Not the FM you'd expect. No diamonds, no rose gold, no "Master of Complications" yelling at you from the dial. The Vanguard Line Cut was a special edition originally sold only through Franck Muller's French retailers, and it's basically the brand doing stealth mode: grade 5 titanium case, bracelet, dial, crown and buckle, all micro-blasted to the same matte grey, with the numerals and the "Line Cut" lines picked out in black for depth. Monochrome top to bottom.

Specs as best I can pin them down:

* Ref. V 41 S AT REL 
* 41mm x 50mm, and 9.1mm thick
* Two hands, no date, no running seconds
* All grade 5 titanium, including the bracelet
* Caliber FM 708, automatic, 26 jewels

Two reasons I'm posting.

First, there is almost nothing out there on this watch. A handful of 2020 release blurbs all recycling the same FM press text, one decent SJX hands-on, and then...silence. No owner posts, no service write-ups, barely any wrist shots in the wild. So partly I just want to get it on the record for the next person who searches "Line Cut" and comes up empty.

Second, and the real reason: the movement. FM's line is that they "specially created an extra-flat automatic movement" so they could thin the case down. But the FM 708 is about 28.9mm wide and 3.84mm thick, which is actually wider and thicker than an ETA 2892. So it isn't an especially thin movement at all. The slim case seems to come from the construction, not the caliber. It also runs at 21,600 vph (3 Hz), which is an odd beat rate.

And FM being FM, they don't say what's underneath. A lot of their FM-numbered calibers historically are modified ETA / Sellita bases (the Vanguard three-handers' FM 0800 is a confirmed modified ETA, for instance). But the 3 Hz beat and the larger diameter don't line up with a 2892 or an SW300, so I'm not convinced that's what this is.

So the ask: does anyone actually know what the FM 708 is based on? Anyone serviced one, or seen Watchland documentation on it? I included some movement pics, because I haven't seen any of those online either.  
  


[Franck Muller] The one nobody talks about: the all-titanium Vanguard Line Cut (and the mystery FM 708 inside)