HYT
S1 Titanium
Microfluidic hour, minute, titanium case, 58,000 francs
A good exegete will find affinities with fiction in this creation. But it is above all science which is the origin. HYT, based in Neuchâtel, was born from fluid dynamics. Microfluidics to be exact, a field of research coming from medical technologies. The idea of applying it to watches is in itself a provocation: mechanics hate liquid. The challenge was daunting. The fluid, contained in a capillary tube, thus became the display of the hours, using extremely complex mechanics. This limited edition (28 pieces) is like a return to basics with its open dial, plunging onto the cylinders which indescribably pump the flowing time.
HAUTLENCE
Sphere Series 2
Spherical hours and retrograde minutes, steel case, 69,000 francs
Hautlence, an anagram of Neuchâtel, has experienced several lives during its twenty years of existence. Start-up that has become a beautiful independent, which the difficulties would bring to the ground without the narrow takeover by the Melb group (holding of the Meylan family, also owner of H. Moser & Cie). A central element has never changed: the desire to indicate time differently, artfully, mechanically. Like the Sphere model, whose main signature is a spherical, jumping time display, awarded an award at the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix in 2023. This new edition tests the monochrome card, metal on metal. In order not to look away from its avant-garde mechanism.
BELL & ROSS
BR-X5 Blue Lum
Hour, minute, second, photoluminescent composite material and titanium case, 13,000 francs
Bell & Ross, a French brand established in 1994, has always held the same line: combining technique and aesthetics. Said like this, it’s very banal. The options chosen by the two creators, Bruno Belamich and Carlos Rosillo, were unique enough to establish themselves in the watchmaking landscape. Airplane piloting instruments have long been their only reference. Then the spectrum opened. With the desire to reinforce the contemporary character of the watches. This variant of the BR-X5 is intended to be urban. It would have its place in an anticipation film. The photoluminescent composite material housing makes it ghostly, day or night.
URWORK
UR-105 Scorpion
Vagrant hour, minute, titanium case, 89,000 francs
When it was created in 1999, the Genevan brand Urwerk landed like a Sputnik in the soup of classic watchmaking. Unknowingly planting the seed of contemporary creation in high-end watches. Behind the brand, there are two personalities, the watchmaker Felix Baumgartner and the artist Martin Frei. They immediately found their style, mixing watchmaking culture and science fiction. Their watches work like props [répliques d’objets réels, ndlr] of cinema projecting the wearer into a utopian future. This UR-105 comes from a long line of science fiction watches. One of its singularities is to integrate the satellite hour display into the minute hand.