The word
Vindex: the one who defends, protects or answers for another.
In Roman law, the vindex was the one who stepped in front of another and took on their case as his own. If he took it and lost, he paid double. The word outlived the procedure that created it.
The emblem
The shield and the sword.
The emblem is a shield with a sword laid across it and the V built in. The shield comes from the vindex of the court, which is what steps in front. The sword, from the governor who bore the name in AD 68.
The house
The house and its lines.
Vindex is an independent watch house in Europe. Its watches are organized into lines, and today there are two. Civis is the everyday line and the first to ship. It holds two models, the Civis 39 and the Civis 36, which are the same watch in two sizes. Aeternum will be the line of limited, numbered editions, and it is still in development. The house will grow by lines, not by adding loose watches.
The principles
Five principles.
Disciplina
The process
Every reference has its own protocol, and no unit ships without completing it. The Civis passes seven checks. There are no exceptions.
Fides
Honesty
We publish what goes into each watch and what we do to it before it ships. When something isn't sorted yet, we say so on the site before you have to ask.
Memoria
History as raw material
The names are not labels added afterward. Vindex comes from Roman law and Civis from the citizen. Rome is where it starts, not where it ends: the raw material is documented episodes of European history, with their dates and their proper names.
Ars
The work, documented
Verification is not a factory secret, it is part of the product. Every check is recorded with its date, its measured value and the signature of whoever ran it.
Tutela
Protection
The shield is not an ornament. If a watch fails because of a defect of ours, we are the ones who sort it out. That is what steps in front of the buyer, and it is why every unit ships with its signed report and a card in the name of whoever bought it.
The journey
From an idea to a watch.
- 01
The idea
We wanted to see which checks a watch had passed before buying it. Nobody showed us.
- 02
The first prototype
The Civis: sapphire, 100 m, an automatic PT5000 and 316L steel.
- 03
The 7 checks
We defined the protocol every piece passes before it ships.
- 04
Final validation
The first units are completing the Civis's validation. The first assignment opens when that's done.
