Founded in 2004, HAUTLENCE – the anagram of the Swiss Jura town Neuchâtel – pays tribute to the cradle of horology. By challenging the traditional vision of watchmaking, the brand has earned recognition among watch collectors and devotees around the world. For its tenth anniversary, the contemporary watch design brand has signed an exciting new partnership with the international personality Eric Cantona, overturning traditional watchmaking conventions and bringing an offbeat approach to the heart of an ambitious team. This iconic footballer and artist brilliantly embodies HAUTLENCE’s determination to move boldly off the beaten track, to think out of the box and deliver original, edgy designs to their timepieces. Driven by Guillaume Tetu, CEO and co-founder, and Georges-Henri Meylan, Chairman, one of the most well respected personalities in the watch industry, HAUTLENCE prides itself on its different, creative approach to watchmaking. “Being small implies being responsive, opportunistic, flexible and mobile, which implies that we move faster than the big historic companies” comments Tetu about niche brands like HAUTLENCE. Coupled with a daring vision that challenges pre-conceived ideas, this strong corporate philosophy is ideally suited to this new collaboration with the bold, free-thinking of Eric Cantona. In his capacity as exclusive partner to the brand with which he shares his own offbeat, edgy vision, Eric Cantona also takes an active part in HAUTLENCE’s 10^th anniversary events as well as in the 2014 international advertising campaign “Cross the line”. Like Tetu and Meylan, whose entrepreneurial spirit and creativity have earned respect amongst their peers and esteem from their clients, Cantona’s authentic, atypical and accomplished personality personifies the spirit of the HAUTLENCE Gentlemen Rebels Club. This is an exclusive club, composed of HAUTLENCE timepiece owners, which represents the human values cherished by the brand. All members are passionate, exceptional, uncompromising people who are prepared to move beyond their comfort zone in order to achieve their personal and professional goals, thereby reaping the rewards of their bold decision-making. They’ll be offered to opportunity to visit the two and a half year traveling art exhibition of Cantona’s private collection,showcased together with the HL timekeepers made for and with Cantona in limited editions, including HAUTLENCE’s first chronograph.

 

 

During Baselworld 2014 Guillaume Tetu stated : “the evolution of the brand today implies a broadening of our clientele, the arrival of models that are more accessible is in line with this, and our big challenge is to accompany this development with more aggressive communication in order to raise awareness of the brand.” While the development of its own movements is an integral part of the brand DNA and will continue to be so, HAUTLENCE has made no secret of its interest in external cooperative endeavours on certain lines. Under the “SIGNATURE” commercial label, the brand now offers series-produced models driven by externally sourced movements. DESTINATION is the first line to carry this label. Picking up the original HAUTLENCE characteristics (architectural DNA, pure lines and a 3D spirit), while asserting its own more accessible style, DESTINATION is equipped – for the first time in brand history – with a self-winding movement sourced from an external partner (Soprod), and thus able to offer new functions: the hours and minutes are complemented by a large date and a 12-hour dragging dual time-zone display, revealed by a 24-hour day/night indicator. The interplay of disks and reading indications through transparency effects is an integral part of the brand spirit ; to achieve this, the movement was modified in comparison with its standard execution – a process that involved altering the day/night indication and adapting the hand cylinders. The base dial is composed of several elements, including the large date bridge engraved with the brand name, as well as a central ring bearing the minutes markings. A small opening in the case-back provides a chance to view the regulating organ and the oscillating weight. Intended both for brand aficionados and for a more eclectic clientele, DESTINATION is issued in numbered, non-limited series, interpreted in four versions in steel, titanium (with or without black DLC) and 18-carat 5N red gold.

 

 

HAUTLENCE has created a stylish, powerful line from an alchemy of contemporary worlds

 

Created in HAUTLENCE’s Atelier d’horlogerie contemporaine, Avant-Garde is a sleek, powerful collection born of an alchemy of contemporary universes, drawing much of its inspiration from the curves and aesthetic codes of avant-garde design. Launched in 2012, this collection offers an innovative, and seemingly weightless, approach to time display. The two multilayered dials create an exquisite play of depth and transparency to reveal the architectural balance of the piece. As you look inside, the eye is drawn ever inward to the unique transparent sapphire dial : the dial’s upper face features a transfer logo, as well as luminescent minutes and indexes ; its lower face includes a semi-opaque area and a metal coating made from highly polished rhodium or rose gold. Underneath, a base dial in silvered opaline or emblematic honeycomb further enhances the feeling of weightlessness. Luminescent numerals and indexes guarantee easy readability and reinforce the 3D effect of the jumping hours, retrograde minutes and subsidiary seconds. A sleek, curved ergonomic case which combines steel and titanium (covered by black DLC on some models) imparts strength and lightness to this line which incorporates all of the brand’s characteristic elements : in-house manual winding mechanical movement, jumping hours and retrograde minutes using HAUTLENCE’s connecting rods system, hand-drawn strokes and hand-beveled finish.

