A brand we really love here is the technologically innovative Hautlence. We’ve written about it many times before, and about its concepteur and developer, Guillaume Tetu. The brand is all about invention and sophistication, and is known for its creative approach to displaying the time. Now, this Neuchatel watch brand rises to a new, ultra-contemporary concept with the Avant-Garde collection. This new series represents Hautlence’s first ready-to-wear line. Heretofore each and every piece was a complex watch, singularly crafted over a long period of time.
Still created in Hautlence’s Atelier d’Horlogerie contemporaine, the Avant-Garde collection consists initially of three models that offer the brand’s signature approach to time display. Each watch features two multi-layered dials that create a play of
depth and transparency – revealing the architectural balance of the watch. Within there is a transparent sapphire dial, the upper face of which features a transfer logo and luminescent minutes and indexes. The lower face includes an area with metal coating from highly polished rhodium or rose gold. Beneath that is a lower base dial in silvered opaline or honeycomb to offer a lightweight sense and feel. Luminescent numerals and indexes guarantee easy readability and reinforce the 3D effect of the jumping hours, retrograde minutes and subsidiary seconds.
The case of this watch is crafted in steel and titanium covered by black DLC on some models. The watch houses the Hautlence in-house manual-wind mechanical movement which uses the Hautlence connecting rod system. The first three models being offered include the Avant-Garde HLRS01 in rose gold, titanium and steel; the Avant-Garde HLRS02 Blue in titanium and steel case and the Avant-Garde HLRS03 Orange Honeycomb with rubber straps. For Autumn, three new models come into play with colorful straps in mixtures of alligator and leather– offering an ultra-modern aesthetic to the bold timepieces.