HN02 - Depth in Evolution

As a creator, it’s always on one’s mind what comes next, what is naturally a cohesive and elegant evolution of what was done, why it was done, and why an evolution should persist. When I debuted the HN00, one foundational characteristic of the watch was celebrating the art of guilloche. The HNxx model line was admittedly sporty in nature but I felt the modernity of the watch had to be connected to a traditional art form.

After the exhilarating success of the HN00 and the abject manufacturing disappointment of the HN01, I felt (and feel) there is a debt owed to the model line in the form of it seeing a new and evolved aesthetic. The following is a primer and a sort of allusion to the upcoming HN02.

A Traditional Art Augmented

Guillochage itself is something to be considered and heralded as one of watchmaking’s finest forms of decoration and expression. The technique dates back to as early as the 17th century, at least within the context of watchmaking. In my reading on the history of the art form, I stumbled upon an augmentation of the decoration, by way of enameling. A note - I prefer to read older texts on most things as, in my experience, the authors of said texts had a practical and technical description of the respective applications than most anything modern. The hisotried brand Fabergé was famous for various types of enamlling but the one that stuck out most to me was the art of flinqué.

A Faberge Egg crafted for Russian royalty featuring flinqué enamel

When the term enamel is used in a watchmaking context, especially within the higher niches, it is almost guaranteed the term “grand feu” will precede it. With this execution, a dial base, typically made of brass, will be filled in with opaque paint, usually a single shade, and baked in an oven up to temperatures of 800 degrees celsius. Any printing on the dial will also be enamel based. With flinqué, it’s a bit different. Within the context of the HN02’s dial, a dial base will be made of gold and have borders for the paint to sit within. The guilloche pattern will be hand-engraved onto the base and treated as needed to prepare for the incoming step. A translucent enamel paint will be applied over the finished guilloche and also baked within an oven up to the same temperature so as to solidify the paint. This process can be repeated as many times as needed, without compromising the construction of the dial, to achieve the desired coloration, and as one would imagine, is extremely labor intensive and time consuming.

An antique pocket watch with flinqué enamelling

A technical difference

A technicality is observed when contemplating the different executions of working with more or less the same ingredients. Cadranor, my manufacturing partner for dials, has stated that flinqué, while it is still being exposed to extremely high temperatures to bake through, cannot technically be called a grand feu enamel dial. Their reason being more of a derivation of the original art form of enameling in an oven than any practicality would otherwise entail. Given that both opaque and translucent paints are being fired in the same oven, at effectively the same temperature, and share most of the same executions to bring them to life, I would consider flinqué a natural yet derived form of grand feu enameling.

Practicality in aesthetics

While the HNxx line had it’s time with the hooded lugs characteristic with the debut and Lucine, I came to the conclusion that I needed the watch to adapt to my changing sensibilities. I prefer standardized lugs as they present much more playfulness in terms of design, and elegance therein, while also allowing collectors to more easily interchange their strap of choice. Another note that has more to do with the fit and look of the HN02 than it’s practicality - the caseback. The -00 and -01 had a curved caseback to accentuate the overall look of the watch - it made sense to me when I designed it. In my development of the -02 with the manufacture, I played around with the idea of mitigating the curvature to be able to reduce the proportions and overall fit on the wrist. Ideally, the watch as I envisioned it, was to be 38mm by 9mm thick (maximum) while accentuating the lug to lug distance as I did with the Classic One.

I will have more on the topic soon, specifically, I wish to elaborate more on the overall inspiration of -02 as I had imagined it wearing and fitting on my wrist. To my American friends, collectors, and enthusiasts, make the most of the long weekend and enjoy your time with your loved ones.

Talk soon,

Aren J BAZERKANIAN