 

HAUTLENCE caused a stir 4 years ago when it launched the first round case in its history, the HLQ with a calendar, followed two years later by the more subtle HLQ Classic version. Last year, the brand incorporated the codes from these lines, reinterpreting them in a dynamic way to produce a brand new version as part of the Avant-Garde family. Distinguished by its ultra-modern appearance, which makes it much more of a lifestyle model, the Avant-Garde HLRQ has a bolder and more robust style than its predecessors, while its impression of weightlessness is further enhanced by the overlapping discs which create a stepped effect. In autumn 2014 on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of HAUTLENCE, its leaders unveiled the brand’s first chronograph. Fans will recognize in the Invictus the case of the HLRS01 – albeit with stronger curves and more structured ergonomics – as well as the spectacular multi-level dial. They will also be delighted by its affordability.

 

 

According to Guillaume Tetu, “the HL2 is the brand’s standard bearer today. It represents a concentrated blend of creativity and ingenuity, a product that is both innovative and wearable, but at a price that positions it highly competitively in its category. The marriage between mechanical watchmaking and contemporary design gets it exactly right and appeals to experienced collectors (as confirmed by the order book).” Faithful to the brand’s fundamental concept of offering a different way of reading time, the HL2 collection goes even further and establishes HAUTLENCE among the most prestigious contemporary watchmaking brands. Developed and produced by the Neuchâtel brand’s own teams in 2011, it was also the first to offer a manufacture self-winding movement. Three patents make it a highly innovative caliber, related to the half-trailing hours chain, to the regulating organ integrated into the mobile bridge movement, and to the operation of the movement’s two barrels.  Constructed around the retrograde minutes function, the jumping hours mechanism consists of a 12-link chain activated by a connecting-rod/crank as in the HL collection. The retrograde minutes are indicated on a 180° sector of the dial. The chain rotates the mobile bridge through 60° each hour, compensating for the effect of gravity. To provide sufficient energy, the principal barrel, wound by the automatic system, winds a second barrel, which drives the display complication. The kinematics of the full HL2.0 movement are structured in three dimensions by the use of special beveled gears. These bevelled gears are produced with uniquely shaped tools to achieve optimal efficiency in gear-train transmission.

 

A keen lover of words, photography, cinema, painting and all forms of artistic expression, Eric Cantona is passionately interested in creativity and design and will be intimately involved in developing the unique limited-series models that will carry his signature.

 

Destination 04

Case : brown PVD-coated fine-brushed grade 5 titanium with horns, bezel, crown and screws in 18k 5N red gold, small opening in the case-back, water-resistant to 30m Size : 37 x 43.5 x 13 mm Movement : self-winding mechanical movement (Soprod 9351/A10-2 caliber with 42h power reserve), circular Côtes de Genève finishing  Functions : hours, minutes, large date, dual-time indication, day/night indicator Dial : opaline brown base adorned with « Clous de Paris » hobnail motif, sapphire intermediate dial with applied hours, indexes ; 5N red gold-plated, polished and/or sunburst flanges, bridges, hours numerals, indexes, logo and screws  Strap : brown hand-sewn rolled-edge Louisiana alligator leather, large square scales with pin buckle in 18k red gold

 

Destination 02

Case : fine-brushed grade 5 titanium, small opening in the case-back, water-resistant to 30m Size : 37 x 43.5 x 13 mm Movement : self-winding mechanical movement (Soprod 9351/A10-2 caliber with 42h power reserve), circular Côtes de Genève finishing Functions : hours, minutes, large date, dual-time indication, day/night indicator Dial : opaline silver-toned base sapphire intermediate dial with applied hours, indexes; rhodium-plated, polished and/or sunburst flanges, bridges, hours numerals, indexes, logo and screws Strap : black hand-sewn rolled-edge Louisiana alligator leather, large square scales with pin buckle in titanium with polished steel plate

 

