BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
Haute-Rive, ever heard of them? No? I don’t blame you; we’re through the looking glass for independent watchmaking here. Founded by Stéphane von Gunten, former head of R&D in Ulysse Nardin, their first offering, called the Honoris, was introduced in 2023 and set the standard with a tourbillon and a 1000-hour power reserve. Not bad going for a brand I’ve never heard of until now.
Haute-Rive’s newest watches are based on their first model, the Honoris I, but they reveal more of the dial and are called the Honoris Meccanica. If you’re familiar with the Honoris I, you’ll see that the changes between the Honoris I and the Honoris Meccanica are quite minimal. The fluted bezel has been replaced by a rounded one with a knurled edge, and there’s more space on the dial. Whereas on the Honoris I, the dial comes to the bottom of the tourbillon cage and enshrouds everything nicely, on the Honoris Meccanica, we see the supports for the components exposed in their natural beauty.
To make the Honoris Meccanica work, a 3m long mainspring is used in the enormous barrel, which is sandwiched between what’s left of the dial and the rear plate. A slipping bridle, most commonly found in automatic watches, is used in the Honoris Meccanica to allow excess pressure from winding to be safely dissipated, although this doesn’t seem particularly likely given that the 1000-hour (41-day) power reserve requires very little winding on the whole. The power reserve indicator is located on the caseback.
When you do need to wind the watch, the pusher at 2 O’clock on the case must be depressed. This connects to the column wheel and engages the bezel, which is what you use to wind the watch rather than the crown. This makes sense as winding 1000 hours into a watch using a crown will surely break your fingers off. To set the time, press the pusher instead and use the crown to control the hands. Once complete, set the watch back to winding mode with the pusher so the time doesn’t get disturbed. It’s nice to see all this on the dial side, and I have only seen Moritz Grossmann use this type of system to set its watches, until the Honoris Meccanica.
I’ve got to be honest with you here, dear reader, from the information I have available to me, I don’t entirely understand how Haute-Rive gets 1000 hours out of the Honoris Meccanica besides the whopping great mainspring. I’d rather tell you that upfront than try to explain it without understanding myself. What I do know is that the movement in the Honoris Meccanica looks absolutely phenomenal, this is exactly the kind of reason I’m so into mechanical watches; it’s so different. Despite that difference and the big power reserve, the Honoris Meccanica is well proportioned, measuring just 42.5mm x 11.95mm. It features a case made of 18k white gold with a 30m water resistance rating.
Three versions of the Honoris Meccanica are on offer: The Honoris Meccanica Rhodium has a rhodium microblasted mainplate with blued hands, the Honoris Meccanica Ruthenium has a darker ruthenium-plated mainplate with blued hands, and the Honoris Meccanica Rosso is a limited edition piece with a red aluminium ring over a ruthenium-plated mainplate, rhodium-plated hands, and a red leather strap. The Honoris Meccanica Rosso is limited to eight watches, but Haute-Rive is not a brand with large staffing numbers, and estimates suggest they make around 10 watches a year in total. The price for the new Honoris Meccanica? CHF158,000 before taxes, which isn’t cheap, but compared to some indie watchmakers at this level, it is a lot lower priced.
Explore more at Haute-Rive
