Author Archives: Timmy Tan

Breguet Type XXI 3817: Fly back in time

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Breguet Type XXI 3817. Introduced in 2016, its 42mm steel case houses the Calibre 584Q/2 automatic movement with 48 hours power reserve using the inverted in-line Swiss lever escapement with silicon pallets and a silicon balance spring. It features the chronograph with flyback function, and day and night display. Photo: © TANG Portfolio.

Breguet Type XXI 3817. Introduced in 2016, its 42mm steel case houses the Calibre 584Q/2 automatic movement with 48 hours power reserve using the inverted in-line Swiss lever escapement with silicon pallets and a silicon balance spring. It features the chronograph with flyback function, and day and night display. Photo: © TANG Portfolio.

Aviation pioneer Louis Charles Breguet (1880 to 1955) was a French aircraft designer. Like his great-great grandfather, the famed horologist Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747 to 1823), he was an inventor and developed the gyroplane, the forerunner of the helicopter.

In 1916, he developed the Breguet Type XIV plane. Around 8,000 of these planes were purchased by an estimated 15 countries between 1917 and 1926. What followed were models like the Breguet 19 and the Breguet Deux-Ponts (Double Deck).

The Breguet watch company even made chronograph mechanisms fitted into cockpit instrument panels and even pilot’s watches.

Though the Breguet watchmaking company first made chronograph wristwatches in 1935, only small quantities were produced. This changed in 1950 when official approval was awarded by the French technical services.

In 1954, the French government commissioned Breguet to supply chronograph wristwatches to the French Air Force, the state flight testing centre and Naval Air Arm.

The watches were the property of the state and issued to pilots only under exceptional circumstances. The Type XX was supplied to the military right up till the early 1980s.

Breguet’s Calibre 584Q/2 automatic movement. This is the first time a model from the Type XX collection features an open display sapphire crystal case back. Photo: © TANG Portfolio.

Breguet’s Calibre 584Q/2 automatic movement. This is the first time a model from the Type XX collection features an open display sapphire crystal case back. Photo: © TANG Portfolio.

When the Breguet Type XX chronograph wristwatch became a coveted status symbol, it led to the production of a civilian version. This chronograph wristwatches were subsequently equipped with the retour en vol – the flyback chronograph.

Thanks to its aviation history and the Type XX, Breguet’s 2016 Type XXI 3817 chronograph is likewise, equipped with the flyback chronograph.

Breguet’s Type XXI 3817 features silicon movement parts and what marks a first is its sapphire crystal case back. This is the first time the Type XX collection has an open display case back.

Hautlence Labyrinth 01: Time to A-Maze

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Hautlence Labyrinth 01, Playground Collection. Introduced in 2016, it features Hautlence’s in-house movement with mechanical lift including bevel gears. The dial is in solid gold and the game ball is in platinum. The titanium case is 37mm by 43.5mm and is 13mm thick and is water-resistant to 3 atm. Limited to 18 pieces and Recommended retail price: CHF12,000. The Labyrinth is also available in a version with a labyrinth dial in solid white gold that is limited to 18 pieces. Photo: © TANG Portfolio.

Hautlence Labyrinth 01, Playground Collection. Introduced in 2016, it features
Hautlence’s in-house movement with mechanical lift including bevel gears. The dial is in solid gold and the game ball is in platinum. The titanium case is 37mm by 43.5mm and is 13mm thick and is water-resistant to 3 atm. Limited to 18 pieces and Recommended retail price: CHF12,000. The Labyrinth is also available in a version with a labyrinth dial in solid white gold that is limited to 18 pieces. Photo: © TANG Portfolio.

At a glance, the Hautlence Labyrinth looks like a complicated wristwatch. However, the catch is that it isn’t a wristwatch as it doesn’t tell the time because there is no watch movement in it.

It is better defined as a “wristgame”. Why?

Take a second look and you’d notice that the dial is actually a maze and there is a ball inside (at around the seven o’clock position in the image above), well actually, you may say it is a luxury-class ball as it is in forged platinum. This is actually a-ball-in-a-maze puzzle.

However, there is still an in-house Hautlence mechanical movement housed within the generous 37mm by 43.5mm case in grade 5 titanium that is 13mm thick.

There are nine jewels for in-house movement – the mechanical lift that transports the platinum ball via a camshaft system up onto the dial – thereby feeding it onto the game board or the maze on the dial.

The camshaft system can be viewed through the transparent case back.

Once the ball is in the maze, it is up to you to guide it through the maze by manoeuvring your wrist. The objective is to bring the ball back to its “cubby-hole”.

“The game is pulled from Sandro Reginelli’s youth as a reminder of the out-dated games he played when he visited his grandparents,” the brand explains. Sandro Reginelli is co-founder and CEO of Hautlence.

Oh yes, take note of the rectangular case as that is the signature shape of Hautlence wristwatches from its early beginnings in 2004.

The good folks at Hautlence make no bones about this product of theirs. It is what they clearly state as L’objet inutile parfaitement indispensable or “an entirely essential yet fundamentally useless object.”

The “useless” part is what many will understand; as for the “essential”, it allows you to immerse in a game providing a necessary and pleasant slowness”, the brand explains.

Actually, such a game albeit a luxury version, may not be entirely “useless” for those who can afford one. This is a game that can help one de-stress.

Everyone faces stress in some form or another, whether at the workplace or in the home. The effects of stress can have negative health implications such as problems related to one’s mood, sleep patterns, appetite and even heart problems.

In an indirect manner, stress may also lead us to unhealthy behaviours such as the consumption of unhealthy food, alcohol and taking up smoking.

In the article “5 ways to de-stress and help your heart”, from the Harvard Medical School, much can be learnt to manage stress. What are their five tips offered to deal with stress?
1. Stay positive;
2. Meditate;
3. Exercise;
4. Unplug; and
5. Find ways to take the edge off your stress.

Points 4 and 5 are particularly relevant to the Labyrinth. Take it from the Harvard Medical School article which states for point 4: “It’s impossible to escape stress when it follows you everywhere. Cut the cord. Avoid emails and TV news. Take time each day – even if it’s for just 10 or 15 minutes – to escape from the world.”

For point 5, the article offers advice such as taking a warm bath, listening to music or spending time on a favourite hobby can give you a break from the stressors in your life.

Playing with the Hautlence Labyrinth for five minutes of less might just be the answer. Stress follows you everywhere and so can the Labyrinth on your wrist.

This luxury game, which may offer the wearer a form of health benefit, is limited to 18 pieces each in either white gold or titanium.

Hautlence Labyrinth 01
Playground Collection
Introduced in 2016
Technical Specifications:
• Hautlence in-house movement with mechanical lift including bevel gears
• 9 jewels
• Movement sand-blasted, vertical satin finish with diamond-lapped angles
• Labyrinth dial in solid 5N gold with vertical satin-finish, diamond-lapped angles and polished platinum ball
• Forged platinum ball
• Case middle in grade 5 titanium, satin-finished
• Extra-hard bevelled sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment
• 37mm by 43.5mm by 13mm case in grade 5 titanium
• Water-resistant to 3 atm
• Case back in satin-finished grade 5 titanium, 6 screws, engraved with “Hautlence”, “Horlogerie Suisse”, “Playground-Labyrinth 01”
• Brown satin-finished Louisiana alligator leather strap with large square circles, hand-sewn rolled edge
Limited to 18 pieces
Recommended retail price: CHF12,000
Note:
Also available in a version with a labyrinth dial in solid white gold, limited to 18 pieces.