Silicon Valley has no shortage of ways to show you have made it big. There are glass houses overlooking the bay, six-figure cars, and timepieces that cost more than most homes. But there is now a new benchmark for making it inside the world of artificial intelligence. It is getting one of Sam Altman’s ultra-rare OpenAI watches.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Altman commissioned seven custom OpenAI-branded watches from Swiss independent watchmaker Vanguart earlier this year. One was for Altman himself, while six went to select OpenAI personnel. The recipients have not been publicly identified, but the watches are anything but ordinary company swag. They are based on Vanguart’s titanium Orb Flying Tourbillon, a hand-built mechanical watch that starts at about $180,000.
A seven-watch club worth millions
At that starting price, seven watches would have a retail-equivalent value of about $1.26 million before any bespoke premium, although the actual price paid has not been disclosed. The project was also substantial for Vanguart itself. Roughly one-third of the Swiss company’s 33 employees, or around 11 people, worked on the commission.
That scarcity is part of the appeal. Vanguart has produced fewer than 200 watches in its entire history, making seven pieces for OpenAI a remarkable order for such a small manufacture. Its watches are sold in the United States only through Material Good in SoHo, further limiting access.
Underneath the OpenAI branding is an extraordinarily complicated machine. The Orb uses Vanguart’s T-1601 openworked flying-tourbillon movement, containing 395 components and 35 jewels. It beats at 21,600 vibrations per hour and offers about 60 hours of power. Yet for all that engineering, the watch tells only the hours and minutes.
The mechanical spectacle is one of its highlights. Its flying tourbillon sits at six o’clock, while the barrel and function indicator balance it at 12. The openworked dial is dominated by the movement and Vanguart’s unusual Orbital Mass, a peripheral rotor with a gold counterweight and a 2mm brilliant-cut diamond.
Even the way the watch winds is unusual. A pusher built into the crown switches between automatic winding, manual winding and time setting. In automatic mode, the Orbital Mass spins as the wearer moves. In manual mode, it locks in place with the diamond at 12 o’clock.
When Silicon Valley jargon meets watchmaking
That mechanism gives the OpenAI version some particularly nerdy details. Around the rotor is the Altman-attributed phrase “Compute Is Destiny,” while “Scaling” appears on the crown pusher. On the back, each watch carries the Python-style inscription “if AGI.aligned: deploy()”, a line suggested by Vanguart CEO and co-founder Axel Leuenberger. Vanguart chairman and co-founder Mehmet Koruturk said the message represents the idea that AI should be used for peaceful purposes.
The engraving is especially fitting for a watch whose entire personality revolves around visible mechanics. The OpenAI project is not the company’s only foray into watches. Boris Power, OpenAI’s head of applied research, said Tudor made 400 watches carrying the OpenAI logo and “Good Research Takes Time” on their backs. Those are a far more attainable expression of company identity than the seven Vanguarts.
The trend stretches beyond OpenAI. Adobe employees are working with Studio Underd0g on 128 company-branded watches expected to cost around $1,200 each, while custom watches referencing Meta, Amazon and other technology giants have also appeared at auction.
But the custom Vanguart timepieces are not simply merchandise. They are seven tiny mechanical statements about money, access, engineering and belonging. In Silicon Valley, apparently, you know you have really made it when your company doesn’t give you a hoodie. It gives you a six-figure tourbillon.
