To know where you’re going, you must know where you come from. For independent avant-garde watchmaker HAUTLENCE, that mindset has never faltered. For 20 years, HAUTLENCE has paved the way for a new philosophy in watchmaking, one where design and mechanical kinetics take precedence over pure function. The passage of time itself is the performance, while the rest serves to enhance its dramatic effect – HAUTLENCE HLXX.
A TV-shaped case, a jumping hours disk, and a retrograde minutes hand—these were the stars of HAUTLENCE’s first horological venture, dubbed simply the HL. 20 years later, the result of this unexpected and unprecedented combination has proven to be just as outlandish, singular, and captivating as ever. Using the original HL movement that made its debut in 2004, HAUTLENCE has redesigned the TV-shaped case as well as the dial for a special 20-piece anniversary edition. The HLXX bridges the past, present, and future of HAUTLENCE.
An evocative form
Few case shapes from the 21st century are as outstanding and immediately identifiable as HAUTLENCE’s TV-shaped case. Rectangular with rounded sides and sharply faceted corners, the TV case is instantly recognizable for its unique form. For the 20th anniversary edition of the original HL, HAUTLENCE has revisited the overall silhouette and proportions to be much closer to that of the original with a few modern upgrades. Crafted in light yet tough grade 5 titanium, the HLXX’s case measures 37.0 x 45.0 x 11.75 mm (10.5 mm without sapphire crystal), with a water resistance of 10 ATM (100 meters). To give it a more streamlined look and feel, the case has no visible lugs. Instead, it features a quick-release system for the strap integrated directly onto the case back. The titanium deployant buckle comes with a quick-adjustment mechanism to quickly swap the black rubber cordura-effect strap without any tools.
Time-telling as a canvas
With a case shaped like a television, it’s only natural that whatever it’s showing inside is wholly engaging and mesmerizing. The HLXX takes a deconstructed approach to tell the time, where the hours and minutes occupy their own portions of the open dial with a silvery rhodium color and vertical satin-brushed surface, marking their passage in completely different ways. The jumping hour of the HLXX is characterized by superimposed disks on the left side, where a fixed tinted sapphire crystal disk features an aperture that displays the current hour on a jumping hour disk, with Arabic hour numerals in Super-LumiNova®. The top disk with concentric lines recalls a key design element of the most recent Vagabonde series.
Inspired by locomotives, the lever system visible from the dial side connects a snail-cam with the blued retrograde minutes hand and jumping-hour switching mechanism, allowing them to advance simultaneously at the end of each hour. Taking a cue from HAUTLENCE’s more recent creations, the curved retrograde minutes track in tinted sapphire features applied numerals crafted in Globolight®, a ceramic material infused with Super-LumiNova® that HAUTLENCE has extensively featured in its more recent creations, including the Linear and Sphere. Finally, the HLXX takes a page from the HL2 with a rotating Möbius logo as a way to show that the watch is running and that time is naturally fleeting.
HL Calibre: last of its kind
Driving this highly animated spectacle of time is the HAUTLENCE A20 caliber, a form-fitting TV-shaped manual winding movement with which HAUTLENCE began its adventures 20 years ago. The balance wheel can be seen through the jumping hour disk as well as the case back. Its single barrel provides a minimum power reserve of 40 hours. And just because it’s unusual doesn’t make the HL any less of an “Haute Horlogerie” creation. The bridges are decorated with wide côtes-de-Genève stripes as well as beveled and polished edges. The way the bridges are shaped and separated recalls the brand’s Möbius logo. And as a finishing touch to this anniversary edition, a screwed plaque adjacent to the ratchet wheel marks its distinction as the anniversary limited edition.
The HLXX celebrates this monumental milestone for HAUTLENCE, a brand that has been at the vanguard of imaginative and creative watchmaking since 2004. The HLXX is a limited edition of 20 pieces and marks the final time that the original HL caliber will be used.
HAUTLENCE – Forging the path for avant-garde independent watchmaking since 2004.
Dimensions: 37.0 x 45.0 x 11.75 mm / 10.5 mm without sapphire crystal
Water resistance: 10 atm
Dial
Base dial: skeletonized and rhodium-plated brass with vertical satin finishing
Intermediate dial: tinted sapphire with applied minute numerals in Globolight®
Strap
Black rubber
Buckle: grade 5 titanium
About HAUTLENCE Founded in 2004, HAUTLENCE – whose name itself is an anagram of Neuchâtel – pays tribute to the birthplace of the watchmaking art. The brand has been praised by watch collectors and aficionados from across the world for bringing a new dynamism to the art of fine watchmaking. In 2022, HAUTLENCE embarked on a new chapter in its history. While continuing to refine and develop the brand’s signature codes, HAUTLENCE adopted a brand new, more contemporary and sporty approach. Featuring a new structure, a more exclusive distribution network and a visual identity aligned with the brand’s positioning, HAUTLENCE now has the resources to confirm its status as a leading independent With annual production of around 200 pieces, HAUTLENCE has nine calibres designed and developed in-house, whilst also relying on external partners for the movements used in certain collections. In strategic terms, HAUTLENCE can count on support from MELB Holding, an independent family watchmaking group which has been offering its experience and network since 2012, with the synergies between HAUTLENCE and the group sure to grow. HAUTLENCE is pushing the boundaries of traditional watchmaking codes, uniting them with innovative mechanical solutions and an unlimited universe borrowed from the various arts, combining design, architecture, and movement. The brand takes its inspiration from this to create new approaches to time display, which it uses to elevate the two key dimensions of space and time. Ever conscious of a functional relationship with beauty, HAUTLENCE invents timepieces with completely new contours and depths, respecting every stage and every person involved in their production.
