A trilogy of talent
Building on an ultra-innovative concept, HD3 Complication is sweeping the board among collectors who see watchmaking as an art in itself. Portrait of a brand.
Florence Noël
If there is one thing Jorg Hysek can claim to do, it’s to fly in the face of convention. Watchmaking convention, that is. Born in 1953 and a graduate of the Central School of Art in London, he studied sculpture but was always drawn to anything out of the ordinary. Clearly here is a designer who has no intention of becoming part of the wallpaper. After a brief four-year stint with the Rolex design department, in the late 1990s he launched his own agency, Hysek Styling. It was soon followed by a watch brand of the same name and a collection of prestige pens.
Hardly surprising then that Jorg Hysek should be such a well-known figure in the business, including for such famous names as Breguet, Tag Heuer and Ebel for whom he has designed timepieces. All of them, beneath their fundamentally different exteriors, convey the same contemporary spirit.
Hysek’s services are much in demand, and yet the designer never rests on his laurels, constantly reinventing the spirit that underpins his creations. His work, as he modestly likes to remind us, is a team effort. Two loyal designers work with him, guided by the same goal: to make a watch that is a work of art and whose essence can be felt through a combination of sophisticated technology and creativity.
Complementary talents
The moment was ripe for these three musketeers of watchmaking to step out of the shadows. They did this in 2004 with the creation of HD3 Complication, an ultra-niche brand which has rapidly become one of the leading references in design-driven watches. "Valérie Ursenbacher and Fabrice Gonet have been with me for fifteen years, for each of my creations. So many years working in such close collaboration means we know exactly the direction we are taking," declared Jorg Hysek at the launch of his brand. An original concept indeed, but for three heads to be better than one when designing Fine Watches, this has to be a truly complementary trio.
This is clearly the case at HD3, especially given the impressive background of Jorg Hysek’s two associates. At just 24, Fine Arts graduate Valérie Ursenbacher was promoted at the head of Hysek Styling’s creative department. As for Fabrice Gonet, he was just 17 when he was spotted by Jorg Hysek. Both these talented artists soon showed the same passion for avant-garde design as their mentor, coupled with a profound respect for the watchmaker’s traditional expertise.
Outside the box
HD3 Complication takes watchmaking beyond any pre-defined perimeter and into a wider artistic dimension, serving this original philosophy with an unconventional strategy. Building on the symbolic value of the number 3, each of the brand’s founders gives free rein to their imagination with creations (including the movement) that are entirely their own work. Each of these models is produced as a limited edition that never exceeds 33.
Capture is one of the fruits of this philosophy. Valérie Ursenbacher is behind this tourbillon watch whose androgynous concept straddles the all-male world of automobiles and the dreamy femininity of the rounded forms of its futuristic case. Raptor is another example, the brainchild of sci-fi addict Fabrice Gonet. What appears to be a relatively classic tourbillon is in fact an audacious timepiece that conceals a digital display underneath the top "floor" of the case. Last but not least comes Idalgo, the first HD3 watch designed by Jorg Hysek and which took 2,000 hours to complete. Understandable, as the watch – or rather the work – combines two dials for one mechanical movement in one case. One displays a jumping hours and retrograde minutes while the other shows the date and a second time zone under a reworked and visible oscillating weight.
Dramatically different
Three visions of watchmaking yet all driven by the same desire to constantly push back the limits. Three Minds, a model unveiled in 2007, combines the talent of all three designers, who continue to bounce ideas back and forth to create increasingly sophisticated timepieces. One of these is Vulcania by Fabrice Gonet, a stunning watch that looks to the fantasy world of Jules Verne.
To create unique objects, a million miles from mass marketing concerns, whose apparent simplicity hides exceptional technicity and expertise: not a day goes by without HD3 exploring new ways to rise to this challenge. The latest treasures from the brand, Capture II and Raptor II, are jewels of technology taken to its furthest limits. In Capture II, the spirit of the original model remains intact. This time, Valérie Ursenbacher has focused her creative energies on the chronograph movement, which she leaves in full view on the dial side while incorporating a disc into the tourbillon cage for an additional seconds display.
Fabrice Gonet, meanwhile, has given nautical inspirations an avant-garde twist in his second watch, the Raptor chronograph. He has also added a 15-minute regatta countdown function for sailing competitions. The result? Beautiful, as one would expect of a work of art. ■
