HAUTLENCE: Independent Watchmaking in Neuchâtel

 

A Visit to HAUTLENCE, Neuchâtel, Suisse

Part 1

Don Corson

 

It is Tuesday morning, the farmers market at the Place des Halles in Neuchâtel is not really bursting with customers, but it is also not the weather to want to spend time to promenade outside.  I don't need to buy any local produce today (I go to the market Saturdays), but have another reason to be here this morning.  A relative newcomer in the world of haute horlogerie, HAUTLENCE, has its home in the sandstone building to the left.

 

 

At HAUTLENCE I am greeted by Mr. Renaud de Retz, one of the co-founders of the company and Mme. Patrizia Ameli, sales & export manager.  As you can see they are doing continued wearing tests of the HLq prototypes on their arms.

 

 

Mr. Guillaume Tetu, another of the founders, is chief of operations and explains to me the working of the HL movement.  

 

The movement is based on a Peseux 7001 going train, seen here in the line of parts on the left.  These parts are planted on the HAUTLENCE main plate and bridges with the addition of the parts at the right which produce their signature "HAUTLENCE" time display.

 

How it works: the feeler on the transmission bar (the gold colored finger on the blued bar at the upper left above) touches the snail (in the middle row) which is mounted on the cannon, turning once an hour.  As the snail turns it pushes the transmission bar to the left and the lever at the top left turns the retrograde minute hand down.  At the end of the hour the transmission bar guided by the feeler jumps back to the right causing the hour to jump and the minute hand to spring back to the top from where it starts its movement down again.  All very simple, but…  in practice the energy needed to make all these parts move that far and very fast is very large.  To reduce the energy consumption and prolong the autonomy provided by the single barrel the jumping and retrograde movement is slowed slightly by the bog-bone shaped inertial mass (in the top row third from the left).  This mass is made from 18k gold for its weight.  At the beginning of the jump the inertia of the mass slows the movement so it is less jerky.  When the energy provided by the spring is used up the movement is completed by the inertia of the mass.  Thus this inertial mass is an important factor providing the pleasing movement and low energy requirement of this jumping hour retrograde movement.

 

 

One of the first prototype movements with the "floating" markers applied to a separate sapphire. 

 

Here we see the floating markers.  Note that these are all prototypes and you will notice errors on them.

 

HAUTLENCE now has all its parts made by external specialised subcontractors.  But in order to speed up prototyping and delivery of some parts they have recently invested in a 5-axis CNC machine.  They are starting up the steep learning curve of making ones own parts.

 

One of the original HL model  prototypes.

 

Some of the newer versions use a skeletonized dial instead of the floating markers.

 

Here a HLs prototype.  The movement remains the same but the display is changed to have the hours still in one place under a loupe and a seconds disk.  The case is a gold – titanium sandwich.

 

This is a pretty massive watch, but still fits perfectly and comfortably on my small wrist.

 

Note the complicated forms of the dial frame.

 

 

In the next part we will go to the shop to see some people at work.

 

  click here to go to part 2