2013/01/25

Hautlence the Avant-Garde Retrograde : Round Version HLRQ

 

LA CHAUX-DE-FONDS, January 2013 – Following the launch of the HLQ line in 2009 and the HLQ Classic line in 2011, Neuchâtel watchmaker HAUTLENCE will use the GTE (Geneva Time Exhibition, 20-24 January) to unveil a brand new reinterpretation: The HLRQ. A more robust, athletic model, the HLRQ combines some of its predecessors' classic character with the bolder, more modern style of the AVANT-GARDE family which it joins as the latest addition.

Launched in 2012, the AVANT-GARDE line is HAUTLENCE's ready-to-wear collection designed to secure its future and expand its creative offering. The brand has created a stylish, powerful line from an alchemy of contemporary worlds, taking inspiration primarily from the curves and aesthetic codes of avant-garde design. The first HLRS models, which were unveiled in October 2012, were an immediate commercial success.

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. A fitting tribute to traditional watchmaking. This piece still bore all the brand's hallmarks, namely a house movement and a specific display of the time with jumping hours, retrograde minutes and instantaneous calendar.

For 2013, the brand has 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 HLRQ has a bolder and more robust style than its predecessors. The 44 mm case, made from steel with or without a black and titanium DLC coating, is more imposing thanks to its larger horns. The sapphire dial – designed by the brand – lends transparency and depth, revealing the in-house mechanical hand-wound movement with its jumping hours and retrograde minutes (thanks to the famous HAUTLENCE connecting rods system) and its calendar. The impression of weightlessness is further enhanced by the overlapping discs which created a stepped effect.

Created in HAUTLENCE's Atelier d’horlogerie contemporaine, the HLRQ line is available as an unlimited series. However, it still features the same degree of excellence in its hand “Côte de Genève” and hand angled bridges. The first two models in this line will be available to purchase from summer 2013, in two different versions:

AVANT-GARDE - HLRQ02
Case in steel and titanium, sapphire dial. Alligator strap with titanium folding or pin buckle.

AVANT-GARDE - HLRQ03
Case in titanium and steel covered by black DLC, sapphire dial. Alligator strap with titanium folding or pin buckle.