Destination 03

Case : black DLC-coated fine-brushed 316L steel, small opening in the case-back, water-resistant to 30m Size : 37 x 43.5 x 13 mm Movement : self-winding mechanical movement (Soprod 9351/A10-2 caliber with 42h power reserve), circular Côtes de Genève finishing Functions : hours, minutes, large date, dual-time indication, day/night indicator Dial : opaline black operworked base adorned with honeycomb motif, sapphire intermediate dial with applied hours, indexes ; black DLC-coated and sunburst flanges, bridges, hours numerals, indexes, logo and screws  Strap : black hand-sewn rolled-edge Louisiana alligator leather, large square scales with pin buckle in titanium with black DLC-coated steel plate

 

Avant-Garde HLRQ01

Case : 18k 4N pink gold bezel, horns and push-button, black DLC-coated circular fine-brushed grade 2 titanium case middle, small opening in the black DLC-coated grade 2 titanium case-back, water-resistant to 30m  Size  : 44mm Movement : hand-wound mechanical movement (in-house caliber with 40h power reserve), minutes with HAUTLENCE connecting rod system, hand-chamfered bridges with Côtes de Genève motif finishing, 255 components Functions : jumping hours, retrograde minutes and jumping date Dial : upper sapphire dial face with transferred polished 4N pink gold metallized hours, minutes and index, lower sapphire dial facein 4N pink gold metallization Strap : black hand-sewn rolled-edge Louisiana alligator leather with interchangeability spring bar, folding clasp or pin buckle in titanium with pink gold plate.

 

Avant-Garde HLRS02

Case : black micromachined and polished steel and titanium grade 2, numbered sapphire case-back, water-resistant to 30m Size : 42 x 46 mm Movement : hand-wound mechanical movement (in-house caliber with 40h power reserve), hand-drawn strokes and and hand-beveled finishing on the bridges, 180 components Functions : Jumping hours, retrograde minutes and seconds.  Dial : upper sapphire dial, lower sapphire dial face with shining rhodium metallization and semi-opaque black area, silver opaline base dial  Strap : rubber, interchangeability lugs, folding buckle in titanium.

 

HL2.2 

Case : 18-carat 4N rose gold with sand-blasting, satin-brushing and hand-polishing, 3D sapphire crystals, scratch-resistant, produced by multi-axis grinding, waterresistant to 30m Size : 50 mm x 42 mm x 17.8 mm Movement : self-winding mechanical movement (in-house caliber with 45h power reserve), 552 components, mobile bridge movement comprises the regulating organ and rotates through 60° at each change of hour, oscillating weight in 18k 4N rose gold, finishing with satin-brushed, hand-drawn, hand-bevelled, ruthenium-anthracite coating and mirror-polished steel elements Functions : Hours, retrograde minutes and power reserve Dial : ruthenium and 4N-plated, black numerals and luminescent dots Strap : brown and black hand-sewn rolled-edge Louisiana alligator leather, with interchangeability spring bar, folding buckle in titanium and rose gold

 

HL2.5

Case : Black PVD and titanium grade 5, satin-brushing and hand-polishing, 3D sapphire crystals, scratch-resistant, produced by multi-axis grinding, water-resistant to 30m Size : 50 mm x 42 mm x 17.8 mm Movement : self-winding mechanical movement (in-house caliber with 45h power reserve), 552 components, mobile bridge movement comprises the regulating organ, oscillating weight in rose gold, finishing with satin-brushed, hand-drawn, hand-bevelled, ruthenium-anthracite coating and mirror-polished steel elements Functions : Hours, retrograde minutes and power reserve Dial : red sapphire dial with white SLN Strap : brown and black hand-sewn rolled-edge Louisiana alligator leather, with interchangeability spring bar, folding buckle in titanium

 

Invictus 01

Case : beadblasted black DLC-coated 316L steel, pushers, crown and screws in polished 5N 18K pink gold, beadblasted grade 2 titanium back Size : 42 x 46 x 12.8 mm Movement : mechanical self-winding (Soprod A10 with additional Dubois Dépraz module, 42h power reserve), circulargrained and sandblasted finishes, numbered Functions : hours, minutes, small seconds, date and chronograph Dial : opaline black gold base, snailed apertures, circular satin-brushed 5N red gold counter flange, and sunburst black gold minutes flange, honeycomb-motif inserts ; polished 5N red gold hourmarkers: intermediate sapphire dial with 5N red gold Strap : rubber or black hand-sewn, padded and rolled-edge rubberised Louisiana alligator leather interchangeability bar, titanium folding clasp with gold identification plate