Haute-Rive Honoris I: Incredible 1,000-Hour/41-Day Power Reserve plus a Flying Tourbillon in a Very Wearable Watch

Credits: Article and images by Martin Green @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/03/10/haute-rive-honoris-i-incredible-1000-hour-41-day-power-reserve-plus-a-flying-tourbillon-in-a-very-wearable-watch/

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With 1,000 hours/41 days of power reserve, the Haute-Rive Honoris I is impressive yet doesn’t set any records, however, it outshines the competition.

Haute-Rive Honoris I

The reason for this is that Von Gunten’s Honoris, as he named the model, needs only a single mainspring for its 1,000 hours of autonomy. Thanks to this, he could make the movement a mere 7.75mm thick. With that, he could control the dimensions of the watch itself, giving it a diameter of 42.5mm and a height of 11.95mm. This makes the Honoris the most svelte and wearable of the very long power reserve watches.

Haute-Rive Honoris I

For the sake of design

For good measure, Von Gunten included a tourbillon – a flying tourbillon at that. This is not uncommon, as the complexity of watches with such long power reserves demands a hefty price tag and collectors who can afford such purchases usually part a little easier with their money when it comes with some additional bragging rights. The flying tourbillon not only balances out the design on the dial nicely, it also adds a great deal of depth to it as well, as Von Gunten placed the entire construction on top of the dial.

Haute-Rive Honoris I

This is not the only thing we find on the dial side, as there is also part of the gear train under the central bridge, the charming long crown stem with its flowing pinion with a column wheel to select the different functions, and the ‘wheel of time’ dominating the twelve o’clock position. This wheel transfers the power from the mainspring to the gear train, linking the two in a very tangible way. It is also the huge mainspring that pushes all these elements to the dial side of this Haute-Rive as there is no space left below.

Haute-Rive Honoris I

While I feel that he made the right call, I still wonder how the Honoris would be if it was only about the power reserve. One of the things we would have more of is that gorgeous dial. You can’t possibly capture its true beauty in photographs, no matter how good of a photographer you are. It is some of the best grand feu enamel I have seen in a while, especially the black version, which is incredibly difficult to get perfect.