Hautlence

After many years of development, Hautlence has finally unveiled their masterpiece, the HL2. Underneath the massive front and rear crystals, the complicated mobile bridge movement of the Hautlence HL2.0 is fully visible from all angles. As the name would suggest, instead of having a stationary bridge, the regulating organ (the balance wheel and escapement), rotate. The movement of the 12-link jump-hour chain causes the entire escapement assembly to rotate 60º four times each day. The hour takes 4-seconds to move into place and is shown in an aperture near 12 o'clock. The designers intentionally selected a slow-motion change of the hours because an instantaneous change could generate shocks that negatively affect the movement and timekeeping. The central dial is a retrograde minute display, with a speed regulator in the center the spins every 60-minutes when the minute disc jumps back to zero.

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[ via Hautlence ]

Hautlence watch company was founded by five watch enthusiasts, in 2001. They may be young, for a watch company, but they continue to offer appealing new limited edition designs. In April 2008, Hautlence introduced their first round watch, the HLQ Quantième. This new collection features a Hautlence in-house hand-wound movement. It comes in five variations, with 88 pieces available per model. The case is 43.8mm x10.65mm, and is available in either stainless steel or gold. All models come with a hand sewn alligator strap. Each watch is individually identified with plate numbers. The jumping hours and retrograde minute are controlled by the HL patent combining translation slide as a result of declining probe snail with a mass of gold acting as flywheel and to provide the energy necessary to jump drive. The watch vibrates 21,600 times per hour and has a 40 hour power reserve. Water resistance is 30 meters.

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[ via Luxist ]

This is a nice looking watch called the HLs from a newer watch company Hautlence. This collection comes in limited editions with titanium, white gold and pink gold versions. Expect to see these watches displayed at Baselworld 2007.