Tessé is a Canadian independent watch brand founded by Thomas Brissiaud, a designer whose aesthetic is rooted in architecture, vintage aviation, and a personal connection to the mechanics of watchmaking. The brand assembles its watches in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the historic centre of Swiss horology, and currently produces two distinct lines: the Michel GMT and the Architect.

The Michel GMT launched in spring 2025, establishing Tessé's design vocabulary with a tonneau-cushion case, etched sides, layered surface finishing, and a 1970s-influenced colour palette that draws directly from Brissiaud's own book on the decade's watchmaking innovations. The GMT function is executed cleanly, with a bi-directional rotating bezel and a four-hand display that allows quick reading of a second time zone without drama or complication.

The Architect is a more considered departure — a three-hand, no-date watch built around a dial of twenty-one individual components, including thirteen sculpted lume blocks that illuminate after dark with a quality Brissiaud has likened to a lit office building seen from the street. Where the Michel GMT borrows from the past, the Architect simply asks what a beautiful watch looks like today. Matte and polished surfaces alternate with rare precision, and the movement — an ETA 2892-A2 in élaboré grade — sits in a custom-engraved holder visible through a sapphire caseback, carrying the architectural concept all the way through to the parts most owners will rarely see.

The case across both lines is 316L stainless steel at 40mm, finished with a 1200 HV anti-scratch coating considerably harder than most tool steels. Tessé launched both references via Kickstarter — not as a funding mechanism, but as a platform for visibility and direct connection with collectors. It is a young brand producing work that punches well above its market position.