Review: Hautlence HL Sphere 01

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Hautlence burst into the scene in 2004, creating interesting ways to tell the time Since the early years where they were breaking trends and slaying sacred cows, they somehow got lost along the way Till now.

This year, they presented a new watch which blew tradition away Introducing the HL Sphere 01 A new way to tell time

We covered the jist of the concept when they showed a concept clock in SIHH this year.

A very special clock, carried in two cylinders, each containing a ball One is marked with numerals 1 to 12 to represent the hours, and the other with numerals 15, 30, 45, 60, representing the minutes But for Baselworld, they showed an even more amazing wristwatch.

We carried the press information here With full specifications.

Hautlence HL Sphere 01

Hautelence HL Sphere 01

Visually, the watch immediately captivates one’s curiosity Housed in a rectangular case, the entire front of the watch is a large crystal which reveals all.

On the left, a ball in a magnetic blue, printed at seemingly random numbers from 1 to 12 And on the right an openworked system showing the clockwork and an arc marked from 00 to 60 Watch the video to see what happens at the top of each hour:

The case, dial and hands

The case is the Hautlence signature TV shape and consists of a middle made of white gold and two caps of sapphire crystal.

On the dial side, Hautlence does away with the bezel altogether and the sapphire crystal covers the entire face The crystal is box shaped and stepped with chamfered edges to suggest a transparency It allows the visually captivating blue sphere to be clearly visible within its cutout on the left.

And the rest of the skeletonized dial shows the retrograde minutes and the movement components

The display shows the hour marked on the ball on the left, and a blue hand shows the minutes marked on a 180 degree arc on the right The font chosen is classic Hautlence font, with the numerals of the hours in large clear, and simple sans-serif typeface in white laquer.

The minutes are marked in 10 minutes intervals with appliques These are placed around a cutout on the dial with chamfered sides which are engraved to show the minutes The movement wheel train is visible through this cutout.

The effect of the face side is captivating And even more at the top of each hour, when the ball on the left suddenly spins, seemingly uncontrollably and very fast through all three rotation axes, till it halts itself to display the next hour The hypnotic dance follows a strict choreography, dictated by four conical gears that move two crossed spindles inclined at 21 degrees.

The ball itself is made in two pieces of polished titanium with a blue PVD treatment And in a yin/yang fashion forms the ball

The overall look of the watch is a kine of geeky elegance which is provocative, and yet very attractive.

Especially at the top []

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