I would really love one of these watches – another in my “cannot afford, not even close” collection of watch desires. I can still appreciate them from afar right? The first Hautlence watches were in cases that looked like TV screens, and finally we see them in a round cased watch. You can see from the images and videos that there are many different styles that arose from the base design. If you want to click here (in French), you can see almost all of the watches in the Hautlence HL-Q collection. The timepiece begins here with the new case that is 44mm wide and has an interesting construction. I like how the lugs are applied and their cool special types of screws. Not sure about all the materials used. There are of course the gold versions (rose and perhaps white), as well as some to be in titanium or matte finished steel. The dial options are also impressive with a number of different treatments I am quite fond of looking at. As such, the dials are the most complex parts of the watch. Not only are the pieces extremely hard to engineer, but no doubt that extreme precision is required in putting dial together. Aside from the different colors and materials, I have noticed about 3-5 different dial treatments each with slight differences. It is fun to observe all the little details, especially through the three dimensional look of the face.

Hautlence discusses how the dial of the HL-Q is specially designed in some mathematical, geometrical theorem that means little to my mind. Instead I appreciate the level of balance that is achieved in a clearly asymmetric design. This means that there does not seem to be any empty areas, or those that are too cluttered, the visual interest is well spread out. Also, given the complexity of what you are looking at, Hautlence as made the four areas your eyes need to notice most stand out well. This is done via the colored arrow (lume applied too I believe). Actually in some of the models this is only three arrows as the hour dial used a little circular frame over each hour the disc turns too. This is one of those signs that actual watch makers designed this line of timepieces.

The watch has a specially made mechanical movement that is manually wound with a 40 hour power reserve. The watch tells the time and has the date with the minutes being on a retrograde dial, and the hours on a jumping hours disc. Thus, the movement is essentially a jumping hour with a retrograde minutes, a subsidiary seconds dial, and the date – though the layout is wholly unique to Hautlence. The date window is located at about 7 o’clock, while the sub dial for the second (the seconds on a spinning disc) is at about 5 o’clock. In my opinion the watch is thoughtfully laid-out and is a positive execution of that ideal that so many independent watch makers seek – to display the time in a unique, but effective manner.

You can also see that the watch is attached to a number of different types of straps that are alligator, and there are a few with that interesting 3D stacked cube design that feels pretty hip. They are a functional and friendly take on the ultra stylish indy watch for lovers of watches and unique mechanics. Each version of the Hautlence HL-Q (maybe half a dozen or so) is limited to just 88 pieces. Check out more at Hautlence here.

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