The cases and bracelets are made by ABProduct in La Chaux-de-Fonds, while the micro-rotor calibre, entirely NAC-treated, was developed with Télôs Watch and TMH especially for Stollenwurm.

Stollenwurm manufactures its calibres in collaboration with specialists Télôs Watch and TMH.

The first series inscribed its symbols in the sky. The second delves into the intimate, drawing inspiration from tarot motifs. Each watch becomes an encounter with one of the major arcana — The Fool, The High Priestess, and many others. These archetypes are created by the artist Hannah Perry Saucier. Donzé Cadrans reproduces these visions in grand feu, champlevé, cloisonné and micro-painting enamels.

Tarot Métiers d’Art

The WU-A1002 three-hand movement with micro-rotor that powers the Tarot Métiers d’Art series is also the result of a collaboration between Télôs Watch and TMH, with nickel silver plates, rose gold-plated bridges and a double 18-carat gold barrel, engraved and designed to offer 80 hours of power reserve.

Stollenwurm and AB Concept have announced the first documented use of additive manufacturing to produce and finish tantalum components for watchmaking. Initial hardness tests carried out on an additive-manufactured tantalum buckle recorded values of around 180 ± 20 HV1, compared with around 140 HV1 for conventionally processed tantalum.

Platinum and tantalum are at the heart of Stollenwurm’s identity. Not as a demonstration of luxury, but as a language. Tantalum, a dense, rare and notoriously difficult metal to work with, has become a major field of technical exploration for Stollenwurm, leading to a first in watchmaking: the documented use of additive manufacturing to produce tantalum components, in partnership with AB Concept.

Stollenwurm is an astonishing adventure with no imposed limits: the watches do not seek to belong to a category, but to open up new possibilities. Like the legendary alpine creature from which the company takes its name — guardian of ancient treasures and knowledge — they appear as a canvas for our imagination.