Tourbillion-tastic! HORAGE Lensman 1

How many Swiss-made in-house made tourbillion watches can you find for under 10,000 CHF? The correct answer is three, and all are made by the rising stars of independent watch-making from Biel-Bienne - HORAGE! When HORAGE were let down by a major movement manufacturer in the delivery of an "of-the-shelf" tourbillion movement, they decided to make one themselves. The Tourbillion 1 was born, and sold-out pretty quickly. The Lensman 1 was the follow-up, although taking a very different design aesthetic. Gone is the skeletonised dial, and instead, this variant is inspired by photography. The laser etched markings on the side of the case resemble a camera lens' focus ring.
A little more about the watch. The case and crown are made of Grade 5 titanium with hand polishing and brushed, with the crown featuring a black onyx stone, reminding me of a shutter button on a camera. The crystal is a domed sapphire, with a cyclops to magnify the star of the show, the tourbillion.
Key measurements are, a case diameter of 41mm, lug-to-lug of 48.6mm. Case height of 11mm including the crystal. Lug width of 22mm, tapering down to just under 18mm, with a fold over clasp of 22mm. It comes paired with a calf leather black strap with red stitching, although a black-on-black strap was also provided. The watch has a 100m water resistance thanks to the screw down crown, although this really isn't made for going in the water.
As already mentioned, the K-TOU hand-wound movement was developed in-house and features a tourbillion in a titanium cage. It's chronometer rated accuracy (-4/+6 seconds per day), with a frequency of 3.5 Hz, and a huge power reserve of 120 hours, or 5-days. Anti-magnetic with a silicon escapement inclusive of anchor, escape wheel and hairspring. And a very good looking movement on display with the see-through case-back.
I ordered this watch about 9-10-months ago, as soon as it was launched, and I must say, its excellent. This is my second HORAGE, after receiving the Supersede, featured in a previous video. Demand has been so strong for this one that HORAGE are taking pre-orders for the Lensman 1.1 - a slightly different version with red hour markings instead of the black. I was happy to stick with the version 1. Big thanks to Andi, Landon and Dave for their hard work, and I'm now looking forward to the Lensman 2, although with the new releases coming soon.
For more watch content, see IG: @az.time
This is not a sponsored video

[@bertholdbach4959]

Lovley watch, nice video.

[@aztime0]

Thank you.