Hautlence introduced its HLQ calibre – which, like the brand’s very first HL movement, had jumping hours on the left and retrograde minutes on the right, but with the addition of a date window at the bottom of the dial – in 2009, and the HLQ calibre saw the light in 2013. In 2015, two colourful HLRQ models were introduced, with lugs, numerals and other dial details in blue and orange. The result of this new design is a very striking piece, with the modern, pop-type style provided by the colours on the case, and a dial that has something of 1960s rationality, with interlocking circles enclosed by an oval track. Often a marvellous watch appears only after long development and several different models, as in the case of Cartier’s skeleton Astrotourbillon, and this piece is certainly far more visually satisfying than the earliest HLRQ models.
Hands and numerals are coated in blue or orange SuperLuminova, and the watch is given extra visual complexity by the tinted sapphire disc above the hour numerals with an untinted window that reveals the original colour of the numeral marked by the arrow. Parts of the skeletonized movement can be seen through the layers of sapphire on the dial.
The hand-wound HLQ calibre runs at 21,600 vph (3 Hertz) and provides 40 hours power reserve. No continuous seconds.
The circular case is 44 mm in diameter and 12.5 mm thick, in black DLC-coated titanium. The coloured parts are the four lugs, that extend around the caseband. At 12 o’clock there is a pusher for rapid date correction. The case has a transparent sapphire window in the caseback, and it is mounted on a black alligator strap with folding clasp.
The price of the two watches, HLRQ 04 (blue) and HLRQ 05 (orange), is 35,000 Swiss francs.
