Review Hautlence Vagabonde Tourbillon Series 3 – What happens if you combine a papal clock with a particle accelerator? ( Ref. AD30-ST00 )

Now imagine living in a time when there were no screens. Some had mechanical clocks, but these literal “time machines” were quite loud. How would you fall asleep again if every tick of the clock was like the irritating sound of a leaky faucet? Easy to ignore at first, but it could keep you up all night.

Papa’s watch dreams

In the middle of the 17^th century, Pope Alexander VII commissioned a watch that was silent, as he was plagued by sleeplessness. To the rescue came three brothers from Rome, all belonging to the Campani family. As skilled craftsmen they came up with the “wandering hours” complication, which allowed for a silent watch with a time display lit from behind by a candle.

Knowing where the wandering hours complication came from, the following watch will appear like an absolute spaceship to you.

Source

museogalileo.it

“Dare to be square”

Hautlence watches can easily be recognized by their iconic, rectangular case. The case is 50.8 mm wide, but only 43 mm lug-to-lug. Considering the complications of this watch, the 11.9 mm height are remarkable. There is an integrated white rubber strap which has the same color as the rubber ring around the crown. The watch has a water resistance of 10 bar (100 meters). The case is PVD coated in blue. PVD coating, which stands for Physical Vapor Deposition, is a process used to apply a thin, durable layer of material to the case. This is done in a vacuum chamber where the coating material is vaporized and then applied onto the case surface, which creates a durable layer making the watch resistant to scratches and corrosion. That makes it perfectly suitable for everyday use.

A copper-niobium dial – what else?

In the Hautlence Vagabonde Tourbillon Series 3 you’ve got a dial that is using the same material as particle accelerators. Particle accelerators are those insanely expensive machines that use electromagnetic fields to propel electrons or protons to very high speeds and let them crash into one another – for the sake of science. Awesome! This copper-niobium superconductor material was conceptionalized by James Thompson who runs the design studio Black Badger in Sweden.

Source

eskipaper.com

The science behind how the dial is made

So how does this dial come to life? The dial material is mostly copper, but inside you have hexagonal niobium filaments, which are like little metal wires running through it. The metal is then cut at a special angle across the grain, which means they don’t just slice it straight, but at an angle to show the inner structure.

The whole dial is then put into an acid bath, which dissolves the copper, but leaves niobium behind. That way the filaments in the material stand out in a honeycomb pattern. A machine then cuts ripples into the dial, which give it the effect of a water drop splashing onto a water surface.

Source

hautlence.com

“The material has to have its own character. It has to bring something to the design that can’t be planned or necessarily replicated. Its uniqueness is what makes it interesting. I’m just the middleman. My job is to bring the best out of it.”James Thompson from the Design Studio Black Badger, interview on Fratello Watches

Source

fratellowatches.com

How to read the time

The Vagabonde Tourbillon Series 3 utilizes a Wandering Hours complication. Instead of traditional hands, it relies on rotating discs to indicate the hours, while a separate track shows the minutes. At any given time, one numeral is in the foreground, indicating the current hour. It takes a short while to get used to, but once you understand the concept its a very interesting engaging way of telling the time.

The white numerals on the minutes track are made from Globolight, which is a ceramic compound loaded with Super-LumiNova.

Movement

The “very rare” luxury brand H. Moser & Cie. and Hautlence as sister companies joined forces on this movement. The base movement is Moser’s HMC200, while the complication for the planetary display is unique to Hautlence. The result is called the automatic caliber D30, made up of 217 components, with a 72-hour power reserve and beating at 3 Hz.

I remember that Hautlence produced a similar watch back in 2018 with the Vagabonde Tourbillon Cortina Edition, which was very limited to just five pieces at the time. The movement was also based on the same HMC200, but it didn’t look quite as refined back then. I think the design and the brand have come a long way since then. Hautlence has found its way. Back then, the leather straps, typography, and material choices leaned toward a "steampunk" aesthetic, which is not my taste. Hautlence now has found its niche with a futuristic design that can be worn with jeans and a T-shirt.

Source

hautlence.com

The one-minute flying tourbillon features a double hairspring in an open bar-shaped carriage. Like the entire movement this complication was produced by the Swiss company Precision Engineering AG in Schaffhausen, which also produces for H. Moser & Cie.

If you’re interested in going behind the scenes at H. Moser & Cie. and Hautlence, I visited the watchmaker’s factory in Schaffhausen and show you how these “machines on the wrist” are made. Read the full article here: “Report: Peeking behind the curtain of H. Moser & Cie.”

Rubber strap and pin buckle clasp

A simple pin buckle clasp holds the rubber strap in place. As expected its a very smooth material that doesn’t collect dust. There is no smell to it and it feels very high quality. I think the design matches the case perfectly. Although this watch has been in the hands of a few watch journalists, the white rubber still looks pristine. I can’t say how it will develop over time but I expect that Hautlence has done their homework here and that the color will stay that way and not turn into a weird shade of white as it ages.

Who is this watch for?

I thought this watch wouldn’t be for me because I have rather compact wrists and when I first read the specifications, the watch seemed quite large. But once you put the Vagabonde Tourbillon Series 3 on your wrist, the presence works very well. The rubber strap makes it incredibly comfortable to wear.

It’s a watch for those who appreciate the unconventional. If you are simply a lover of independent brands, or if you are someone who is looking for a piece that stands out in a sea of traditional designs, this watch “makes ripples” in terms of both form and function. A tourbillon, a wandering hour complication, new materials, combined with the robustness of a watch for everyday use and a water resistance of 100 metres.

Hautlence is not for everyone – and that’s the point.