Hautlence has just introduced the HLQ, their first round models along with new styles of their HLS collection. 
The second model from Hautlence (previously featured here), the brand new independent Swiss brand will display their new HLs collection at the upcoming BaselWorld watch fair. With similarities such as the mechanically visible retrograde minutes and a jump hour display that is blurred until the correct hour enters the porthole. The case has been streamlined and is available in editions of 88 of titanium, white gold and pink gold.
I'm glad to see they didn't cut corners this time.
The original HL Hautlence
Hautlence, an anagram of the Swiss town Neuchatel, home base for the new watch brand by young entrepreneurs, Renaud De Retz, Guillaume Tetu and François Quentin. Not traditional watchmakers themselves, they designed the first Hautlence out of frustration with the lack of innovation in the high-end watch industry.
Following in the footsteps of independent watch brands like Hautlence, 36 year old watch designer Lionel Ladoire has introduced his first collection featuring the Timepiece Roller Guardian Time. A limited edition series of 40 watches are planned for their first year of production.
Close-up of dial with hours disc (upper left), minutes (lower center), and seconds (upper right), and a GMT second time zone at the center.
The back of the watch reveals some further interesting details of the movement. The micro-rotor for the automatic winding is covered by a circular disc giving it a perfectly balanced look. The balance-wheel bridge shows the two attachments for the Moser double hairspring coming from Precision Engineering in Schaffhausen. A spiderweb on the barrel is part of the corporate design.
Side-view with GMT regulator
French watch designer Lionel Ladoire
Glashütte Original - PanoTourbillon XL
Vianney Halter 'Janvier Classique Lune et Soleil'
FP Journe 'Centigraph' -->Link
Jaeger LeCoultre Master Compressor Extreme Lab
Bell & Ross BR01 Instrument
I suspect Chronoswiss and Spyker’s partnership has soured of late, as the only official sign of their brief dalliance during 2003/4 is buried in the gallery section of the Dutch carmaker’s website… However, as one of the more interesting (ie, less cynical) car/watch brand tie-ins, a proper tribute from the Watchismo Times has been long overdue – especially since Chronoswiss’s signature knurled onion crown forms such a key motif in Spyker’s Steampunk (yes, Steampunk interior design).
Check out how that lush leather cushioning combines with the metallic burred dashplates and exposed gear lever shaft. It could easily be mistaken for the cockpit of an HG Wells contraption, rather than a 500bhp V8 supercar that’ll hit 100kmh in under 4 seconds.
Spyker and Chronoswiss first joined forces in 2003. Cantankerous horolo-guru Gerd-Rudiger Lang, who celebrates the 25th anniversary of his watch brand this year, designed the ice-cool dashboard himself, as well as the Chronoswiss-Spyker ‘Double12’ 24-hour pilot’s watch, which paid tribute to (deep breath): Spyker’s aviation heritage (it merged with the Dutch Aircraft Factory in 1914 to make fighter planes); the C8 Double12 R car (top speed in excess of 199 mph, originally priced at a whopping €300,000); and the famous speed races which, in the past, were held in two 12-hour laps.
More gratuitous car porn: this time, the drool-inducing Spyker C12 Spyder, unveiled in Dec 2004. The first Spyker powered by the all-aluminium 6-litre W12 Audi engine, it had an all-platinum Double12 watch to go with it, only 48 of which were made, yours for €34,700 back then.
And while we’re at it, you may as well drool over this too: Zagato’s interpretation of the C12. Yes, it’s for real. Yes, I want one. No, I doubt very much that Chronoswiss will have the balls to do a watch version. Perhaps Urwerk or Hautlence fancy a try…?
Close-up of rear plate with map/coordinate engraving
An interesting new concept watch from new brand 4N is being developed by François Quentin, one of the co-founders of the very cool independent watch brand HAUTLENCE.
Limited edition of 16 in 18-carat white gold and 16 in platinum
There were very few double-retrograde watches made in the early seventies but here are two of the very best. The vintage automatic winding "Futurama 1000" by Wittnauer featured only two styles, silver dial and black dial with hours and minutes displayed in an arc (hours on left, minutes on right). As each hand travels to the bottom, they fly-back to the top rather than circularly rotate. These two are particularly fine examples each with their original bracelets. Deep-set magnified portholes for date display.
