ertain performances remain in the memory long after the final whistle. Not simply for the victory, but for everything it took to make it possible: talent, of course, but also work, endurance, gestures repeated thousands of times, and the ability to turn individual strengths into a team.

This was what fascinated John Byrne about sport. Far beyond the result itself, he admired those capable of surpassing what they believed possible, and the power of a collective when each individual talent is brought to the service of a shared ambition.

This vision naturally echoed his approach to watchmaking. Behind a watch, just as behind a great sporting achievement, there is never a single gesture. There are ideas, skilled hands, complementary expertise and a shared commitment to excellence. And there is that determination, so deeply rooted in Byrne, never to settle for what has already been achieved.

With ‘All Number 10 in my Team’ and ‘Les Grandes Finales’, Byrne chooses football as the field through which to tell the story of this quest. Two watches, two interpretations, but one shared idea: to celebrate what becomes possible when talent, exacting standards and collective endeavour come together.

All Number 10 in my Team. It was a phrase John Byrne loved to repeat. Drawn directly from Booba’s track ‘N°10’, a song he particularly loved, it refers to one of football’s most iconic numbers, traditionally associated with the playmaker: the player who creates, inspires and can change the course of a game.

But what resonated with John went beyond a number or a single player. He saw in it a particular vision of the team: distinct personalities and talents, each capable of excelling in their own field, united by a shared ambition. A vision that found a natural expression at Byrne, where every creation is born from multiple, complementary forms of expertise.

On the dial, this idea takes the form of a football pitch. Its PVD rhodium-plated surface evokes the turf, down to the centre circle, while the Grade 5 titanium case almost traces the outline of the stands. At the four cardinal points, the Gyro Dial brings into play the symbols imagined for this creation: a football, a trophy, a gilded world map, the Byrne triangle and numbers inspired by the shirts of great players. With each rotation, a new composition emerges.

For this piece, Byrne also evolves the aesthetic language of the Gyro Dial. Where previous creations favoured a unified motif across a given display, ‘All Number 10 in my Team’ brings different football symbols together, creating a new visual rhythm with each rotation. Byrne also pushes the craftsmanship of its cubes further: the gilded micro-sculptures now extend across all four faces, rather than two as before. Each cube therefore requires 18 stages of production instead of the usual 14, with four additional stages needed to create the motifs’ relief and gilded finish.

Every 24 hours, the four cubes rotate simultaneously, transforming the face of the watch. The pitch remains the same. The players change. The story continues.

While ‘All Number 10 in my Team’ celebrates the power of the collective, ‘Les Grandes Finales’ turns to what endures: those moments that enter our collective memory and continue to be retold years later.

For this second creation, Byrne has devised a new Gyro Dial display. Each of its four faces revisits one of the last four World Cup finals : 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026 – and captures their essential details. At 3 and 9 o’clock appear the flags of the two finalist nations; at 12 and 6 o’clock, the score. The winner, always positioned on the left, is distinguished by a tiny gold star. When a match is level at the end of regulation time, the final score after extra time is displayed in miniature beneath the main score, preserving the memory of the match down to the finest detail.

The flags mark the first use of micro-painting within the world of the Gyro Dial. On prototype No. 1, they are entirely hand-painted under a microscope by an artisan in Switzerland, a meticulous process requiring between one and two weeks. For pieces No. 2 to 26, the designs will be reproduced using a transfer technique to preserve their precision and fidelity at this scale. Byrne’s signature complication thus becomes the canvas for a new dialogue between mechanics and métiers d’art.

One face, however, could not be completed in advance. The 2026 display had to wait until the final had been played, the two finalists were known, the score recorded and a new star could take its place. Only after 19 July 2026 could the artisans complete this final chapter.

The watch had to wait for history to be written before it could, in turn, tell its story. This memory extends to the strap, crafted by Maison Jean Rousseau. Engraved on its reverse are the venues of the four finals: Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, Lusail and New York – four landmarks in time.

With each rotation of the Gyro Dial, one final gives way to another. The flags change, the scores change. The achievement remains. Behind a great achievement, there is rarely a single gesture. There is the one that precedes it, the one that prepares it and the one that follows. On the pitch, the ball passes from one player to another before reaching its goal. In the workshop, a component passes from one pair of hands to the next, guided by different skills that together give life to a watch.

This collective dimension was central to John Byrne’s vision. Watchmaking is built on singular talents : watchmakers, engineers, artisans and métiers d’art specialists – each mastering a particular gesture, technique or field of expertise. But it is also built on transmission: skills learned, perfected and then passed on in turn, from one generation to the next.

With ‘All Number 10 in my Team’ and ‘Les Grandes Finales’, Byrne does not simply celebrate this pursuit of excellence: it applies the same standard to its own craft. Micro-sculptures extending across all four faces of the cubes, the introduction of micro-painting, and a new display for scores and flags: both creations required Byrne to explore new possibilities for the Gyro Dial and open a new dialogue between mechanics and métiers d’art.

The movement itself is part of this collective story. At the heart of both watches, the automatic Byrne calibre 5555 is hand-assembled in Switzerland. Comprising 261 components, it drives the four cubes of the Gyro Dial, allowing their sixteen representations to unfold over time. Both the movement and the watch are assembled entirely by hand, preserving a watchmaking approach in which every stage of assembly remains entrusted to skilled hands.

‘All Number 10 in my Team’ and ‘Les Grandes Finales’ were conceived together and are available exclusively as a collector’s set, limited to 26 sets for 2026, a total of 52 watches.

To bring them together, Byrne has designed a presentation case that carries the story into its very form: a football crafted from an exceptionally lightweight material in shades of green and silver, echoing the watches. At the press of a push-button, it opens to reveal the two timepieces at its centre. On prototype set No. 1, the push-button bears the number 1, a reference to the pursuit of excellence and surpassing one’s limits that runs through both creations.

Sets No. 2 to 26 are priced at CHF 45,000 ex. VAT. Set No. 1, bringing together the two prototypes and distinguished by a special level of finishing, is priced at CHF 60,000 ex. VAT.

With Claire Cohen and the teams around her today, Byrne continues along the path envisioned by John. Not by freezing what he created in time, but by keeping it alive, interpreting it and allowing it to evolve.

Every creation should carry something of him: his audacity, his obsession with mechanics, his taste for extraordinary objects and, above all, his determination to create a watch recognisable without even needing to read its name.

‘All Number 10 in my Team’ and ‘Les Grandes Finales’ belong to this continuity. They take the Gyro Dial further, introduce new métiers d’art and explore a new aesthetic language, while remaining unmistakably Byrne.

To grow Byrne without ever betraying John’s vision. This is the path Claire Cohen and her teams intend to pursue.