HAUTLENCE unveils the VORTEX Gamma Magma

Press Release – SIHH 2018

HAUTLENCE unveils the VORTEX Gamma Magma

Taking on the colour — and the undeniable force — of lava, the Vortex Gamma Magma has a stark beauty, and a hypnotising power. The powerful aesthetic of its case, driven by angles and facets, is emphasised by the black line which highlights its edges.

Placing bold colour at the heart of this exceptional creation, HAUTLENCE is using HLLightColor, a material which can be body tinted to take on a specific shade of any colour, to provide a vibrant showcase for the HL2.0 manufacture calibre.

For the Vortex Gamma Magma model, HAUTLENCE has chosen a revolutionary composite material borrowed from the automotive and aerospace industries. HLLightColor is charged with ceramic nanotube particles, and its properties are identical to those of a conventional watch industry metal; highly resilient, yet four times lighter than titanium. It can be machined with the same precision and to within the same tolerances, thus enabling extremely complex finishing operations, alternating brushed, polished and sand-blasted surfaces. 

Alongside its remarkable high-tech properties, this material opens up a world of aesthetic possibility which knows no bounds. Intrinsically tinted rather than coated, HLLightColor enables HAUTLENCE to pick the boldest hues from the colour palette, as the flamboyant Vortex Gamma Magma clearly demonstrates. Alongside the HLLightColor, the Vortex Gamma Magma case is made from six three-dimensional sapphire crystals. To emphasise the architectural lines of the Vortex case, accentuating them with a play of striking contrasts, Hautlence has drawn inspiration from the TRON style, stemming from the eponymous sci-fi film directed by Steven Lisberger in 1982. Playing with visual effects showcasing luminescent shapes representing integrated circuits, HAUTLENCE has highlighted the edges of its case with a black line, which lends the piece a highly stylised tone.

The minute dial, made from almost entirely transparent sapphire, offers a large window onto the HL2.0 self- winding calibre which drives the Vortex Gamma. Orange, the unifying feature of this model, is found on each of the 12 articulated links in the hour chain, a key function of the movement. Every 60 minutes, the chain turns in 3-4 seconds, gently and with control to avoid any shocks or loss of energy, whilst leaving enough time to admire the beauty of the movement and its mechanisms in action. The regulating organ is integrated into the mobile bridge-type calibre, with the change in position actuated by the display improving accuracy by statistically offsetting the effects of gravity. The calibre HL2.0 is equipped with two barrels. The second barrel, dedicated exclusively to driving the complication, is continually reset by the main barrel, so that the optimal level of energy is available each time the hour changes. This double barrel system ensures the complex mechanisms are supplied independently, without affecting the ability of the watch to keep accurate time.

With the Vortex Gamma Magma, HAUTLENCE has created an haute technologie watch, with a bold, striking design, and a high-tech mechanical heart.