highlights


Hautlence, displaying mechanical poetry

July 2005



By many aspects, the very recently created brand, Hautlence, is emblematic of the recent wave of creating new watch ‘houses.’ Following the renewed entrepreneurial vigour of independent watchmakers, we are now seeing new entrepreneurs (and watch aficionados) who have caught the mechanical fever.

It started with three friends, all coming from various activities in the world of watches: marketing for Renaud de Retz, project development for Guillaume Tetu, and design for François Quentin. All three are very experienced in the inner workings of the large watch groups and one evening, during a discussion among friends, a challenge was launched: why not create their own watch brand!


Hautlence

Hautlence


But, this would not be just another brand, not just a ‘one shot’ deal. This would be a real and innovative brand, with a different and relevant offer. The three men decided to take up the challenge.
“With Hautlence, our goal is to truly create a brand,” explains Renaud de Retz. “A brand worthy of this name can only be built step-by-step, and only if it can bring something unusual and significant to the table. Our intention is not to turn everything upside down. Since we are not master watchmakers, we want to concentrate on other aspects than the habitual complications. Today, Hautlence is proposing a new approach to reading time. We also think that there are a lot of unexploited possibilities in redefining traditional mechanical timekeeping, for example, in how the gears are arranged, and even in eliminating certain very old systems.”

A collegial affair
The name, Hautlence, is an anagram of the town Neuchâtel, where the brand is located. Unlike many other companies, it does not carry the name of its creators because the three partners wanted it to reflect a combined effort. Driven by their collective passion, the three men gathered together a ‘College’ of experts with the necessary knowledge and understanding of how to create a sophisticated watch product. Composed of recognized specialists, all young and independent watchmakers from the Neuchâtel region, this ‘College’ is more than a simple circle of suppliers. It unites the efforts of its members in the common goal of taking the ideas of the brand’s founders and turning them into reality.
The first watch is now at hand, and it has a totally surprising appearance.

Mechanics in the service of display
Symbolic of the brand and equipped with a manual winding regulator movement developed by the Hautlence College, the dimensions of this large and slightly domed piece represent the 16:9 ratio of a television screen. It measures 43.5 mm in length, 37 mm in height, and 10.5 mm thickness. At first glance, one sees the mechanical genes of the watch, in the form of an unusual array of rods driving an hour disc. But in this genetic sequence, the codes have been carefully revisited and transfigured into a very contemporary style.
The originality of reading the time lies in the double device of a jumping hour (revealed in the window of a cut-out rotating disk) coupled with a retrograde minute display. The small seconds hand is in a little dial at 5 o’clock. The intriguing rods, evocative of yesterday’s trains, drive the jumping hour disc. When the minute hand reaches 60 minutes, a device activated by a central cam (a snail) causes the end of the rod to arm a small spring with an inertia block that, in turn, drives the rotation of the hour disc.

Between classicism and contemporary mechanical poetry
Stylistically, this system makes the watch very unusual looking. Framed by its 16:9 case in yellow, rose or white gold, with its hand-posit-ioned hour markers on the sapphire dial protected by a bevelled edge sapphire crystal, the first Hautlence has one foot in classicism and the other foot in the most contemporary mechanical poetry.
The execution of this piece is worthy of the techniques of grand timekeeping. There has been careful attention to detail: the four-screwed sapphire crystal caseback; a plate with identification and number; triple gold fastener, double pushbutton safety clasp on the hand-sewn alligator skin bracelet. Water-resistance is guaranteed to 50 metres.
All the components of the watch (with the exception of the alligator bracelet) are made in Switzerland. The watch comes with a ‘Service Booklet’ and the first ‘servicing’ is offered after three years. This is also another way to ensure the traceability of the timepiece. This innovative policy, the quality and rarity of the piece come at a cost. Retail prices are of the order of 30,000 to 35,000 euros. Each model is made in 58 pieces, and as of now, there are six models.
Hautlence has also set it sights on greater things and is already promising new mechanical ‘complications’ that are playful and poetic, while being both nostalgic and adventuresome… just like the very first Hautlence timepiece.
In 2005, the brand plans to enter a few priority markets, namely the United States, Hong Kong, and Europe with France and Switzerland being the initial focus.
The passion of Hautlence’s three creators seems to have put them on the right track.


Source: April-May 2005 Issue

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