Pinball

Unwinding, letting go, returning to a more humanoriented time without conforming to an enforced pace, letting time run its course: that is exactly what HAUTLENCE offers with its Playground collection, inspired by mechanical games. Hot on the heels of the LABYRINTH model, comes PINBALL, a creation drawn from another legendary childhood game. A full immersion in the quest for lost time to ensure that the playing never stops.

The entire HAUTLENCE philosophy is embedded in this new model, as CEO SandroReginelli explains: “Thirteen years ago, guided by the concept of infinity, which had already become our emblem, our trademark, we were bold enough to revolutionize watchmaking identity codes and provide a new take on time. Today, we are broadening our range and pursuing our mission by exploring a whole new dimension of time display: it is about quite simply making time stand still, the better to appreciate it. The Playground collection is our response. It’s the solution we offer to associate our vision of the mechanical watchmaking art, which is our passion, with games, that are our means of escapism. Because we will never be able to control time, but we can make it more beautiful.”

With PINBALL, HAUTLENCE is introducing another wristworn mechanical game. The PINBALL model is essential, since it enables one to stop the mad race of time, to “unplug” for a few minutes, in order to immerse oneself in a game just for fun, an anthem to recapturing a leisurely pace. By diverting the watchmaking object from its initial vocation, HAUTLENCE reinvents time and advocates a return to time for oneself.

Exactly like on a pinball machine, a lever on the right-hand side of the PINBALL model literally sets the balls rolling, simultaneous arming the lever and releasing the energy that sets in motion the central star and the spinwheel. The lever includes a spring system, linked to the movement which incorporates elements of the highly minute-repeater horological mechanism. A truly exceptional object, PINBALL works on the basis of a mechanical automaton. When the ball is expelled, the star and the spin-wheel turn for around ten seconds, propelling the ball randomly against the various bumpers, along the in-lanes or on the dial featuring coloured transfers enabling the player to count the points he has scored. The wrist gives the impulsion to the ball and replaces the usual levers placed on either side, thereby recalling the very first games that appeared in the 1930s and which were not equipped with “flippers”, and on which the ball rolled down the playfield by passing among tiny nails towards zones that earned points. The dial also bears strategic targets that score points, in which the player must succeed in placing his ball, thereby also winning bonus points and the jackpot. On the PINBALL model, the game ends when the ball is blocked at the base of the dial, either in one of the apertures bearing points, or in the “garage” zone. All that is then required is to bring the ball back to the starting point, again using the wrist in other game of dexterity.

PINBALL features a base dial in grade 5 titanium, fitted with a sapphire intermediate dial. The latter is both useful and attractive, since it serves to create a smooth surface to accelerate the speed of the ball, while instilling a sense of depth typical of the Neuchâtel-based brand. In keeping with its avant-garde approach to construction, HAUTLENCE loves playing with several dial levels, thereby giving a three-dimensional effect to its timepieces. The case of the PINBALL model, reprising the iconic rectangular design, is made of grade 5 titanium and decorated with alternating bead-blasted, polished and satin-finished surfaces.

Ready, steady, play!

Mechanical pinball

Movement: Minute repeater regulation mechanism, variable inertia regulator, rack winding, 15-seconds power reserve, hand bevelling, 18 carat gold settings, grade 5 titanium bridges, 14 jewels, double flat stones with olive hole, black PVD main plate and barrel bridge, 110 components.

Case: Grade 5 titanium, satin-finish and polished finish, faceted sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment.

Dial / balls: Grade 5 titanium, laser decorated and cut, sand-blasted, drawn strokes, hand bevelling, bumpers with rubber rings.

Sapphire crystal, laser cut over the entire surface of the dial, topside and underside transfers.

3 blued steel balls.

Grade 5 titanium folding buckle, hand-stitched alligator strap.

Limited edition of 18 pieces.